I have been an avid hunter my entire life. Throughout the years I have always understood and preached to others the importance of high quality, reliable hunting equipment that is not going to fail you when that trophy of a lifetime is in your crosshairs. That is why I am sitting here writing this, because I committed that mortal sin this year and used an old, cheap, inconsistent scope that has been problematic in the past, unable to hold zero, instead of upgrading to a more reliable scope.
It was only 250 yards, he was standing broadside, and I didn’t even come close. This is him on my neighbor’s trail camera. I am sure you can understand why I had a fit just like a toddler in the middle of the field, jumping up and down as this beautiful deer ran away from me unscathed.
After going to the range and confirming that it wasn’t just poor marksmanship, but a cheap scope that I shouldn’t have ever been using in the first place, I went to our local sporting goods store to fix the problem. After looking through the riflescopes on display, I was immediately attracted to the Burris Eliminator III. The high-grade optical glass, customizable trajectory compensation, and the built-in range-finder (yes, you read that right, BUILT-IN RANGEFINDER) made the decision of picking my next riflescope very easy. The experts at the store mounted the Eliminator III on my .270 short mag and I was out the door in no time on my way to the range.
The process of sighting in the scope was as straight forward as can be. The directions were easy to follow and after finding the ballistic information on Burris’s ballistic services website and putting 6 rounds down range, I was ready to get back into the field. All the information I needed was right there on the website, the ballistic coefficient for my specific ammunition and how much the bullet would drop. I entered the information into the scope using the buttons on the side of the riflescope and I was ready to go. The amount of confidence I had while using this amazing riflescope technology was through the roof. I no longer was going to have to waste time fiddling around with a range finder in the field, or even worse, guessing the distance and hoping I was close. The scope felt good, looked good, and worked great.
My first night in the field with this new scope seems as if it were right out of a make-believe dream hunt, but it actually happened, and I have the pictures to prove it. I am a college student, so during deer season I run down to our farm south of town in the evenings to see if there is any deer movement, hoping to get lucky. Five days after my embarrassing, humiliating, absolutely DEVASTATING miss, I found myself face to face with the same deer, in the same field, only this time I was ready. Using some tall grass as cover and my shooting stick to rest, I shouldered my rifle. I pressed the button on the side of the Eliminator III and the rangefinder ranged the deer at 378 yards. The red reticle moved down the crosshair and I placed it on the deer, and now I have a deer on the wall and a freezer overflowing with some of the best sausage and jerky you could ask for. This isn’t just the largest deer I have taken over the years, he is the largest whitetail I have ever seen with my own eyes while hunting.
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This Eliminator III has completely amazed me, and I can’t thank Burris enough for creating a riflescope with incredible technology that works seamlessly in the field. The last three friends of mine that have been out in the field hunting with me with this riflescope have all since bought their own because of the impression it makes on hunters that know what good hunting equipment does for you: It makes you better, faster, and more confident in your abilities to harvest an animal efficiently and ethically. Gone are the days that I waste precious time using an overpriced rangefinder. Gone are the days that I have to guess how far away my target is. Gone are the days I tell the story of “the one that got away,” because now I have pictures like this to show instead.
Lately I have been using the Eliminator III on my AR15 for coyote hunting. Nobody comes close to the range I am able to reach with such speed and efficiency when coyotes are running around with little time to be messing around and guessing. And let me tell you, this riflescope looks mighty fine on that rifle.
Go to the original blog on burrisoptics.com.
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