Lost for Almost a Decade, This Scope Still Works Fine

A recent post on Zeiss’s hunting blog features the photo above and the story below, describing how this rifle was lost and later found in the mountains.

Anyone who goes hunting in the mountains must always expect weather changes, which cancel the expedition suddenly and unexpectedly. Sometimes, equipment is left behind. Also during recovering hunted game it can happen that the weapon is misplaced and cannot be found.

In John Sveen’s case it was much simpler. He took a short break and afterwards he went on without his rifle, a ZEISS scope mounted on the rifle. After nine years, John was amazed when his friend Knut Øyjorda found his gun in the mountains: The wooden stock was bleached out and brittle, the muzzle was rusted and unusable. Only the scope was still like new. The coating withstood the weather, the cold and heat could not harm the optics. The Customer Service in Wetzlar checked the scope in detail and concluded: ZEISS products are indestructible!

As more than one Facebook commenter observed, the story is not exactly believable. Who goes hunting, stops to rest, then wanders off without his rifle? And if he did, how did he get so far before missing it that he wouldn’t or couldn’t go back for it?

Tall tale or no, it’s still impressive that the scope held up so well. But let us observe a moment of silence in mourning for that rifle.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.