Later that day, I had a shot on a buck. He was 30yds from me. I shot, and watched the snow fall off a pine tree, 20' up and to the left of him. Would have been more accurate throwing a rock. 2 days earlier, that rifle with that scope was shooting 1-hole 100yd groups.
If the buck was only 30 yards away, and the bullet hit 20 FEET from the animal, then the scope damage, I would think, should have been obvious. That's a BIG angular offset. 20" (inches) at 30 yards I'd believe could be unnoticeable damage, but 20' at 30 yards(!) something had to be rattling around and/or visibly damaged to shift the point of impact 800 MOA.
I'm not saying that I disbelieve that the scope was damaged, but I can't believe it was off by that much without being obviously busted.
Mike