I can only see a small ledge at the rear but it looks to be black. For now, I will assume he did the entire area.
Waiting for an Acro may drive me crazy. I can buy an EPS with a plate from CHPWS for $433 (25% off the plate with EPS purchase). We'll see if I can wait for Aimpoint to get more in stock or roll the dice on the EPS.
Have you reached out to Vulcan about doing the AOS cut on your BUL?