Scoped Deer Gun For You, YES OR NO??

[First-light]

Back in the day I missed a lot of deer with open sights. I have a scoped 1187 for 30 years now and it has been very good to me. Will only use open sights when driving through thick stuff.

[Lawdwaz]

I have a scoped 1187 for 30 years now and it has been very good to me.

I think you mean 28 years????

[MACHINIST]

I use both.I prefer a scoped gun but I also love my peep sighted 22 and will have a light rifle equipped with a peep for a walk around gun somethime

[Pygmy]

I think you mean 28 years????

Nit-Picker.....<<grin>>....

[Doc]

I'm a scope guy. Sure I have killed a lot of deer with the bead or "V" sights, but eventually there came a time when the old eyes simply would not handle open sights anymore. But even if I had the eyes of a 20 year old, I would still opt for a scope. They help me pick out the individual hair on the deer that I want to hit. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.....lol.

[tuckersdaddy]

the guns I rely on for most of the hunting season have glass on them. I do have a few older guns that I won't tap for a scope that I occasionally take out, but for the most part I prefer the glass.

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[G-Man]

If I'm standing, or still hunting a scope ,if I'm driving open sights

[Culvercreek hunt club]

plain bead on my first shotgun. From there every gun I have that is used for deer has glass. The only gun I have that still has open sights is my '94. 30/30. it has a fixed 4 but it is mounted off center to allow casing ejection. this allows use of iron sights if you wish. I never have though.

[Al Bundy]

One main gun since 1983, 12gauge Browning. Has shot large numbers of waterfowl, some number of whitetails, some turkey.  All I have on it is the factory dark bead at the end of the barrel. No scope.  Never been an issue for me. Second gun a year or two ago now, scoped 30-06 rifle.  Have not gotten a shot yet with the rifle yet.  It can be done without a scope.  Back in the day, nobody in my hunting crew used a scope.

[phade]

I've killed a few deer without a scope. I think there are situations where not having a scope is more beneficial as long as the eyes and skillsets allow. Close range shooting, brushy areas, and pushes/drives are times where I most often used them.

 

My first deer was a buck shot on a dead run at 75 yards using a smoothbore 870 and a double bead. Fired three times and hit him all three times until he cartwheeled end over end a handful of times. With witnesses, too. Let me tell you, as a young young young guy, there was some major crap talking that went on for a few days in my circle. Never really had an appreciation for how good of a shot series that was until much later in life. Doubt I could pull it off again. although I've made some pretty good shots, including a couple 110 yd scoped smoothbore kills with Lightfields. Most of my misses seem to be gimme shots...sort of like a wide receiver turning his head upfield before the ball is tucked into the body.

 

Most all of my deer and turkey guns are scoped nowadays. Can't see nearly as well even though I am still fairly young and drives are pretty rare nowadays.

Edited October 5, 2015 by phade

[aqua750]

Like most I have hunted with both for forty years  but mostly scoped .Recently I bought a winchester mod 94 30-30  with a octagon barrel that was mfgd in 1901 open sights, 114 yrs old , I LOVE THIS GUN!! so I intended to hunt with this exclusively for the rest of my life  until I read elmo's post he is 100% right I do owe these beautiful animals my best shot I realized I would be beyond sick if I hurt one instead of making a clean kill  so thanks elmo looks like Im gonna stick to scoped  or maybe bring both rifles  in with me   only kidding

[jjb4900]

Like most I have hunted with both for forty years  but mostly scoped .Recently I bought a winchester mod 94 30-30  with a octagon barrel that was mfgd in 1901 open sights, 114 yrs old , I LOVE THIS GUN!! so I intended to hunt with this exclusively for the rest of my life  until I read elmo's post he is 100% right I do owe these beautiful animals my best shot I realized I would be beyond sick if I hurt one instead of making a clean kill  so thanks elmo looks like Im gonna stick to scoped  or maybe bring both rifles  in with me   only kidding

pick your shots and you'll be fine..but it depends on your priorities....I've killed deer that were far from impressive to everyone but me, the fact that I killed them with guns that meant something to me made them special.

[wolc123]

There is definitely something to that "special" gun thing. I love hunting with my granddad's old Ithaca 37, 16 ga, pump, smoothbore on his farm which my parents still own and live on. I deliberately pick spots that are a little thicker and don't offer shots much over 75 yards or so to stay well within the gun's limitations. Later in the season, those spots hold more deer anyhow.

I am very well stocked with 16 ga slugs that I got for $1 a box when a sporting goods store up in Brewerton closed a few years back. That beats the heck out of the $3 ea sabots that my 12 ga rifled slug gun likes. The pump also allows for significantly faster follow up shots than the bolt, a feature which I seldom need as the first shot nearly always has done the trick.

The only situation where I would use open sights today would be hunting in a freezing rain. You can always bank on some of that during hunting season here in NY. I am also one of those guy's who doesn't like challenging myself at the possible expense of the deer, so I use a scope whenever I can.

[Daveboone]

I was raised with open sights, and deer hunted with my slug gun for over 25 years with open sights. Also used the  same slug gun for bunny and grouse hunting. Woodchucks with my .22  with open sights. When I bought my first new deer rifle, I put a Leupold 1.5x 5 power on it, because most of my hunting continues to be in woods, and the 5x is plenty for out to 200 yards ...a number of times.

Though most of my rifles now sport low power scopes (I actually have three identical L. vx 3 1.5x5s) I do occasionally hunt with my aperture sight mounted win. 94 30-30. And I am still very proficient with open sights, but limit my shooting to about 50 -75 yards. No question a good scope is a great assist in low light, and being sure of your shot. 

[UpstateNomad90]

After misjudging distance on a deer last year I said this year I would buy a new muzzleloader and use fiber optics for the sights, but I just didn't feel comfortable after my first range session as my groups were just a bit to large for my liking. Ended up scoping it and now I am punching the same holes with the gun. I blame the miss on just being young and simple mistakes. As others have said I want to be as ethical as possible. 

 

 

[Skillet]

Either. I've killed a lot more deer with open sights than scopes. I've never shot a deer past 70 yards. I guess maybe I could have shot at further deer had I been using a scope, but I only remember a couple instances of that. My muzzleloader has open sights, so does my old shotgun. The new shotgun this year will have a scope though.

[philoshop]

I can't even read this forum any more without some eyesight enhancement.

[GreeneHunter]

I can't even read this forum any more without some eyesight enhancement.

LOL .... Same here !

[Jaeger]

I started with winchester 52B's back in the youth division of my old gun club so I (but not my eyes!) am partial to peep sights.

 

I have scoped rifles and they work better in dark woods.

 

Finn Aagaard once did an article, with a counter article from Les Bowman, about how open sights are second best.  His main point was that with open sights the shooter has to switch focus back and forth between 2 (peep) or 3 (traditional) sight components, with blurring one.

 

The primary advantage of the scope, even a straight 1x, was that the cross-hairs and animal were all on the same plane and thus both in focus at the same time,  this has merit.

 

Les Bowman's point was more along the lines of better handling and faster shooting.

 

Aagaard then did a test with scopes, red dots and open sights for speed of acquisition and shooting and ultimately the 1x did the best.  But by fractions of a second.

 

Pays ya money and takes ya choice. I like the handling of open sighted guns and the peep with a bold bead or fiber optic seems to work ok when I'm going to be moving.  On stand, I'll bring the scope.

 

Just my limited experience.