Time to make a change

[nyantler]

Found myself today hunting on about 2 inches of snow on our lease... tracked a buck bedded on a side hill... as I looked down at him 50 yards away I could see horns but not good enough against the backdrop of blowdown to tell if I wanted to take him... so I didn't shoot... I watched him for a minute thinking he was smaller than I wanted and figured I'd wait him out.. just about then he got a whiff of me and got up quickly to get out of dodge...he was a much better buck than I first thought and it caught me by surprise... he was doing that fast walk they do when they are sneaking out... it was a chip shot.. so I thought...maybe 40 yards.. I picked a spot quickly and pulled the trigger like I've done dozens of time... he just kept trotting along out of sight around a small hill... i ran to the other side of the hill and there he was trotting along about 70 yards out now.. I picked a spot and pulled the trigger again... after a 500 yard track in the snow to posted property I realized I never touched him.. I had to chuckle.. that is the second time I've had chip shots at a good buck in 2 years and missed cleanly both times...I knew my eyes were getting bad, but I didn't realize how bad.. shooting at a white target.. its easy for me to see my iron sights... but I'm having a little trouble in the woods I think with the natural backdrop especially if the deer is moving at all... never use to be a problem... I think I'm going to go to some fiber optic stuff... I use to have 20/10 vision.. not any more...those two deer are the only bucks I've missed since I killed my first buck in the early 80's... when I think of it I still chuckle to myself... when God puts them in front of ya.. you're suppose to kill 'em Joe ...

[pistolp71]

Cmon Joe, you have to close the deal! At least they were clean misses, you were lucky. Would a low power large objective scope help you?

[nyantler]

Cmon Joe, you have to close the deal! At least they were clean misses, you were lucky. Would a low power large objective scope help you?

Thats what I'm considering... if I'd have hit that deer at all I'd have gotten him on the snow... just tough to catch up to one that isn't slowed down at all by a bullet..lol.. I must have kicked the crap out of the air around him though... I was using a single shot rifle.. reloaded and got another shot and still missed... maybe I'm just getting to be a bad shot!!! Although, I felt hurried a bit even though I was calm.. maybe that contributed...nah.. I just plain missed!!

[wooly]

At 50yds I'm surprised you didn't reach for one of your ninja throwing stars,LMAO

[Pygmy]

With my old eyes, regular V notch open sights are useless anymore...

However, a peep sight still works well... I use peeps on my Hawken .50 cal. and my M-1. One DISADVANTAGE of a peep is that it does not work as well in real low light conditions.

The best alternative though IMHO would be a ligtweight, low power scope .

2.5 or 3 x would be perfect, and once you get used to it, you'll find it's better and faster for moving targets than your open sights.

Actually, I have a 1.5-4X Leupold that would be a great scope for a light single shot, but I'm not sure I want to part with it.

I also have a Burris compact 4X, but I consider 4X borderline overpowered for close cover hunting. It will work, but a 2X or 3X works that much better.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Well ya know what you are going to hear....... If you were not so freakin hung up on the rack then you would now have meat in the freezer.... Some might never understand our way of thinking... Had to be fun playin in the snow though!!

[132 eight pointer]

Sorry you didn't bring that buck home Joe. I have heard that after about age 40 our eyes start to deteriorate.I know mine have.Scopes are great as long as they stay tight and are high quality. Red dots are nice and quick to get on target , no magnification on some.If you go with fiber optics make sure of the quality as well, I broke my front sight fiber last year while hunting but was still able to look through the empty hole and shoot a doe.I'm sure you will figure it out.Look on the bright side, you had a more entertaining day than a lot of us and you might still get that buck.Good luck !

[dave6x6]

Sorry to hear about your bad fortune today Joe.. Would have loved to see you posting a dandy on here with a big ol' smile on your face. One thing is for sure, Age shows no mercy.. You can eat right and work out and stay in shape but pretty hard to exercise those eyes to make them stronger.. Something tells me you will recall this days with fondness someday. but probably not this day.

[nyslowhand]

Welcome to the Father Time club.

Wait until you graduate into tri-focal glasses.

1st it's iron sights on the rifle or shotgun and then for me it was the peep sight on my bow string.

Just have to learn how to play with the hand that you're dealt!!

[steve863]

Well ya know what you are going to hear....... If you were not so freakin hung up on the rack then you would now have meat in the freezer....

Close, but NOT quite. LOL What makes some of us chuckle is how some people think that when a big one does finally show up, that it's going to be an easy slam dunk. LOL It obviously wasn't a slam dunk on the big one here, and it surely may not have been a slam dunk on any of those that were passed up beforehand. I have heard people say " I easily could have taken that spike or forkhorn" more times than I could count. "Easily" my buttocks. Until a deer is down and out, NO one can be 100% certain that the deer is going to be dead after the shot. That to me is nothing but wishful overconfidence.

[Doewhacker]

_{Hey Joe perhaps a seeing eye dog would help, you could train it to find the deer and shoot them too. can you even see this font?}

[WNYBuckHunter]

Actually, I have a 1.5-4X Leupold that would be a great scope for a light single shot, but I'm not sure I want to part with it.

So you DO have a variable power scope! HA!

[nyantler]

I didn't say it was a slam dunk.. I said it was a chip shot... very makable but not a guarantee.. one of those shots that everyone would like to have and that I have made dozens of times before... I think I've said before that there are no sure shots.. just shots that are way better than others... for the record it had nothing to do with being hung up on the rack.. just plain and simple bad shooting.. no excuses... thats why "I" chuckled... it still was a great hunt and a great experience... one I will always remember.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Sorry to hear about the miss Joe, keep at it!

[nyantler]

Thanks for the scope offers guys, but I think I'm gonna stick to open sights.. just get some fiber optic ones that I can see better.. I do use a peep on my Hawkin and might consider that as well... or maybe just start carrying that during the regular season.

[Doewhacker]

I put those fiber optic iron sights on my ML which is a Hawken style Lyman. They are 100% better in my opnion then what it had before.

[nyantler]

yeah I've seen them on other guns and I liked them... seems like the best idea for me at this point.. I'm at the point where I can see the sights if I put on my readin glasses but then the target is blurry... I can still see the sites with my naked eye but they aren't clear like they use to be... I put some florescent paint on the front sight and that helped a bit.. but obviously not enough..

Edited December 9, 2011 by nyantler

[nyantler]

Sorry to hear about your bad fortune today Joe.. Would have loved to see you posting a dandy on here with a big ol' smile on your face. One thing is for sure, Age shows no mercy.. You can eat right and work out and stay in shape but pretty hard to exercise those eyes to make them stronger.. Something tells me you will recall this days with fondness someday. but probably not this day.

I recall all my hunting days with fondness.. I never get bent out of shape over a deer its just another deer... in fact. after I checked and was sure I didn't hit the buck i started out in search of another.. I would have stayed on him had he not gone to posted property... but thats how it goes... there are plenty more where he came from and maybe I'll get another crack at him... suppose to snow here overnight.. so I'm guessing I'll have another opportunity at a good buck maybe this weekend.

[bkln]

_{Hey Joe perhaps a seeing eye dog would help, you could train it to find the deer and shoot them too. can you even see this font?}

...LOL...You are killing me here Doewhacker.....

[G-Man]

It happens no shot is a gimme... maybe a nice big peep over the fiber optics will be the ticket!

[nyantler]

It happens no shot is a gimme... maybe a nice big peep over the fiber optics will be the ticket!

Now thats an idea!!

[Nomad]

I scoped my SG, years ago. For me it worked out good, a 1.75-3 I believe. Older eyes, and switched from shooting right handed to left, right eye just got weaker and left is my master eye as well. Neither switch was hard. Those sights on my BPS were nice, small and precise. Not so good for older/weaker eyes though.

Today I have bi-focals, which really suck.

Good luck .

[nyantler]

my only reason for not going to a scope is because of the way I hunt and the type of cover I hunt in.. I tried when my eyes were good and had a tough time with it in tight quarters.. I really like open sights...maybe someday when I can't walk the woods like I can now I may not have any choice but to go with a scope.

[Dave]

my only reason for not going to a scope is because of the way I hunt and the type of cover I hunt in.. I tried when my eyes were good and had a tough time with it in tight quarters.. I really like open sights...maybe someday when I can't walk the woods like I can now I may not have any choice but to go with a scope.

Joe, now that you have a problem seeing maybe you owe it to the deer you hunt to use a scope. If you can't hit a chip shot with open sights you may eventually start to wound deer, better spring for better optics. Edited December 10, 2011 by Dave

[nyantler]

Joe, now that you have a problem seeing maybe you owe it to the deer you hunt to use a scope. If you can't hit a chip shot with open sights you may eventually start to wound deer, better spring for better optics.

my eyesight isn't terrible.. I just realized that I don't see my old iron sights as well as I use to... especially when a deer is moving... I don't have a problem if they're standing still ... which is not very often if you hunt the way I hunt... I have checked out the fiber optic sights and they are much much better... having all my guns converted over.