Anybody Out There Hunting Big Game With Open Sights.

[ZeroJunk]

Reason I ask is that I had a neighbor growing up that killed a lot of deer with a pre-war Model 70 30-06 with peep sights. I shot a 3 inch group with it at 100 yards myself, although I don't know if I could do it now. I was really quite surprised.

Seeing as how most shots are inside of 100 yards is the scope so indispensable? Hard to find a high powered bolt rifle with sights anymore.

 

[nathaniel]

My first deer rifle (savage 111F) had over/under scope mounts and I used the irons for anything under 100 yards. I traded it for a Savage 10 in 308 so I no longer have a deer rifle with iron sights on it other than my AR.

 

[Bigfatts]

All my primary hunting rifles are open sighted. Some traditional open sights, some peeps. The only rifles I own with scopes are my wife's .22 squirrel gun and my AR. There's no real need for a scope where I hunt and nothing ruins a nice handling rifle like a big clumsy scope.

 

[rmocarsky]

Winchester 94 Wilson firesight up front;

SKS Paratrooper rear peep, Wilson firesight up front;

Remington 1100 12 gauge, fully rifled barrel, factory open sight.

All others scoped.

Rmocarsky

 

[mavracer]

I don't deer hunt any more, wife dissapproves of all hunting. we came to a compramise I only hunt birds and pigs. I have since sold all my "hunting guns" and now have a collection of Cowboy guns and US Military longarms.I however I'd feel adequatly armed for any game. Just limited on range a little, I think I'd have little problem out to 250 yards with my M1A given proper conditions.

 

[huntinaz]

I shot my first deer with a 30-30 and my first elk with a 300 savage, both had peep sights. I occaisionally hunt coyotes with my 45 colt levergun, open sights rule in the thick stuff. The vast majority of my hunting is done with a scoped rifle or a shotgun these days though.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I take "short range / dense cover" rifles on every Elk hunt, and some Deer hunts.
They all have iron sights.

The only reason my "primary" rifles have scopes, is because I've never been able to close in to less than 200 yards on stationary Elk, due to terrain (and I shoot more antelope than anything else - at ranges of 100 yards to 600 yards). I've been plenty close to running herds, massive bulls in a spike-only unit, and sleeping bulls (that are hidden so well you don't know they're there until they're gone).

Yea... my "short range / dense cover" Elk rifles are essentially useless, unless I can learn to get closer. But, I take them on every trip.

Iron sights are not a handicap. It's just that most shooters seem to be too lazy to learn how to use them properly (and you're not cool if you don't have a $2,700 tacticool scope on your megamagnum - even though you're hunting whitetail, at 20 yards, from a stand).

One of these days, I'll learn the habits of Elk, like I have Antelope. When I do, the iron sight rifles will definitely come out more. Until then, I have to stick with the magnification. Antelope are a toss-up. If I'm in a hurry (don't have 4-5 days for a hunt), I have to take longer shots with scoped rifles (250-400 yards). If I have 4+ days for a hunt, though... I play psychological games with the Antelope, until they let me get close enough for an iron sight kill. Even though I generally have a scoped rifle on me, I wouldn't hesitate to go with any of my iron sight rifles.

My iron sight hunting rigs:
Tula SKS, 7.62x39mm - a thumbhole composite stock, and removal of the bayonet are the only mods. It does very well, and I have learned to shoot it instinctively (shoulder it, and it's on target). The old, modified "hunting round", steel-core surplus projectiles are amazingly effective on Elk (surplus that the exporters ground the tip off of, and called it a "soft point" - haven't seen any imported since the late '90s).

Krag-Jorgensen (CMP) Carbine, .30-40 Krag - haven't owned this long enough to get to know it well. Has an original front sight, but the rear is a Marbles' buckhorn.

Mosin M38 Carbine, 7.62x54R - great little rig. This was picked up specifically for short-range Elk, and has not been modified at all. (I would like to throw a Timney trigger in it for the side safety, and to kill the creep.)

Iron sights are very effective. Shooters just have to be willing to take the time to learn to use them properly.

 

[BIG P]

I use a saiga 308 & aRuger deerfield 44mag open sights hog / deer in the swamp works good with carbines

 

[James H]

My uncle always used a Rem 700 .30-06 with iron sights in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I've never had a shot farther than 60 yds up there and haven't ever heard of much more than 120. Lots of tag alder in the swamps and even in the woods you're not taking shots over farm fields or plains or in the mountains. He shot some nice deer with that gun. This was back in the '70s and '80s before I started hunting in the '90s.

Can you even find a bolt rifle with iron sights these days? Would that be a special order from the factory or custom smithing job?

 

[Scorch]

Anybody Out There Hunting Big Game With Open Sights

I had a neighbor growing up that killed a lot of deer with a pre-war Model 70 30-06 with peep sights.

I believe you meant iron sights. Peep sights are not open sights, they are aperture or peep sights. Open sights are like the sights the gun companies used to put on their rifles to make people think they could hit stuff with them.

Seeing as how most shots are inside of 100 yards is the scope so indispensable?

The main advantage of a scope is the ability to focus on the animal rather than focusing on the front sight. Your natural tendency (and the reason people miss with iron sights) is to look at your target, so scopes just take that factor out of aiming and shooting. Sure, they have magnification, but we used to shoot ground squirrels at 400 yds with Weaver 2.5X28 K2.5 and 4X32 K4 scopes because we didn't know it couldn't be done without a 32 power scope with a 58mm objective lens.

 

[HiBC]

This year's antelope tag is muzzleloader.I never did put a picatinny rail on my Hawken,so I suppose the original type sights will be fine.

 

[shortwave]

My preferred long gun for deer hunting Ohio would have open sights.

Today, my eyes prefer a scope. Something I had to face up to as I owe that to the game I'm hunting.

Problem is, I'm still learning to 'pick game up' sufficiently through a scoped long gun(black powder) in the thick terrain here.

I don't have the same problem with a handgun, just long gun.

Been hunting primarily open sights most of my life with the exception of scoped varmint rifle's.
Hunted varmints in mostly open fields/railroad tracks with shots ranging from 100-600yds.
Never seemed to have target acquisition problem varmint hunting.

When I 1st started deer handgun hunting, it was open sights. I then scoped a 44mag. Never had problem picking up target.

The last couple years, my primary deer gun has been a scoped 50cal Encore. I don't have a problem with fast target acquisition out to 250yds when target shooting/varmint hunting open range but put me in the close, thick stuff and my problems start. Think I've got some kind of 'mental block' or something

I've got a hunting pardner thats never hunted with anything but a scoped long gun and can pickup his target faster than most with open sights.

Guess its what we grew up doing

 

[ZeroJunk]

I believe you meant iron sights. Peep sights are not open sights,

No, I meant peep sights. Matter of fact that was the only rifle with peep sights I have ever shot. Always hunted as a kid with open sights on a 22, usually a 241 Remington or 61 Winchester. I had been hunting for 7 or 8 years before I owned a rifle with a scope, but there was no deer season here yet.

Back to the peep, it was really intriguing because the aperture was not small at all for hunting purposes, but if you centered the front it was quite effective. Don't know how it would be in low light.

Must have been common back when because as I recall the old Model 70's were drilled for a side mount peep.

But, I think if I try using iron again it will be the common slotted blade type.

Still considering how to get rid of weight, bulk, and still be effective.

 

[Sensai]

For me it depends on what I'm hunting and where. I prefer aperture sights (peep sights) to open sights like Buckhorns, because of my old eyes. When I'm hunting in the swamps or other tight cover, or if I'm hunting something that might hunt me back, it's a fast pointing rifle with iron sights. If the cover is more open I use a scope. The important thing, in my opinion of course, is to practice with what you hunt with. If you're going to use both, like I do, that means a lot of range time. You also need to practice as close to like you hunt as possible. Shooting from a bench doesn't do a lot of good in preparing someone to still hunt in a swamp.

 

[Scout]

For me it's a matter of deteriorating eyesight. I hunted with open and aperture sights when I was younger than 40, then overnight my ability to use those effectively really dropped off

 

[sixgun67]

I haven't used optical sights to hunt with in many years. Now, my shots on deer would never be longer than 150yds or so from any parcel of land that I hunt, and from my stand, the longest shot would be only 40 yds. My go-to rifle to hunt with is a sporterized M-44 (rugged, reliable and who cares if you scratch it), but I do have two other rifles that are scoped, just not hunted with very often.
My buddies use scopes in order to get a few extra minutes of hunting at the end of the day, but with my bad eyes, I'm walking to the 4 wheeler as soon as I can't see my front sight clearly.
sixgun

 

[cole k]

I've been using aperture sights for over 40 years.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Took the scope off my Ruger 77 last year for maintenance, been using it that way ever since.

 

[Old Grump]

Mossberg 20 gauge shotgun with rifle sights, (back up gun), Lyman Cougar inline BP with aperture sight, (Muzzle load season), Win 94 32 Win spcl, (woods walking gun). Scoped medium and big game rifles .308 H&R single shot and Wby 300 Mag. Primary gun depends on what and where I am hunting.

One of the perq's of getting old is you get more toys to choose from.

 

[ACP230]

When the weather is lousy I take my Mossberg 590 with the ghost ring peep sights.

I started deer hunting with a single-barrel 12 gauge break open shotgun. Next up was a cut-down 1917 Enfield with the standard military peep sight and a redone front sight.

Then I got a Browning BAR and put a Weaver 1.5-4.5
variable scope on it.
My favorite deer rifle now is a Ruger 77RL with a Leupold 2-7 power scope.

I can still use peep sights despite my advancing decrepitude. In some situations they are better than scopes. In my experience those situations usually revolve around rain, wet snow, or other annoying weather conditions.