September 26, 2012, 11:40 PM | #1 |
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Hunting with iron sights.
Does anyone here hunt with iron sights, i.e. no scope mounted? I don't mean exclusively, but now and then?
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September 26, 2012, 11:50 PM | #2 |
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Yup, sporterized Arisaka with model 70 winchester sights
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September 26, 2012, 11:53 PM | #3 |
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Yes.
sudo passwd root |
September 27, 2012, 02:23 AM | #4 |
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Yes, usually when hunting small game, such as ground squirrels or rabbits.
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September 27, 2012, 03:33 AM | #5 |
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I took a couple deer with Williams peep sights on my Marlin, then scoped it. I am going to do the scope one more year then go back to the peep sights. I don't really have a good reason, just like changing my setup once in a while. With my previous deer gun (Ithaca 37) I took deer with iron sights, scope, and a red dot.
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September 27, 2012, 06:18 AM | #6 |
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I've killed deer (and coyotes) with open sights on my handguns, shotguns and rifles.
Lately though, especially when being concerned with quick, humane kills (and shorter tracking jobs), I've pretty much switched to hunting with scopes (red-dots on the handguns and shotgun). Lots of critters have been killed with open sights but these days I like to have every advantage I can. The last hunting gun I have with open sights is my SBH 357. I'll still use it, but more as a backup during hunting season or on tracking jobs. |
September 27, 2012, 06:43 AM | #7 |
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I learned the proper way -without scope !
All my handguns are iron sighted . This year it's going to be a rifle with iron sights .All my iron sights are proper Patridge sights which is what I learned with.
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September 27, 2012, 08:05 AM | #8 |
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Marlin 336 with a peep/post for Pacific Northwest Coastal woods. You need quick target acquisition in these conditions!
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September 27, 2012, 08:05 AM | #9 |
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As a lover of traditional muzzle loaders that is what I use mostly as do many others who do not use modern rifles for hunting.
Open iron sights work, as they have for many centuries. |
September 27, 2012, 08:25 AM | #10 |
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See my post with the coyote. No scope on that Saiga.
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September 27, 2012, 11:29 AM | #11 |
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I have hunted with a scope in the past, but scopes are expensive and fragile so I switched to iron peeps, and set up my sons guns with peeps also. I have two Deer to my credit with peeps, my son nailed a bull Elk with peeps, I have a friend who took a Mule Deer with the funky factory barrel mounted ramp sight on his 336 30/30!
Iron sights rock. They bring home the bacon, cost less than scopes, and teach a valuable skill to fall back on if you should ever break a scope that you do use. |
September 27, 2012, 11:59 AM | #12 |
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"[As a lover of traditional muzzle loaders that is what I use mostly as do many others who do not use modern rifles for hunting.
Open iron sights work, as they have for many centuries]" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Exactly, Durring BP season Y/D
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September 27, 2012, 01:07 PM | #13 |
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I am really starting to hate scopes. They can be a pain. I've deer hunted for 10 years with scopes. Last year I shot a deer at over 400 yards with my Savage 110 .243 rifle. But I can't remember how many I couldn't get a shot on because they were running and the scope just slowed me down. Plus with the rain, fog, and dark scopes can be annoying. This week I went rifle hunting my first time ever without a scope, bear hunted for the first time too. I have to say even though I didn't even see a bear, I absolutely love using sights. Much less of a headache. I'll trade a crazy long distance shot for a few close range shots, fine with me.
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September 27, 2012, 01:22 PM | #14 | |
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Quote:
I have hunted with both "open" sights and scopes. Spent a good 10 years hunting deer without a scope. I can't stand not having optics. Every gun I've ever owned has been scoped (yes, the years I hunted deer with open sights it wasn't my gun). One year, I tried an unmagnified Red Dot on my shotgun. I'm so used to picking tiny little spots to shoot at that I couldn't get myself to pull the trigger on any of a group of doe just 70 or so yards away. That thing went away that night and I went back to a 3-9x I typically move about with my scopes set on at least 5, sometimes 7 power. I have taken (and hit) shots on running deer as close as 15 or 20 feet with the scope on 5x and never had target acquisition issues. The only thing I can think with people who have trouble with scopes is that they bring their heads to the gun instead of the gun to their heads. If you're looking at the target and bring the gun to your eye, it will be, by necessity, aimed at the target. Anyway, in reference to the OP, yes I have hunted with open sights. I can hit with them just fine, I just hate it. Does archery count? I still have "open sights" on my bow!
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September 27, 2012, 02:07 PM | #15 |
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Yes. My primary hunting rifle is a Winchester 94 Ranger with a Williams peep sight on it. I usually can't see anything more than 50 yards away. When the light is bad or if I am walking, I take the screw in thing with the aperture out and use (the larger) hole that's left behind as the rear sight.
I have a bolt action rifle with a scope, but unless I'm going somewhere that I am going to be shooting over 100 yards, I don't use it. |
September 27, 2012, 02:34 PM | #16 | |
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cornbush:
Quote:
Good luck!
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September 27, 2012, 05:11 PM | #17 |
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Better than1/2 century with no scope while walking on Mother Earth. Peeps & Iron sights. It's a matter of choice at the time for me.
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September 27, 2012, 05:53 PM | #18 |
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It's too hard to find a moving target in brush with a scope. They get behind cover or over the ridge. I don't have a problem finding targets in a scope, just ones running behind cover. Plus with bad weather conditions, I've had so many annoying issues. It's just so much simpler to use sights to me.
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September 27, 2012, 06:20 PM | #19 |
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All my guns but 3 are iron sighted and one of those 3 I don't hunt with.
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September 27, 2012, 06:33 PM | #20 |
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Now and then I like to go retro.....1948 Winchester 52B Sporter with Lyman 48F peeps.
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September 27, 2012, 07:05 PM | #21 |
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I've never hunted with a scope. Then at 56 (my age) my dad gave me a still-in-box 1982 Browning BBR. I've put a 3-9x50 Nikon on it, practiced at the range, and am anxious to go hunting with it this fall.
I hope it lives up to my expectations. But kind of to your point, I'm teaching a 9 year old boy to shoot. The first time out we were with a friend and his boys. We had a selection of .22s and he fired them all. He loved the scoped rifles. Then we were at the range this last weekend and I was more serious about technique, since he had a good solid start on safety. From bags he shot both a scoped .22 and a non-scoped .22. But he greatly preferred the scoped rifle. Then the last thing before we left I spent some time getting a sling adjusted for him on the non-scoped rifle. Sitting with the sling and using iron sights he shot a significantly better group at 25 yards than he did with the scoped rifle on bags. Then we left :-) Last night his mom told me he had commented that the scopes were cool, but maybe he didn't need them :-) NRA Life Member ------------------------ "There are some ideas so preposterous that only an intellectual will believe them." - Malcolm Muggeridge |
September 27, 2012, 10:52 PM | #22 |
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I have never had a scope on my shot guns....
My 458 Lott never will be scoped.
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September 27, 2012, 11:24 PM | #23 |
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A mixed bag for hunting.
Some scoped...some not: Pistols are divided. Three with, four without...a couple with Accudots. C/F Rifles: two with, one without. Black powder: Inlines, three with, one without. Sidelocks, four without. Several Shotguns, zero scoped. Note...as I get older the eyes seem to be fading much faster then my desire to quit hunting. I'm finding the scopes are becoming more of a friend. Last edited by shortwave; September 29, 2012 at 01:17 AM. |
September 28, 2012, 07:36 PM | #24 |
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Hunting with iron sights
1895 Marlin 45-70 with aperture rear sight. You can eat right up to the hole with cast bullets.
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September 29, 2012, 09:20 AM | #25 |
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I occasionally use one of my iron sighted lever guns. But from a practical perspective scopes do everything better. If you are having trouble getting on target quickly, or having reliablity issues with a scope you are either doing something wrong or using the wrong scope.
In good light, with quality sights, I can hit deer sized game just as far away with irons as with a scope. It is not the magnification. A quality scope, designed for hunting helps you see your target better. It doesn't matter what conditions you hunting in. Close range, low light, bad weather, moving targets are all picked up and seen better with some sort of optic. The problem is that everyone wants to skimp on the cost of optics and try to buy the cheapest SNIPER scope they can find and put it on a hunting rifle. They end up with a heavy scope with too much magnification, too little eye relief and cheap glass that is a handicap to them. Put a lightweight, low powered scope with generous eye relief and quality glass on a deer rifle, learn to shoot with both eyes open and the difference is amazing. |
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