What distance for deer with iron sights?

[HiBC]

Skilled people with good eyes can deliver some amazing accuracy with iron sights..

The OP's question was about what are my limits? What can I do?

With all due respect for what others have said,I'd have to answer "Talk is cheap" for myself

I'd have to go to the range and take a fresh evaluation.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

50 yds is tops. We use shotguns where I live and the vast amount of deer I have taken down have been around 25 yds. Yes, I can shoot open sights now on a target with a rimfire or centerfire to about 100 yds and as a young man could do well on 300 meter targets, but those were "Targets" and never would try on a animal for a effective kill. way Too much risk of injury and not a kill, at least for myself. Heck, even those targets at 300 meters are hard to see much less the bullseye, factor in wind etc. not a easy task.

[Pistoler0]

Ooooh, that flintlock is beautiful!

[Pahoo]

If you hunt, what is the max distance at which YOU be comfortable shooting a deer with iron sights?

I live in Iowa and have hunted most Midwest states. Most of my kills have been under 100yds and sight in at that distance. The kill diameter on a Whitetail is about 18". The longest kill I ever maid, was about 125yds. I have also hunted Colorado and Wyoming and most of those shots were over 100yds and always with optics. ......

Be Safe !!!

[seanc]

Secondly, light, or more correctly, lack of same, will make use of irons difficult in dawn and dusk conditions. I would say that one gives up 20-30 minutes of hunting time daily, if using irons (10-15 minutes every AM/PM). Of course, that is often when game, especially wary bucks, are moving. The problem is amplified in thick cover and shaded/deep terrain, again, where deer may well be found.

^This.

I've taken deer around 100 yards but too many times I've had to pass on deer far closer because I couldn't ethically pull the trigger. The last deer I passed on was only 30 yards away but it was in the last 30 minutes of the day and he was stopped on the edge of the field and there wasn't enough light there to get a good sight picture. That's when I decided to go to optics.

I hunt with bow and firearms. I have lighted pins on my bow and a mix of scopes and red dots on my rifles. The only limit on me is my taking too long to pull the trigger, trying to line up that perfect shot. I'd rather let them walk than take a bad shot.

[stagpanther]

Good question, one I haven't thought about in a while, so I decided to go out and give it a test with my .375 ruger Patriot rifle. It was blowing stink and wind chill was well below zero so I was decked out with hat and gloves--in other words pretty realistic hunting conditions for Maine. I think I could get one where it counts with certainty out to at least 75 yds.

[kymasabe]

Ethical shot? 100 yards is max for me these days with my aging eyes. And notch rear sights are worthless to me, I need aperture rear sight to make that shot.

[Nanuk]

100-150 yards for me, depending on what the deer is doing, weather, cover and maybe how I am feeling that particular day.

[Pistoler0]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

Good question, one I haven't thought about in a while, so I decided to go out and give it a test with my .375 ruger Patriot rifle. It was blowing stink and wind chill was well below zero so I was decked out with hat and gloves--in other words pretty realistic hunting conditions for Maine. I think I could get one where it counts with certainty out to at least 75 yds.

Beautiful rifle!

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by ballardw

The range and position that you can keep all the rounds in about a 4" circle on target.

At one time with the right rifle/ammo and prone that was about 300 yards for me. Now, maybe 60.

For medium game?

4"... is bein' fussy.

I use 6", and even that's a little fussy.


Jack O'Connor, known to have killed a few head of medium game, used 8".

Both the Ruger African 6.5x55 and M1 rifle will ring 8" steel at 300 yards all day long from good field positions/sling.




Red

[Siggy-06]

I have a CZ 457 Lux which has very nice iron sights from the factory. I can hit a 6 inch target at 100 yards consistently with it with a .22lr easy. However, squirrel and rabbit are usually much closer when I take a shot.

[jackstrawIII]

Personally... with irons sights... like 50 yards? Maybe? Probably not even?

I don't use iron sights on anything but a plinker 22... so... not much confidence due to lack of experience.

I've tried a few rifles with irons... but the problem is in lower light or tighter woods. I just don't feel like I can see as well. I want to give myself every possible advantage... so I use optics.

[JustJake]

I've tried a few rifles with irons... but the problem is in lower light or tighter woods. I just don't feel like I can see as well. I want to give myself every possible advantage... so I use optics.

Old School rule of thumb regarding iron-sights and light:

"light's up, sights up" ... light's down, sights down."

You just need to practice shooting with irons in different lighting. But that requires much range time and a significant expenditure of ammunition. Not for the lazy or folks who've got "a lotta quit" in them.

[Pistoler0]

Originally Posted by Doyle

For me, it's what would generally be considered "bow range". Anything longer and I'm wanting a scope (61 year old eyes don't work like 21 year old eyes).

Yes, but there is bow range and bow range.

People regularly shoot 60+ yards in 3D bow competitions which leads me to believe that 100 yards with a rifle and iron-sights, in good lighting conditions, should be reasonable.

[GarandTd]

I have not taken a deer with iron sights. That being said, I sight in at 100yds and feel I shoot well enough to pull that off. But, my deer rifle has a scope on it and I use it out of habit. Last fall I shot a buck at 30 yds. I didn't even think to use the irons. Went straight to the scope.

[seanc]

Hunting bow range is not 60 yards. Competition isn't shooting at a living animal.

The only relationship I'd consider there to be with extreme bow/rifle range is time in flight. When a bullet takes as long as an arrow to reach it's target, then you need to think about animal movement more than your own accuracy. If your projectile is traveling faster than the speed of sound, your theoretical limit is within your naked eye range. The practical limit is what distance you've practiced at and your available light on your sights and your target.

[Picher]

Normally, I'd say about 75 yards is reasonable for iron sights. But knowledge of friends faced with deer and misses, I'd have to say, "It depends on the hunter." My buddy had an open-sighted Marlin 336, .30-30.

Once, when we were about 16, he had a nice buck stand about 40 yards away in the woods while he quickly fired ALL of his 5 shots right over its back, not noticing that the REAR SIGHT wasn't part of the picture he saw. No more ammo, (which I knew). I yelled to him from over a hundred yards: "Did you get him?" The answer was, "No". Next question: "Which way did he go?" Answer: "Nowhere, he's just standing here looking at me."

The buck got away and I never saw him.

[stinkeypete]

Great story, Picher!

It reminds me of a Minnesota hunting joke.
Sven: “911! Help, help! Send a helecopter! I shot Ole! He’s dead!”
911 operarior: “Are you sure he’s dead?”
Sven: BOOM. “Yup, now for sure.”

[Brian Pfleuger]

There's a big difference between the theoretical ability of hunter and firearm and the reality of hunting conditions.

Animals have a way of facing directions you don't like, coming from places you don't expect, standing right in the sun glare, making you lean funny directions, stand there aiming for 10 minutes while they stare you down... etc, etc.

There's also a big difference between hunting heavily pressured woods where you can only see 100 yards and most animals will be running and/or never move voluntarily during daylight vs the edges of lightly hunted fields where animals congregate during daylight hours and allow plenty of time to pick and choose your shot.

Anyone who hunts, know this.

I've shot many, many deer (dozens) with a 12ga, smooth bore slug gun with a peep sight and front bead, at distances from barely clear of the muzzle to 75+ yards and never had any trouble. Mostly, I almost never knew the actual range. Too many variables and not enough time. You just learn to *know*, "Yes, I can make that shot." or "No, I can't".

Not because you know it is 75.3 yards, you're zeroed at 23.7 and 120.5, the wind is from 037 at 15 knots....
But because you know what you can do and what you can't.
If you don't know, don't do it.

[Prof Young]

I had an in line muzzle loader with open sights. Knocked a whitetail down at 80 yards. He dropped in his tracks. The thing is . . . I was aiming for double lung shot and hit him mid spine. Hmmmmmm . . . .

Life is good
Prof Young

[Don Fischer]

eye's not so hot anymore so never, well, seldom use iron sight's today. If I did, I think I would look at it similar as my scope sighting, max point blank range zero. No matter what scope I use I go with a dead on hold out to close to 300 yds. I'm not sure that is realistic though with open sight's. But I do believe anyone could find the range that their eyes work well with with open sight's and then I'd simply go max point blank to there. Little secrete to using open sight's. Get a rear aperature sight, peep. With most you can screw out the peep. do it and sight through the opening that's left. Not as clear as with the insert but the light will still draw your eye to the center of the opening and you'll be able to see better.

[Old Stony]

I actually like using iron sights, as my deer hunting is usually under 100 yards. I took two with a Marlin 38/55 this last season with no problems, but both were in the 50-60 yd. range. I like to shoot traditional muzzleloaders too, and iron sights are the norm for them. A good .50 caliber works just fine at the 50 yd. range.

[603Country]

Back when I was a teenager, my Dad bought lever action Marlins for himself and my brother and I. They went straight to using scopes, but I decided to stay with iron sights. My Grandpa, former rifle and machine gun instructor in WW1, had taught me to shoot. I didn’t need a scope, and I was young, with good eyes. Well, they killed a lot more deer than I did, and did less tracking. I finally had to admit that using iron sights at dusk was just not working for me. I got a 4x scope and all was good from then on.

[Double K]

I can hit the high-power silhouette rams pretty consistently at 547yards off the bench, in good light with a low heartbeat, that's a far cry from actual hunting conditions. Deer are most active at dawn and dusk, generally the don't stand around and pose for perfect broadside shots, given these facts 70yds has always been the limit for me even when I had perfect 25yr old vision. I've shot a few antelope farther than that with aperture sights on a muzzleloader but also missed more than I care to admit.

[Nathan]

@red devil: What kind of rifle is that?