[twoblink]

I am of the "iron sights" group. I find them fast to use, and fairly accurate, and not too bad (cheaper then a scope by far!!) and they are rugged, no real fog problems, no cracked glass, very little zeroing problems etc..

I have friends that tell me you can't really go hunting without using glass..

I am going to call BS on that..

From those who hunt deer, what is your usual hunting range? On good days, I'm about 1.5 MOA with a rifle and iron sights.. (308Win) I don't think I'd shoot at anything over 200yards.

So let me know your general "deer" range, and what your "personal" range limit you would dare take a shot at is.

[3 gun]

I agree, iron sights are useful for hunting. Away from the bench, in a field position, I can stay on a 10" paper plate out to 300 yards with iron sights. I'd call that my max. But given the land I've done most of my hunting on allows a shot of only 75-100 yards it's never been an issue. Iron sight work as well if not better than glass in those woods. If failing eyesight did force me to glass, it would be a 3 or 4 MOA red dot scope.

If I were to hunt land that would allow shots of 200 yards and over a low power scope would become much more appealing. Even then I'm not sure that my personal max range would increase. A clean kill is still an important ethical point in my mind.

[stubby]

One advantage the scope has is low light use. I too prefer the iron sights but find a scope much superior in low light conditions and that is pretty common in hunting situations. I have killed dozens of whitetail deer most with scoped rifles but my best buck was with a lever action 45 Colt Marlin Cowboy with open sights.:D

[scotjute]

My farthest deer kill with iron sights has been 75 yds. Feel very confident of hitting one out to 125 yds. given a sufficient sight picture, past that, at this point(in my shooting experience) I don't take the shot.

[dongun]

I use iron sights on my brush gun. Better for getting on a whitetail that is going to be out of sight in about 3 seconds.

On the other hand, when hunting from a box blind with longer ranges, using glass is my preferred method.

[Smoke]

For me open sight range is about 125yrds. Less if target is moving, I don't have some kind of rest, etc....

Most deer here are taken inside of 75 yards. Brush and terrain don't allow many shots at distances over that.

My old Winchester 30-30 with open sights is still one of my favorite brush guns.

I also have a Mod. 99 300 savage with a low power scope that works well too.

[Art Eatman]

When I started out in centerfire, I used a scope because that's what my father and uncle had. No other reason. Later on, I had no choice because of the aging-eyeball problem.

However, if one hunts during first and last light of the day, a scope is just about mandatory. It's a safety factor for other hunters, among other things. I've also known iron-sight hunters to become greatly embarrassed because they "grew horns" on prickly-pears or stumps. :)

It can also be a bit of a bother in a poor-light situation to shoot a six-pointer and find it's two up and four down and the rancher is truly bent out of shape. Uncool. :D

All that said, out of some 45? 50? deer I've done in during hunt season, only maybe four or so were shot beyond 150 or so yards, and only two out beyond 250. Probably 20+ of them were shot inside of 100 yards.

Art

[cratz2]

Well, many states limit deer hunting to shotgun or black powder and some folks still use iron sights. My wife's dad takes two deer a year (possibly more ;) ) and uses either an 11-87 or a TC black powder rifle. Or a bow. Neither of firearms have glass and he's taken deer at over 125 yards. Granted, he has little ties at 10, 20, 30, 50, 100 and 125 yards so range estimation isn't a problem.

For a centerfire rifle, with good iron sights, I can see 200 yards. Of course, depending on what the shooter is actually capable of. Guess I'd use the 6" rule... The distance I can keep almost all my shots inside 6" at under expected field conditions. Might even drop it down to 4" or 5".

I must admit that my 336 (and AR which I wouldn't hunt deer with) is the only centerfire rifle that has usable iron sights And I've only shot it at 100 yards. Never tried past that. All the rest have scopes, except the MilSurps.

[Loach]

For a centerfire rifle, with good iron sights, I can see 200 yards.

I've been considering putting quality iron sights on one of my deer rifles, but I havn't any idea what constitutes "good iron sights". What would you folks recommend putting on a Savage 110?

[goon]

If you can use iron sights, go ahead and use them.
My first experience with a scope involved me getting over confident and wounding a deer that I should have killed cleanly.
It ran about a mile, and we found it slumped over a log, almost bled out but still alive.
I shot it again in the head, but is still thrashed around for several minutes. It was about the most sickening thing that I have ever witnessed, and it made me think about not hunting again.
I removed the scope and decided that I should get REALLY good with irons before I attempted that one again.
I hunted that way for several years.
My hunting rifles now wear scopes, but still have irons under them that are zeroed as back ups. I won't buy a gun that doesn't have sights on it, and I refused to let them remove the sights to install a scope on any of my rifles. That is how important they are to me.
As far as the range, I would only go about 200 with iron sights, and that would depend on the rifle as well, and I would have to either be prone or resting on something. I could add probably another 100 or so with the scope, but still not too much.
After all, this ain't combat, and your life doesn't depend on this shot. Why take it if you risk injuring the animal? You are better off to let it go.
I appreciate the value of a scope, especially for shooting squirrels high up in trees, but I have shot a lot without them too.
Use what works for you.

[Poodleshooter]

I find that iron sights obscure more of the target than scopes do. In a situation where your target is well camoflaged, this is quite a handicap. Iron sighted shots at distance are "relatively" easy when you have nice big perfectly round black bullseyes on white paper, and much more difficult, when the target is brown, moving, and against a grey/black/tan/green background in dim light.
Of course, in the east this is a moot point, as most deer are shot inside 75 yds.
I use irons on my shotgun and muzzleloaders due to the range limitation, but my deer rifles are scoped.

[twoblink]

My friend in Oregon says, even with a scoped 308, he won't try anything over maybe 150 yards, and most his shots are 75-100. If that's the case, I think irons are fine..

Scopes do work a lot better in low-light, I admit.

[redneck2]

in 30+ years of deer hunting....a few observations

"typically" deer are seen at first and last light, unless pushed. Scopes are a big asset.

I guess I most agree with the above post about targets. What you can hit when it's 80 degrees, off a bench, at a well defined target isn't reality. Here, deer are hunted in cold weather and typically under less than ideal lighting conditions. It's human nature to remember your best shooting. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen under hunting conditions.

Maybe the best answer is to go to a sporting goods store and get a life size paper deer target. We did this when we first got in-line muzzle loaders. Put on your hunting duds and pop away. You'll find out how good you aren't in a hurry.

FWIW...I got my first deer with a 16 gauge smoothbore shotgun at 65 yards. "Sights" consisted of bead......

11 points....213#

[priv8ter]

While most of my centerfire hunting has been done using a scope, I do use iron for blackpowder. I limit myself to 75-80 yards, which is based on my ability to pick up the front blade in low-light, and not the rifles ability to drop game. I don't think I would push it any further with a modern projectile.

Now, with some nice fiberoptic sights, I think I could push it to 125-150 yards...helps in the low-light conditions.

[Mannlicher]

I have gotten beyond the age where I can really use iron sights. For years though, I used iron sights on my lever guns, and had no trouble hitting deer or hog out to 100 yards. I never felt handicapped by not having optics. Frankly, almost every deer I have taken in almost 50 years hunting, has been under 50 yards.

[goon]

I recently had my second wind with irons.
I shot about 50 rounds through my M-39 last weekend, and I did a pretty good job with it.
I was hitting clay pigeons (about 3.5 inches) with it at 100yds offhand.
That might not sound like much to many of you guys, but that is after a whole winter with very little range time, and I have never been a spectacular rifle shot anyway.
I could hit them every time off of the bench, and probably better than 80% offhand.
That thing makes me look like a good shot.
It is a keeper. In fact, I want another one.:D

The thing is, I am only 22, and after I clean my glasses, I CAN SEE. I feel sorry for the rest of you who can't, but I guess that is life.:(

[JohnKSa]

Just a few thoughts.

The optics on your rifle should have NO bearing on how easy it is for you to locate and correctly identify targets. This is because you should not be using the optics on your rifle to locate and identify targets. If you are then you are breaking the first gun safety rule--Never point a gun at anything you don't intend to destroy.

So, if you need optics to locate and identify your target you should be carrying binoculars.

In my opinion, most hunters should limit themselves to low power scopes or iron sights (if their eyes allow iron sights.) My reasoning is that the limitations of iron sights and low power scopes keep hunters from shooting beyond their limits. It's easy to think "I can make this shot!" when you're looking at that deer in the next county through your 20X scope. One look at him through a 2x scope or over your iron sights will tell you the truth--that deer is out of your range.

In my experience, scopes are a great benefit when it is hard to SEE your target. If the target is very distant, very small, the lighting conditions are difficult, or vision isn't perfect, a scope is almost a necessity. If you can clearly SEE your target then you should be virtually as effective with iron sights as you are with a scope out to reasonable ranges.

[westcangunner]

I live in the middle of no-where, on the lee side of the rockies, the Great White North. Even in Canada, contrary to popular belief, there are places where the boom of a firearm causes no concern. I live in one of those areas....

The range I have in my back yard consists of a 100 yard benchrest setup (complete with trace paper) , a 200 yard target berm, and our/the famous "bulls^%" gong

The gong, a steel 1.5 inch thick, 12 inch steel plate is at 340 yards, the longest safe shot we can handle on my site.

To this day, NOBODY (with a hunting type rifle) standing, sitting, kneeling, prone or for that matter, "on the bench" has hit that plate. on the first shot, NOBODY!!!

Lots have "dialed" it in on the 2nd,or 3rd shot, but to this day NOBODY has hit it on the first shot.

The kill zone on Mule and Whitetails is 8 to 12 inches.

In a "hunting" situation, 100 to 125 yards, works for "iron" sights, and 125 to 200 yards works with a scope, this seems to get the job done

But, we could always hook up with "Steve Smiths" hunting buddies,

LOB a bunch of "lead" in the air,

WCG

and get us an Elk,

WCG

[pinetree64]

Many deer in the south at taken at dusk, when the fog starts to creep in and your eyes no longer pick-up details, yet you can still "see". You can look at a field and see nothing, look through a scope and there they are...

Personally, I think I have better shot placement for a cleaner kill with a scope. I did buy a NECG peep for my #1 in 45/70 and plan to practice this summer. I'll just hunt with that rifle in the AM.

tjg

[Art Eatman]

westcangunner, your 340-yard gong story makes me believe there are advantages for using the same rifle and load for some 30 years. :)

I've had a bit better luck at my 500-yard gong, while zeroed for 200. And there's a wee tad more holdover at 500 than at 340. :)

Art

[Steve Smith]

Hey, hey, they're not my hunting buddies! I just know them! :D

[JeFF D]

I am rather confident with open sights.

Farthest deer with open sights was 90 yards and that was with a shotgun with fully rifled bbl and 20gauge federal barnes expanders.

With a rifle I would be confident out to about 250 yards.

[cratz2]

Another asset with scopes is if you are in brush, actual brush, you might be able to spot a twig in your line of fire and make a slight correction. Not that the bullet takes your exact line of sight, but still, could be a help.

[Peetmoss]

I decieded to take the middle ground and go with a red dot on my shotgun. But a 100yrd shot is a rarity were I hunt. less then 50 is more like it.