Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hunting with iron sights...am I crazy?

You’re not crazy!

I’m still doing it with iron sights 35years later. I’ll continue to until I have to go to scopes.

Have fun and good luck! Tom

Damn fellas...thanks for the support! I think im going to go scope-less this dear season. It gets very dark early where i typically hunt in the north woods but to be honest ive been handicapped before on moving targets trying to get a sight picture through an optic. I do a bit of stalking but the reality is that its mostly blind hunting. 60/40 anyways. I think ill be ok...but ill keep you guys posted of my findings. Im just shy of 40 but my vision is pretty good. I was able to hit the gong today at the range at 400M every time...and while larger than the kill zone of typical game...i had to hold over beyond 3ft so i was pretty happy to connect.

Ingwe...please tell about your hunt and rifle! Looks like a great story!

Im shooting a 308 FWIW. Dead on at 100m is like 2/10s off at 50 and only a couple of inches off at 200 which id say is the limit of my skill with irons so far. I generally won't shoot beyond 200 at unwounded game even with an optic...so i think i will actually be ok!

All of my Savage lever guns (mostly pre-1920's) sport irons in the deer woods. They work now as well as they did 100 years ago. My 66 year old eyeballs need a little help seeing those front sights, but 'tain't nothin' a few tricks of the trade won't cure. I have a couple bolt guns (pre-war, mostly) that sport Lyman 48 receiver sights that get used with a fair degree of frequency too (but sometimes I cheat and take along their scopes which fit into Griffin&Howe QD side mounts as backup). The rifles that wear scopes permanently are mostly benchrest queens.

Lose a few minutes at dawn/dusk? Meh, who cares?

That was a kudu I shot in 1999 while on Safari with our own Mule Deer. the rifle is a custom 1909 Argentine Mauser in 7x57 built by Dennis Erhardt....Theres more to the story but suffice it to say it was one of the most interesting mornings Ive ever had hunting.

Well another one bites the dust.
I just got my Buck Antelope with a Winchester M95 in 270. One shot and down. Iron sights. Shot from about 45 yards.
I'll edit this soon and post some pics. I didn't have a camera, but one of my friends did and he's going to e-mail them to me soon.

No.. But it all depends on the shooter's eyes.. I only have one rifle that I've left with iron sights, but even that one I converted to fire sights so I can see the dang things.. It's a rifle I use for close-in shots in WI forests - a Marlin M94 in .45LC...

There is a kid shooting the Rimfire Challenge that cleans up in multiple classes and he's better and faster with irons than he is with the red dot. This is close range speed shooting and with iron sights he says he is seeing the target not the sights. But, like the arrow in an instinctive snap release with a bow, the sights must be in his field of view. Seen, but not seen? Not seen, but they have to be there?

It has been 5 years since I venture into the woods with only irons and it is so true that the rifle feels more lively. I found 15-20 years ago the very best iron front sight for hunting. I bought a Savage 99 that had a Sheard front sight and for my eyes, nothing compares with it not even the sourdough, which is second best.
I am getting an urge, after seeing szihn's pic, to take the scope off my CZ-550 FS and give it a go. If I can't see the sights or have a good sight picture I won't shoot. After all, my family will not starve if don't make meat and it will take me back to my muzzleloading days when it was the fun of the hunt not the kill!

It can be done.

I think you'll enjoy yourself greatly if you do!

-Jake

As others have mentioned here, older eyes begin to limit the use of iron sights and that's the case with me, but a few days ago I took the Marlin 336C 30-30 off the gun rack, found some +1.5 readers and shot a few rounds offhand.

It is fun to do, but I admit using a scoped gun when trying to fill a tag.

Can’t see well enough anymore. I couldn’t shoot well enough to hit a barn.

i hunt with one of my old open sited pumps every year but only when shots are 50 yards or less. 100 yards on a deers shoulder is a pretty long shot. site covers up a lot of the deer at that range. but then again, my eyes are bad

Well, the weight of my CZ-550 FS was reduced by 1 pound 2.5 ounces and it's hard to believe how well balanced it is now after removing the scope. The sights are fairly easy to see while walking about near home. I could make them out as late as 7:10 last evening with cloudy skies and with eyes that has been seeing for 72 years! Time for a trip to the range with my "new" rifle.

My Model 71 does quite well with both 200 and 250gr loads. Groups are at 100..

I don't own a scoped rifle. I gave away my last one to a dear friend who did my wife and I a tremendous favor when she was battling cancer. As an aside, she won. Anyway, I'm 66 and with a couple cheats I can still shoot sub 1 inch groups at 50 yards if my rifle is capable. Go to 100 and I can still hover between 3 and 4 inches. One of the cheats is an aperture for my glasses and the other is to open up the rear sight notch to allow more light around the front sight. If you practice with them enough their use becomes as second nature as a scope. Sight them in for a 6 o'clock hold at 100 yards and the front sight doesn't cover anything. All that an as another poster mentioned, pull the scope off a rifle and it changes its complexion, ie handling and carrying, immensely.

I do prefer aperture sights but I'm not drilling and tapping any of my rifles although some did come with some nice Lyman and Redfield aperture sights. They darn sure aren't getting a scope with those sights on them.

I'm about 26 years older than you and I hunt with irons as a matter of choice, something like tmitch alluded to. Go for it, I can't imagine you'll regret it.

Offhand or benchrest?

If you have the right mentality, rifles with open sights and certain red dots are great for making fast shots on moving game.
Both eyes, like a shotgun bead.

Nice Marlin and very skillful shooting.

Most of the whitetail I have killed could have been with an iron sighted 30-30; half the wall hangers included. Some where.