Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Open Sights

In the thickly wooded mountains of the NE, a 1959 Savage 99F in .250 Sav., with it's factory rear iron sight folded down, is about as good as it gets for a very slick and handy, snap shooting, still hunting rifle. '59 was the only year with the folding rear.

I probably use irons for big game as much as I use scopes. That's due to the fact that it rains and snows so much in PA during hunting season

Killed enough deer w iron sights on MZ and handgun.
Ill take a low power scope please.

Am late 50s and went to bifocals 2 yrs ago

Sucks.

Kind of my fear. I am 45, have had glasses since I was about 10. Eyes don't appear to be getting better for sure.

Open sights are easy to see whenever I am just out back shooting targets but not sure how they will be in low light and heavy timber.

I guess I could get up early or go out to the timber at last light and see how they work. Just can't tell unless you put them to actual use in rushed situations.

I have a long neck. I simply can't get my eye down on the iron sights on most guns unless I put the toe of the stock on top of my shoulder.

This old 760 has no monte carlo stock, set up just like an 870.

Easiest set of sights I have ever gotten behind.

Mine doesnt either. Low Zees make it usable
Maybe even perfect if cold and wearing a facemask

A couple of my 760's are set up with low power(1.5 or 2 power variables) set in old school Weaver Pivot mounts that swing to the side to use the irons. None have the monte carlo stock and low weaver rings make using the scope a piece of cake.

However, being past 65 the irons are pretty much of a moot point for me anymore as they are blurry and I can't line them up.

I can focus in and use the peep sight on the AR-15, but the gun is simply too damn ugly to hunt with.

I have been using low power variables hunting the thick stuff in New York State for many years and haven't had any issues.

My '06 has a 4-16x scope. I carry it on 4x all the time. In this open country, longer shots are very common and my eyes need all the help they can get. I've only used 12x a couple times but it sure helped when I needed it. Normally, though, 6 to 8x is plenty.
This year's elk got full power even though she was only 150 yds away. She was standing straight on behind a sagebrush looking at me. I needed to thread the bullet through a hole in the sage and I needed all the X's I could get to find a good empty hole. It worked.

I don't know if I'd call it my "primary" deer rifle, but I do have an open sighted .303 Savage rifle I use a lot when deer hunting in my old stomping grounds of western Montana. I haven't shot a deer with it in 10 years though I have carried it a fair number of times since then. I always seem to finally get the shot I want when I pull something else out of the safe that morning.

My first buck fell to an open sighted .30-30 and I still remember trying to see antlers in cold weather. He was a little forkhorn with antlers just over his ears and try as I might, I’d open my eyes wide and they would water in the cold weather and I couldn’t see anything for a bit. A very accommodating deer he was for a then 13 year old. Years after I would read all the Larry Benoit tracking articles and books and iron sighted my .35 Remington and .308 carbines, but never tracked one down like that. I’ve been scoped ever since.

Yes. Got use old Marlins and Winchesters with irons and beside that most my bolt guns have irons. Ive got three rifles set up with scope, red dot, and irons for each rifle. Its a redundant way to keep the sighting up no matter what thru breakage or conditions i want the capability.

Hunting with iron sights is a very challenging and rewarding experience. I shot a doe with a Winchester 94 30-30 with irons last year. At 105 yards, it wasn't an incredibly difficult shot, but I wouldn't want to push it much past that, as we should do everything we can to ensure a quick and humane kill, not raise the odds of wounding or losing the animal.

I've got an old Winchester 770 (30-06) and a '74 model Browning BAR (7Rmag) that have excellent open sights. They both wear scopes now because I'm 60 but I still take off the scopes and practice open sights, off hand, from time to time just in case. Believe I could tag a deer to 200yds pretty easy with them still if it came down to it. I feel if your rifle wears them they should at least be sighted in and you should know your ability with them. You never know. Stay safe.

I’d grab a .22 with iron sights and go tag some squirrels in the same type of thick stuff and see how that works out. I bet you’ll be fine.

If you can pop a squirrel at 30 yards a deer kill zone shouldn’t be a problem. Just be aware of saplings.

Wisdom. Even if sighted in for some vastly reduced distance from your scope, At least they are more valuable than just extra weight to lug around.

There is no doubt I've killed more deer with iron sighted rifles/shotguns/muzzleloaders/handguns than I have with scoped over the years. Until I was in my 30's I couldn't figure out why anybody'd need or want to lug around a scoped rifle to kill a great big critter like a deer. Figured they was just poor hunters and bad shots. Varmints sure, I had scopes on my chuck rifles but deer ?

Old eyes make it a little more challenging, but all you have to do is concentrate on burning the bead in the V. If you wear glasses full time you might as well use a scope.

Take a look at this;

http://www.skinnersights.com/lo-pro_sight_7.html

Mounts on one of your screw holes. But you’ll have to drift the front sight for windage.