Your hunting rifle: scope or no scope?

[90WAG]

Does anyone besides me not have a scope on their main hunting rifle? I shoot a MarkX Mauser in .30-'06 and have it fitted with a Lyman peep. I remove the aperture unless I'm sighting it in. Really for the terrain I usually hunt (dense hardwood timber) I cant even see a hundred yards out, most deer I shoot are 50 yards or less. The only thing I do miss about a scope is the advantage in low light conditions. I was thinking about it today and I don't recall ever having seen a bolt action rifle without a scope. That's even if it came with factory open sights which is getting increasingly rare. I still see the occasional lever action with iron sights but most of them are starting to sport glass as well.

If I were to buy a scope it wold be a low power variable, maybe 1.75-3x or something like that. My philosophy on scopes is open sights are better than a cheap scope. I can't afford a good scope, so I decided to go with open sights!

[southernfriedcj8]

Scope for me.

[SanDiegoCJ]

Originally Posted by southernfriedcj8

Scope for me.

Same here. Bushnell® Sharpshooter™, 3-9 x 40 scope on a Remington 710 30.06.

[45acp]

My main rifle is an old Ruger 270 w/ an older 3x9x40 Redfield.

For super thick dense areas i have a 45-70 with a Tasco Pro-Point (no magnification) on it.

[chris408]

No scope, terrain here also only allows 100 yard shots. Spanish Fr8 (.308) is what i have (peep hole sights)

[mike]

No scope deep woods, scope open prairie.

[Camarogenius]

Ishapore Enfield .308 with open sights.

[The Joker]

I always take two guns with me just incase. 30.06 with scope, .243 without scope. Although I do plan on putting a scope on the .243 as well.

[Diesel Smoke]

Like most it depends on the area, this year scope for sure.

Remington Model 700 ADL .30-06 with a Leupold VX-II.

For some of the brushier units I can pull the scope off and use the sites, or get another gun.

[basketcasejeep]

I use a short barreled win. '94 in 30-30- no scope. I rarely use a stand- I tend to walk around in the brush looking for them.

[smokeeater]

For thick woods, M38 7.62X54R, iron sights



For open range, 8mm Turkish Mauser , iron sights (2000 meters )

[threadkiller]

Some of my rifles have scopes, some of 'em don't. All my centerfire bolt actions have scopes, though. I have a Williams peep sight on my 30-30. Handguns don't have a scope, nor do my bolt action rimfires.

For your purposes, I don't think a scope is necessary. If your stock is cut for use with iron sites, then go with that. Most mausers have stocks cut for iron sites, BTW. If low light conditions are a problem, check into a fiber optic front blade. Williams is one company that makes them.

[tmacie]

I have a Ruger 77 .308 with full stock. Its fitted with a scope and see-thru mounts. I can shoose either or. Most of the shots here at sub 100 but there is that chance it will be further so its fitted with a scope.


Travis

[Phonedoc]

My "modern" rife has a peep sight, the others have buckhorns.

[SmashedS10]

tikka t3 .300WSM w/ burris fullfield II 4.5-14 power

[speedo]

Remington Classic in .375 H&H with a 1.5 x 5 Leupold and a Remington Classic in .300 Wby. with a Pentax 3 x 9. I hunt primarily at or above tree line and I do most of my hunting with the .300, the .375 is what I use when going after bear. I find the 1.5 x 5 scope allows quick target acquisition with the scope set on 1.5, which is nice when going after a wounded griz in thick brush.

Gus

[mgoodman]

Scope on most for elk here in CO, no scope on muzzleloader (not allowed to hunt with in CO)
usually a Leopold 3x9 or a 4x12 depending....

handgun, no scope...but on my .44, scoped for the moment.

[90WAG]

Originally Posted by speedo

Remington Classic in .375 H&H with a 1.5 x 5 Leupold and a Remington Classic in .300 Wby. with a Pentax 3 x 9. I hunt primarily at or above tree line and I do most of my hunting with the .300, the .375 is what I use when going after bear. I find the 1.5 x 5 scope allows quick target acquisition with the scope set on 1.5, which is nice when going after a wounded griz in thick brush.

Gus

Are you married? If not, are you in need of a "special" partner?

[imwiththebann'd]

Scope on the savage 111 30.06, and open sights on the Mosin m38 though it was slated to be scout mounted with a low magnification scope, and the recoil cracked the scope...


It all depends on range and condition of what im shooting in

[fullygruntled]

My S&W 629 wouldn't fit in the holster with a scope . Still good out to ~200yds.

Alternate deer gun is a Remington 870 police gun, loaded with slugs. Scoping it would be silly.

Alternate-alternate (last resort) deer gun is a sporterized 7x57 Mauser 96. It has a 3-9x Bushnell scope, but the barrel is so shot out that the crosshairs only give you a rough idea of where the bullet will land.

[SilverZuk]

I hunted with scopes for years.
If I am serious about bringing home a deer under tough conditions or hunting a specific individual deer, I will take the scoped rifle.

This year I plan on using my super blackhawk 44 mag pistol w/ open sites. I have been practicing quite a bit (40-50 rounds a week). In the past seasons I have hunted and taken deer with a 45-70 lever gun, open sites, 300 gr lead bullet, an SKS open sites, scoped rifles, hawken style muzzle loader.

Taking one with a pistol is my next goal.

[fullygruntled]

Originally Posted by SilverZuk

This year I plan on using my super blackhawk 44 mag pistol w/ open sites. I have been practicing quite a bit (40-50 rounds a week). In the past seasons I have hunted and taken deer with a 45-70 lever gun, open sites, 300 gr lead bullet, an SKS open sites, scoped rifles, hawken style muzzle loader.

Taking one with a pistol is my next goal.

Your penis will grow by a factor of 1.4

I did it twice so far. This year, I hope to make it up to 6"

[featherflicker]

If I want to shoot deer a scoped 7mag.
If I want to "hunt" deer a long bow.

If youre not going to have any shots over 100 yards a scope is kind of pointless IMHO..

[Dieselmh]

Originally Posted by tmacie

I have a Ruger 77 .308 with full stock. Its fitted with a scope and see-thru mounts. I can shoose either or. Most of the shots here at sub 100 but there is that chance it will be further so its fitted with a scope.


Travis

Same here, my 30-06 has the see through mounts, so I can use the scope, or the open sights. Our deer lease had short shots of around 75 yards or so, so I'd use the scope for checking out the deer, then open sights for actually shooting. Came in real handy.

[DavidVanVorous]

I have only one scope (Redfield 4X widefield) and its on a .222. The scope is unique because I did the coating(s) on the glass in it when I worked for Redfield one summer back in '75.

Dont have scopes on anything else because I do open sight competition stuff.

D.