Did you shoot your first deer with open sights?

[Dfuller]

First deer was a doe with a rifled barrel 870 borrowed from an uncle for youth hunting season. Was pretty hi tech back in 97 or 98 with the old bri sabots. Hunted every year since then and have shot exactly 3 animals with a scope and probably 30-40 with open sights for big game.

First was a bison with a 1-6 Burris in 2019, 2nd was an antelope in 2022, and I shot a doe with a scoped bolt gun this last Sunday mornin with same rifle and scope I shot bison with at the amazing distance of 12 yards.

Carry either a lever gun with a skinner peep and patridge front sight or slug gun with fiber optic open sites. Just seems to work for me and way I hunt.

The 4 kids that have shot deer(ages 6-12) all used scoped bolt guns or single shots. However all have shot squirrels and rabbits with open sighted .22s.

 

[MTLabrador]

I killed lots of rabbits with a .22 with open sights when I was a kid. Shot my first buck with a scoped .22-250 when I was 12.

 

[Derek44]

I’m 44. First deer was a spike mule deer at probably about 55-60 yards with a bolt action revelation 30-30 with open sights. I was 12.

 

[Papsqueeg]

First deer was a 4point in pa with 35 rem

 

[F250]

1976 with a Remington 760 in .300 Savage with a peep sight. 4 point Whitetail buck.

 

[sccritterkiller]

30-30 lever action as soon as I was old enough to shoot it by myself...10 or 11 it was a doe at about 40 yds...came full circle and killed a buck this year with a 1894 in 44mag at about 45yds open sights..same ground..I still own/hunt the farm I grew up on.

 

[BearFoot]

Have shot some moose, largest of the "deer" family. Since the 80's with scope. My buddy John, known as "Pink", is my early mentor and hunting friend. Ex marine, used 308 open sights. I watched him drop critters with great accuracy.
Now all the grand kids shoot open site BB guns, and they are good

Alaska early years

I came from Miami Beach Florida, to Alaska in 1977. Fished a lot in Fla. snook, sheepshead, others. Salmon where different, but figured it out.

www.hunttalk.com

 

[appmtnhntr]

first deer/big game animal was with a hawken musket with a home-drilled scope mount and 3x9 scope.

but, my first elk was with an open sight musket in CO

 

[Raisin Bran]

I got together with my father last night to do some reloading, and we were discussing my oldest son (9), being able to hunt deer in the youth hunt next year. He’s a left-eyed shooter, so I was pondering investing in a rifle for him.

As I was voicing options, my dad kind of shook his head and stated his opinion that my son oughta shoot his first deer with a lever gun he owns that would fit him right now. I can buy him a rifle when he grows a bit. I kind of pushed back, wanting the boy to have more range on offer and something with a scope. But then as he does, dad gently pontificated that he, me, my brother, my mother, and my wife - all shot our first deer with open sights, which by way, is more virtuous.

I shot my first deer with an iron-sighted model 94 30-30 at about 70 yards. I don’t think the experience would’ve been any less or more glorious to me with a scoped gun. At the time to me it was just glorious.

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TBD on what the boy shoots his first deer with, but it got me thinking. Does anyone start their kids out with open sights anymore?

Don’t take the age ranges personal. They are somewhat arbitrary and the demographic of HuntTalk members not being representative of the whole, this ain’t scientific. I also think this poll may not apply as much to adult-onset hunters, though I'd be interested in their answers too.

Feel free to mention what rifle you used (if it was a rifle) for your first deer.

I also started out with open sight Model 94 30/30. Shot my first buck with it. Also left eye dominant. I didn’t get a scope until my 16th birthday on a Remington 700 .270. Shot this rifle for almost 35 years before getting a left handed rifle. I think shooting the open sights helped me be a better shooter and appreciate a LH set up.

 

[Jwill]

Tasco World Class for me.

 

[Rzrbck918]

Thanks for the reminder....First deer was a slug from a New England Firearms single shot .410 with a single bead; now I hunt with a 6.5-20. I think I miss the simplicity.

 

[MThuntr]

1994 at 12 I shot a whitetail doe with a 54 caliber Hawken muzzleloader. Probably a 50 yard shot. Nebraska had a muzzleloader only season that required open sights.

I still hunt with that rifle although I discovered last week that last year I didn't clean and dry it well enough and I have significant pitting in the bore. I need to see if it'll still shoot but opted out of the heritage season because of it.

 

[Nameless Range]

From the poll:

88% of those over the age of 60 shot their first deer with open sights.
66% of those between 40-60 shot their first deer with open sights.
42% of those under the age of 40 shot their first deer with open sights.

Definitely a changing trend, and makes perfect sense.

When considering what to line a first time hunter out with, a takeaway I get from this thread is that scope or sights - it's really not a big deal. Practice and execute.

Really enjoyed reading about the rifles folks used on their first deer.

 

[Boarmaster]

Shot my first deer with a smoothbore shotgun with rifle sights.

 

[Sytes]

Daisy pew pew rifle, took my first quail. Hah! I grew up shooting deer+ and continued with scoped rifles...

Until my early hunt partner and I entered upon a steep, super thick, after rut - elk @#)(# overworked recovery ward.

I had a 45-70 iron sight and still-hunting we snuck. Blew him out the first stalk but the second time... Down he dropped. Was my partner's turn to lead the sneak.
No better gun for a quick action, short range shot, IMO of course.

All that said, no - my first deer dropped with whatever cheap scope was mounted to some .270 or .243 at the time.

My former brother in law raised his kids with a single shot .243 "iron sight" that's been passed down from his father. Boys took great pride from their deer harvests. School "cool" bragging rights to share their pics w/o a scope.

 

[220yotekiller]

I shot my first buck with my dad's marlin 30-30. He was a weird buck who had been crippled by another buck earlier that year. To bad I didn't get a picture.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I probably shot my first 20 or so deer with a bow, but the first deer I killed with a firearm was with a T/C Hawken muzzleloader.

 

[fowladdict]

Killed my first deer near Kemmerer, Wyoming with a scope.

I was wondering how old the majority of Hunttalkers are. If this poll is representative, 65% of us are middle-aged or older.

 

[buffybr]

Yes, my family didn't hunt so I was in college and went on my first deer hunt with one of my roommates. He loaned me a Win 94 in .32 Spl. That was back in 1965. I hunted with him again the next year and shot my first elk with a borrowed iron sighted
30-40 Krag.

Years later I shot my first black bear, spot and stalk, with my iron sighted 1911 .45 acp and a hard cast lead bullet. One shot, DRT. Then a few years later, another black bear, spot and stalk, with another hard cast lead bullet from my Ruger .44 mag. Another one shot DRT.

In 1967 I bought my first centerfire rifle, a Herter's .30-06, put a scope on it, and since then probably 99% of all of the big game animals that I have shot were with scoped rifles.

About 10 years ago I thought that I needed a Win 94 .30-30 and ordered one on line. When I got it home, I shouldered it and the front sight was just a blur. I did use it to shoot my mountain lion out of a tree with less that a 10 yd shot.

After at least 50 years of wearing glasses or contacts, last year I had cataract surgery that corrected my eyesight to 20-20 with both eyes for both close and far everything. Now I wear no prescription glasses when I shoot just to protect my eyes.

 

[bmt99]

I had my son shoot with open sights just plinking .223 target shooting but I was mostly concerned with providing best chance of no wounding and for whatever reason, that was a low power scope with simple reticle and under 100 yards. I was worried that wounding a deer as the first chance would lower the chance of keeping a hunting partner. I am not saying my fears are correct or going with a scope was correct, just my thoughts at the time about 5 years ago. My first deer was also a scope that was some cheap thing that has been replaced. Now this weekend I had a deer at 149 yards with open sights and couldn't take the shot because it was just after sunset and my eyes are not as good anymore. I had a hard time seeing clearly and had there been a scope, no problem. For me, similar to a scope on rifle is a bow that has abundant filament to gather light.