scopes and success

[outdooraddict]

beings we are in the think of it with muzzy season. I dont really care if you agree or disagree with the scopes or muzzy current vs traditional rules. I am actually interested in people "reviews" of the new rule change for scopes. if you have been muzzy hunting this year, did you put a scope on your muzzleloader, did it help, or deter your hunt. basically. did having a scope change your shot selection, distance, etc.

[kirkl]

I put a Leupold RDS on mine and love it versus open sites. Red dot way easier to see. Glass prescription changes every year so eyes aren’t getting any better. Red dot helps out with that. Got one at 75 yards this year, red dot behind the shoulder and pull the triggger.

[teanawayslayer]

I haven’t changed to 209 since they made the rule change. I have not put a scope on but I will be adding one!

[Wood2Sawdust]

1x32 Traditions scope on CVA Optima --much faster acquisition--worked well

[Phishead]

Been too busy to keep up with reg changes until 2 weeks ago. Tagged out day 3 with good ole peep sight at 110 yards. Clean ethical shot on a nice buck. Will spend the next 12 months contemplating if I should put on a scope. Haha

[slavenoid]

I have the Leupold RDS. My eyes just don't do iron sights. I have only practiced getting them on does and stumps. Two times I have seen deer in a shady spot but I can't find them in the scope when I pull my gun up. From a sunny spot aiming into a shadow is tough. My wife took a deer but it was extremely hard to get her on it with the similar lighting effect. I grabbed the gun to what her issue was and sure enough you could only see one leg even though the deer was 50 yards away broadside. Overall it's a plus but it's not like a cheat code imo.

[HntnFsh]

No scope this year. Still running the stock sights on my Bighorn. I'll probably pick up an RDS this year after season and play with it to see what I think. But as far as using it to hunt with, not sure. Depends on my 65 year old eyes.

[baldopepper]

Been fighting the idea but have missed 3 shots I wouldn't have missed in the past.  Eyes just don't want to clearly focus on that front sight and torn out rotator.cuff on the left arm making it hard to stay steady.  Son in law and friend both had no problem taking their deer with their scoped cvas so I might have to consider it. I could see clearly looking thru their scopes but hate to give up on my old Hawkins. Don't know at my age if I have enough hunts left to justify a new gun.
 
 

[chukardogs]

I don't muzzleload anymore but I do use a Browning Challenger 22 pistol to shoot Grouse with. As I've aged, my ability to use open sights waned by my late 30s or early 40s. I started using a scope on my rifles and then why not, tried one on my 22 Challenger pistol. What a joke! The Grouse, literally had no worries from me with my scoped Browning Challenger. It was like playing, there's the grouse, where's the grouse, over and over. Once the scope was up, finding the grouse became almost impossible. If I did actually find the grouse, I usually got the grouse but all I can say is, for the few years that I carried the Challenger with the scope, I went without much protein during deer season. Then someone, a competition shooter that uses the Browning Challenger 22 for competitions, said, why don't you try a red dot on that pistol, it'll change your life.
 Holy smokes what a treat, I found it like using, "wide open sights" that you can actually see through but better. Your target acquisition is immediate, you know right away if you need a better rest and I quit going hungry during deer season. What they call a win win situation!
 Considering the world we're living in today, with rifles connected to the GPS grid and scopes that have a shoot here arrow that can be accurate to a 1000 yards, utilizing a non-magnifying red dot sight on your muzzleloader that will undoubtedly improve your shooting in hunting situations and will most likely leave less animals wounded in the hills, seems like a good choice if one was of the mind to upgrade. Just my

[nicz]

I put a Sig Sauer Romeo 7 Red dot on my muzzleloader. My groups at the range at 100 yards went down from the size of a watermelon to the size of a tennis ball.

[duhameister]

I put a vortex 1x24 on my Remington UML and ended up missing a nice bull at 110 yards, which is a first for me. I had a Williams peep sight prior and was surgical with it. My after-season review left some things to be desired with that scope, because it actually makes things look further away than what they are. On the bench, it was very accurate, 1-1.5" groups at 75-100 yards.

I think I'm pulling it and putting an RDS on, although I had bought one before the scope and I was not impressed with the 1 moa reticle (it looked like three small reticles not really defined) and sent it back; maybe I got a bad scope the first time, which is what I'm hoping. If all else fails, I'll be putting a peep sight back on it.

[dub870]

Duhameister it sounds like you have a astigmatism which changes the shape of the dot. I have one.

[dub870]

At the range my Holosun 2moa red dot shoots pretty good. My older eyes have problems with irons that are only getting worse. The red dot helps with that. My astigmatism causes some problems with the dots flaring or changing shape. The problem is me not the dots. I am thinking of some kind of prism scope which will remove that issue but most have overly busy reticles for ar-15s.

My buck this year didn't matter. Pretty close range shot TBH.

[duhameister]

Duhameister it sounds like you have a astigmatism which changes the shape of the dot. I have one.

Maybe….. but, I have other red dot sights that don’t flare like this, also there are a lot of reviews that speak to the lack of clarity in this red dot.

[Crunchy]

I didn't upgrade this year to red dot or scope but did hammer a decent 6 with the Williams peep site.  For some reason I am not very good with a muzzleloader, or I need to work more on load development.  So any help I can get from a scope or crosshairs will be an improvement.  Well see.

[AutumnPulse]

Like many on here, I put work in at the range, before I take my chosen weapon to the hills.  The muzzleloader is no different in any respect.

I have a 50 Cal. T/C Triumph that I love and this year, put on a Vortex Spitfire 1X AR scope that has 2 circles with a dot in the middle.  The reticles are visible (black) when the scope is off, which was a big deal to me. 
I put in my time at the range and it pulled my groups from all shots in an 8" paper plate at 100 to all shots within a 1.5" group at 100.  It's a night and day difference for me and my personal belief is that allowing scopes will increase the percentage of game recovered for those who choose to take the shot. 

I shot my 5x5 at 120 yards and it was a perfect lungshot quartering towards and exiting just before the rear quarter.  It was as precise as I had hoped, without adding additional capability.  I didn't shoot outside of my confidence range and it enabled my shot to be precise.  I recovered my bull 40 yards from where I shot it.  I for one, am very happy with the scope allowances that WA did this year.  My gun and load performed flawlessly and the scope allowed me be as precise as my equipment at a very reasonable range. I was practiced out to 150 yards confidently..... I could not have done that with the stock williams fire sights that came with the gun. 

With the stock sites, my front bead covered the 8 inch paper plate completely, so the only way I knew I was centered, was if I could see the "white" of the paper plate on either side of the front bead.  Again, I was reasonably confident in my ability with open sights at 100 yards to make a good ethical kill shot on an elk.  The scope increased my (ethical) ability by 50 yards and allows me to be precise.....  Try looking through a 1X power scope and you will soon discover that it will help your eyes, but does nothing for you in terms of distances beyond about 100.   

- AutumnPulse