Did you shoot your first deer with open sights?

[MrCarbine]

My "hunting" career commenced with an air-rifle, killed many birds with that springer and its irons.
Than I advanced to a 12g scuttergun hell I killed everything with that but not deer. I got my first deer with Savage M110 with a 4x Burris. At 290 long paces I could not have done it with anything less. I recommend optics all the way, hitting should not be a "sporting chance".

 

[Whiskey Freak]

I killed my first 4 deer with a CVA .45 cal muzzleloader.

 

[Westxhunter]

Took my uncle for his first ever deer hunt in January for a late season hunt. He uses a 30-30 from his father in law with only iron sites. He took a doe and a spike, both good shots around 80 yards. Nice trip for his first deer ever.

 

[wtbarefield]

Killed my first with a single barrel 20ga. h&r topper model with brass bead sight I had gotten for Christmas. Think I was 8?
Remington 3/4 slug, dropped him at around 45-50 yards

 

[gradeAchuck]

PA white tail, little 5 pt (2x3) 1996. Savage 99 in 300 savage (~1956) that was on loan from my Pap.

 

[MS 9x56]

PA white tail, little 5 pt (2x3) 1996. Savage 99 in 300 savage (~1956) that was on loan from my Pap.

Great classic deer gun and caliber.

 

[gradeAchuck]

Great classic deer gun and caliber.

Yeppers, I have a "newer" Sav99 in 300Sav that is regular in my deer woods rotation

 

[buffybr]

Yes, my Dad didn't hunt so in 1965 I went deer hunting with a college roommate to the hunting camp his Dad and a friend had near Craig, CO. He loaned me a 94 Winchester in .32 Spl and I shot my first deer, a spike muley buck.

Back at college, I proudly hung those spike antlers on my bedroom wall.

Back then, there was a lot of sheep ranches in that part of Colorado, and my first night in deer camp, they fried lamb nuts for dinner. When they told me what they were cooking, I asked "Where's the peanut butter?"

 

[2rocky]

I think that a first animal should be killed with a hand me down rifle, shotgun, whatever. Mainly because that's what I did.

There is a good IG reel of a southern fella talking about how his nephew was disappointed he didn't get a brand new shotgun before his first turkey season. The storyteller went on to explain that the boy had been given his Grandfather's Belgian made Browning A5. He went on to explain the history and the value of the gun to the young man and how it meant so much more than the new remington some other kid got bought for him. Wish i could find that clip again.

 

[noharleyyet]

A Remington 760 30-06 with a Weaver K6 Dual X Reticle (that I pronounced rec-ticle). 1973ish...a decent 9 point good sized body TX buck. Dragged it all wrong...took about a month for the smell to wear off me.

 

[JDH]

My first deer was with my bow at 12 years old. But it's been a mix of open sights in the shotgun zones, and scoped rifles everywhere else. But I mostly bowhunt.

I'm surprised it took 4 pages for this to come up. I had killed 2-3 deer with my bow before I even took a shot at one with a gun. But my first gun kill was with a Mossberg 500A with a red dot. It was my turkey gun, but came with 2 barrels so I swapped the smoothbore for the rifled barrel. I took a different open sight 12 ga for the few drives I went on, but never got a shot.

 

[Sheltowee]

Not seeing an option for "No, but I popped about 12 rounds over a very confused yearling doe's back with an iron-sighted Remington 870 slug gun the first time I shot at a deer" but that would be my answer. I was so small-framed that we had to cut the youth stock all the way down to where the stock screw made contact with the slip-on rubber butt pad. That shotgun beat the everloving brakes off of me, but killed my first deer with it (this time topped with a Simmons Pro-Diamond Turkey scope, state of the art technology circa 1998) a couple of years later.

 

[rjthehunter]

I'm surprised it took 4 pages for this to come up. I had killed 2-3 deer with my bow before I even took a shot at one with a gun. But my first gun kill was with a Mossberg 500A with a red dot. It was my turkey gun, but came with 2 barrels so I swapped the smoothbore for the rifled barrel. I took a different open sight 12 ga for the few drives I went on, but never got a shot.

Yes, it was 2 or 3 for me too before I picked up a gun. Even now, it's not nearly as exciting to hunt with a bow. Shootings things with a rifle is still fun, but it can't touch the excitement that you get up close with a bow!

 

[FairWeather]

I'm surprised it took 4 pages for this to come up. I had killed 2-3 deer with my bow before I even took a shot at one with a gun. But my first gun kill was with a Mossberg 500A with a red dot. It was my turkey gun, but came with 2 barrels so I swapped the smoothbore for the rifled barrel. I took a different open sight 12 ga for the few drives I went on, but never got a shot.

See post #12, page 1.

 

[MS 9x56]

I actually killed my first deer with a recurve bow. No sights. The next two were with a shotgun. Just a bead. Since then, I think I have killed maybe eight deer with a rifle with a 4-power scope. All the rest have been either a bow with no sights or a muzzleloader with iron sights, except one more with a shotgun.

Scoped rifles just seem like cheating.

So get a rifle with iron sights.

 

[gouch]

So get a rifle with iron sights.

Why? I have two muzzleloaders with iron sights, so I have plenty of rifles.

 

[buckyg1944]

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.

View attachment 305296


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.

68 years ago at 12 shot my first mule deer with a 300 Savage lever action with peep sights. Still have the gun.

 

[shootbrownelk]

My first deer was shot with a Browning A-5 with a steel tube Weaver 1x4 scope that I had mounted. That was around 60 years ago.

 

[Nick87]

A Remington 760 30-06 with a Weaver K6 Dual X Reticle (that I pronounced rec-ticle). 1973ish...a decent 9 point good sized body TX buck. Dragged it all wrong...took about a month for the smell to wear off me.

Same with my second buck, rutted up 10 point. I can still smell those tarsal glands. Never again with a 10ft pole.

 

[MS 9x56]

Both of my children and all 3 of my grandchildren learned to shoot with open sights. You gotta learn how to crawl before you can stand up and run.