If you are old like me you are likely having trouble seeing your front sight in dim light, yet dawn and dusk are the premier hunting times. What to do?
As you know I eschew telescopic sights. I would not object to folks using a 1:1 ration scope or red dot aid, but stealing the ability to take down an animal which is clearly too far away to be able to detect you is in my opinion not fair chase. It is culling, not hunting.
I agree there is a place for culling where animals become too numerous or are becoming a nuisance, but if everyone adopts the culler’s methods or mindset it diminishes the spirit of the chase, it devalues the game we hunt. It makes what should be a test of yourself and your skills into a slight achievement at best.
It will over time reduce the game resource and worsen the hunting situation for all. After all, if there is no game to hunt then the right to own firearms will clearly come under serious question too. You don’t want that, surely?
However, as one’s eyes dim with age, so that front sight (especially) becomes harder and harder to see. What to do? (Wait for your cataract operation!) Or you could, as I suggested above adopt a 1: 1 or red dot type scope but such gadgets are very delicate. When hunting rough country the occasional fall is inevitable, and such things are easily damaged so that when you really need them, they may not work. You will not want to wound an animal and have it suffer, or miss it altogether!
A better solution is to replace the sight/sights with a light gathering type (like the Williams Fire Sights) which will really shine out in dim light conditions. This is an expensive and technical exercise which you may not want to undertake.
An alternative is to buy some glow paint and apply some especially to that front sight. If you can’t afford that, some fluoro nail polish, or even the humble white out will improve your prospects no end.
Happy Hunting!
A reader writes:
‘I find these sights a little distracting and limit me to about 50 metres, which is just fine for low light bush shooting as long as I’m snap shooting with both eyes open, but are hard to sight in. I’ve been toying with the idea of a fluro front sight and a ghost ring rear sight which in theory should be quicker at sighting my quarry it’s nothing new I have that sort of set up on my hunting bow and it’s very accurate, but nothing cuts through the gloom as good as quality optics!!, you can’t hit what you can’t see so why handicap yourself?, a low powered scope doesn’t give you superman type vision, but it does give the animal a quick death with a well placed shot and not some vague” I think I hit it ” feeling. I hunt with all the methods and a good scope is the “ducks guts”.’
See Also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hunting-thumbtack-reflectors/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hammock-hunting-till-dark/
Sorry I forgot to say Keep up the good work I love reading your blog, see ya in the bush!,
Cheers Trev
Thanks again Trevor. Your support is appreciated.
I find these sights a little distracting and limit me to about 50 metres, which is just fine for low light bush shooting as long as I’m snap shooting with both eyes open, but are hard to sight in. I’ve been toying with the idea of a fluro front sight and a ghost ring rear sight which in theory should be quicker at sighting my quarry it’s nothing new I have that sort of set up on my hunting bow and it’s very accurate,but nothing cuts through the gloom as good as quality optics!!, you can’t hit what you can’t see so why handicap yourself?, a low powered scope doesn’t give you superman type vision, but it does give the animal a quick death with a well placed shot and not some vague” I think I hit it ” feeling. I hunt with all the methods and a good scope is the “ducks guts”.
Thanks Trevor. I will add some of your observations to my post.