Mainely Outdoors: Seeing red – Alternative sight options

During the first half century of the 1900s, most Maine big game hunters used rifles with open sights, and to see a scoped long gun in the woods was a rare occurrence. Pine Tree State forests, Aroostook in particular, proved very thick, and despite the abundance of whitetail deer most shooting situations called for short, fast swinging guns with quick sight alignment. The venerable old .30-.30 and .32 special put tons of venison in the ice box each fall.
With the advent of clear cutting and increased expanses of open farm fields in the last half of the 20th century, rifle scopes catapulted into popularity. Still, it was rare to see a muzzle loader, handgun and especially a shotgun topped with any type of magnifying optics. Since most hunters owned just one rifle for big game, most a moderate caliber, short-barreled “woods gun,” there was a problem when a buck was spotted over 100 yards away in open country.
Roughly 25 years ago a new style of gun sight came on the market, it was referred to as a red dot sight based on the single red dot used as an aiming point. Its claim to fame was quick target acquisition without a lot of crosshair lines, hash marks, or other aiming markers found in most scopes. Due to the bright red dot, low light conditions weren’t as much of problem and shooters with failing eyesight or corrective lenses had no problem quickly and efficiently centering the vivid red spot on targets of all sizes. A lot of wildfowl wingshooters even mounted red dots on shotguns and quickly realized far more accurate and productive pass shooting on partridge, woodcock, pheasant and waterfowl. A few of these alternative sights even started showing up on turkey guns and on scatterguns at trap and skeet ranges with promising results for many shooters.
Over the last few years these unique sights have become smaller and more lightweight while also boasting improved aiming technology and far more durable components to withstand any weather conditions. As proof of the red dot sight’s effectiveness, shooters whose very lives depending on their weapons switched to this modern point and aim device; Navy SEALs, Army rangers and many police department SWAT teams utilize red dots.
It’s important that laymen shooters and novice hunters don’t confuse red dot devices with laser sights. Laser units attached to a firearm are activated by a touch pad style pressure switch to emit a visible line of bright red light originating from the small device on the gun and producing a vivid dot on the target where the bullet will strike. Laser sights are more commonly found on handguns and shotguns used for home protection, personal defense and on certain police weapons. They are particularly effective in low light situations and close encounters.
Red dot sights are much shorter and lighter than variable power or even single magnification rifle scopes, but on the downside, they do not offer the telescopic enlargement of a distant target to any extent, perhaps 2X to 5X at best.
Due to their diminutive size, red dot sights may be used on handguns, bows, and muzzleloaders, as well as rifles and shotguns with little added weight or significant change in balance. The sight picture is very clear and easy to aim, so for running or fast flying game this style of mini-scope is far quicker on target, especially in thick brush for deer, than a scope.
At least a dozen companies manufacture red dot products, sometimes referred to as tactical sights, so a wide variety of shapes, sizes, features and price ranges fit every hunter’s needs. While shape and size are essentially a matter of aesthetics, the recticle or “sight-picture” truly matters to each shooter. First off, the red dot nomenclature can be a bit misleading since many of these sights offer a green colored dot or multi-circle reticle as well as red. Then it’s a choice of dot, dot in circle, or two dot aim points; each offers certain advantages depending on quarry and type of weapon.
Prices range from $50 to $500 depending on features and manufacturer specific options. Check to see if your choice is fully water, fog, and shock proof or just resistant to these problems, the price difference is notable. Does the mini-scope have lens covers, any magnification, tinted lenses, adjustable dot illumination and intensity and timed auto shut-off to prolong battery life? Also of great importance is mounting hardware and how easily the sight will attach to your firearm or bow of choice without involving a gunsmith. Most use a Weaver or Picatinny base and are quick and simple to mount on the gun.
Recognized and proven red dot manufacturers include Trijicon, Burris, Tru-Glo, Sightmark, Vortex, Bushnell, Tasco and Ultradot to name a few of the front runners. I’ve personally range and field tested a model of Ultradot, Burris and Trijicon over the last few years, taken big game with each using revolvers and rifles and found each top rate in every aspect.
My current “Top Dog” and favorite red dot is actually several rungs up the ladder from an aim-point style sight. It is a holographic sight produced by EOTech, the only holographic red dot on the market, and abounds with features, toughness, style and assured accuracy and longevity. Ranging in price from $400 to $650, the FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, Texas Rangers, and several military branches have adopted the terrific holographic sight. I’ve used my XPS-2 model with Weaver mount on rifle, shotgun, and even a BFR 45-70 revolver with unbelievable accuracy. In minutes this unit can be switched from one gun to any other with the same style base. Many of these red dot sights can be checked out at Mac’s in Houlton, Ben’s Trading Post in P.I. or Cameron’s gun shop in Caribou. With three months of hunting season ahead it might be a good time to check around.
While I still have a couple of long-range rifles topped with scopes that easily offer accurate big game shots out to 400 yards, my red-dot equipped handguns, rifles, and crossbow see far more use. Whether you hunt big game, small game, turkey or waterfowl, perhaps a red dot sight might fit your needs. Faster on target, less expensive, more accurate for aging eyes, and switchable between weapons, maybe the best scope for you this fall isn’t a scope at all, — I’m seeing red and happy with the results.