Thinking about putting a red dot or low magnification optic on my designated turkey gun for next season. I had Williams slugger iron sights this season and liked them but wanted opinions on red dots, low magnification optics and iron sights. I hunt a lot of public land and both birds I killed this year I took at the 35-40 yd mark and was thinking a red dot or magnified optic might work better for those "longer" shots. What do the experts on here use?
If you're good at 35-40 you're good period. Name of the game is calling them.
Now imo if you're using a quality red dot you might be ok. I love Burris scopes but had a fast fire on less than a day when I returned it. Thing is garbage.
Low power scopes need no batteries n require some of the same care as red dots. If you're eyes are aging go for it. If not 35-40 is plenty
The only experience I have with red dots is the Aimpoint 9000sc. It has been a flawless scope and I would buy it again in a second. Do some research and you will see it's a high quality scope.
Love my Vortex Venom!
My vote is the scope!! Flawless performance for better than 20 years.
Bushnell 1.75-4X32 CIRCLE-X SHOTGUN Scope
MK M GOBL
I have red dots and scopes and i prefer scope over red dot....
Leopold Turkey Ranger M8-2.5X Small, light, bright and bulletproof.
Can't say the same for various red dots I have used/seen fail often.
I wouldn't trade my fast fires for anything
I used a red dot for several years and one morning I went out and the battery was dead. Not sure if I forgot to turn it off or if I twisted the knob putting the gun back in it's case the previous time I went out. Doesn't really matter how it happened the result was the same. I've switched to a bushnell scope with the circle reticle, same power etc as mentioned above. Nothing to go wrong with it.
I've used a red dot for the past 4 seasons & don't ever plan on going back to regular sights. When you get older & your eyes don't focus on those beads very well a red dot is a gift from heaven. I always carry a couple extra batteries in my vest & can change them in seconds so that has not been an issue with me. There are also signs of my batteries getting low so I know when they are getting close to running out of power. My red dot is small enough that I shoot with both eyes open so I have a very good field of view. That can come in handy if you have to take 2nd shot. I've never used a scope for turkey hunting but it should be good as long as you be careful. Seen several bust their noggins with them so you better get one with lots of eye relief. Both have their pros & cons. Scopes are heavier & require no batteries but red dots require batteries but are much lighter. I can personally get on target faster with my red dot. It's really just preference. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Good luck on your choice.
I use both the Burris Fastfire and Leupold Deltapoint. Both are awesome sights and have worked flawlessly for years of rough turkey hunting. Like the post above I carry a spare battery with me at all times but I have never had to change it in the field. I normally swap mine out at the beginning of every season to be on the safe side and ALWAYS check mine before leaving the truck each hunt but it's a piece of mind knowing I have a spare battery should something happen.
The Delta is a little more compact due to the fact that the guard is built in already where you have to put a guard on the Burris which makes it a little taller which has not been an issue at all just thought I would mention it.
Best of luck!!
I have used the EOTech 512 the last couple of years and love it. As others have said, red dots need batteries, the EOTech takes two AA batteries. My flashlight and GPS uses AA batteries also, that way I can carry extra for all. Both have advantages and disadvantages, look through several different sites and scopes to see which one you like. My old eyes liked the EOTech circle with a dot in the center better than a scope. Good luck with whichever one you choose. :icon_thumright:
Check out the Mueller Quick Shot. :turkey2:
As my eyes aged, I was having trouble getting a good focus on the old StarDot sights and the gobbler. I initially went with a Nikon Turkey scope which did a good job, but I didn't like the magnification. The second year I used the scope, I had a gobbler come in at first light in the shadows and had him in full strut at 25 yards, but could not pick up the crosshairs due to the low light and the gobbler walked away. In 37 years of turkey hunting, I have only had 2 gobblers come in when it was that dark. I went to a Nikon VSD (1,4,6,10 MOA) red dot and a couple of years later, on my second early morning "dark-thirty" strutter, I had to place the scope on the smallest dot, 1 MOA and dialed down the intensity to preclude any red glare. I killed the gobbler at 20 yards. I like the ability to shoot with both eyes open utilizing a red dot, and nothing is easier to get on target than a red dot. I don't want to sound like a smart-, but if the turkey is in Hevi-Shot/TSS range and the red dot is on his neck, it's a dead gobbler. I too carry spare batteries and have even had to put in a fresh battery while I had two gobblers at 30 yards in the woods. Needless to say, it made for a very memorable successful hunt.
I dont think one is better then other than if you have bad eyes. Now I like the smaller light weight stuff because it puts less pressure on the screws and mounting system.
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 17, 2017, 08:22:04 AM
I wouldn't trade my fast fires for anything
This^^^^^^^^^^
Appreciate all the input, I'm leaning towards the FF2, FF3 or the Venom on the Sumtoy mount.
Red dot, hands down. You need a good cheek to stock weld to get good results with a scope. Not so with a red dot, so it's easier to make shots from less than ideal shooting positions and with both eyes open. Wherever that red dot points is where your shot goes. IMHO, scopes are tougher to use in low light situations.
Quote from: Strutr on May 22, 2017, 01:52:55 PM
Red dot, hands down. You need a good cheek to stock weld to get good results with a scope. Not so with a red dot, so it's easier to make shots from less than ideal shooting positions and with both eyes open. Wherever that red dot points is where your shot goes. IMHO, scopes are tougher to use in low light situations.
X2!!! I have a Bushnell red dot on my 835 and once you get the red dot initially dialed in, you don't need a good check weld. Where ever the dot is, is where the shot charge is going. I killed a bird a couple of years ago that I had to rotate the gun about 75 degrees to get around a tree and the bird was dead when I pulled the trigger. Not sure how the red dots do it but the dot doesn't have to be centered and your cheek welded to the stock to get the shot on target.
I like scopes, but I went with red dots just for the weight advantage alone. I'm using a Burris FFIII on one gun and a Vortex SparcII on the other. Both are nice.
Ive used both & the red dot I liked more, Mike