Apparently you can no longer use a scope for some of the rifle any legal weapon deer hunt units this year. Open sites or peeps only…somebody make it make sense. I don’t even know someone with an open site rifle anymore…Am I missing something or is this some special hunt type they are adding to the units?
Super frustrating. They can’t keep doing this to hunters. It’s along the same vein of what they did with muzzleloader last year. You’ve got all these hunters that have invested in their rifle/muzzleloader system and suddenly can’t be used.
I agree that the restrictions are stupid…but hunting with iron sights is not. There are some of us that deliberately hunt with legacy rifles just because that is what we grew up with and do miss the simplicity of the systems. My son and I both own and hunt with M1 Garands 30-06 when we go out together. Hunting with a good Marlin .44 Magnum lever action in the woods is fun to me. I appreciate the anger towards the overreach by government officials, but traditional sights still have their place in the woods.
Turning 62, believe me I appreciate the optics to help with sight picture clarity.
@jb308 Your M1 Garand will be out too… no semi-autos.
From what I understand this is just in the units specified (Beaver, Boulder and Cache) and they are supposedly doing it for a 5 year test period??? I don’t really know, but it still seems stupid to me. My first ever deer hunt was in the Cache unit, and my sister’s family/extended family all still hunt that unit and have for 40+ years. This will be a huge change for them.
Yep, it is ridiculous…but that is why I live where I live. One of my older brothers moved from Texas to Washington State, and it about drove him crazy with the regulations from hunting to doing anything on your own property; he moved back to Texas last year. If the number of game animals was low, and you wanted to let them grow the herd, then one way would be to decrease the ability of hunters to shoot at animals past 250. Did they state a reason for this or is it a “just because”?
My family has hunted the beaver east unit forever and now we will have to get new muzzleloaders and rifles to continue the tradition of deer camp and hunting close to home. Obviously the overreach is not good. I just hope it actually does something good for the deer herd like they think it will cuz at the end of the day that’s what we want most right.
Oregon muzzle loaders are open ignition, muzzle load powder, open sights. Kind of what a muzzle loader is. If they include open sights with muzzle loader such as some trap doors of falling blocks or lever actions I would be ok with that. I love technology and I think more accurate is better but there should be a place for the few that want the old ways to a certain extent and have it as a level playing field for all in that season. Of course we have trail cams, gps, onx, range finders, gore-tex, sxs, medicine, warm boots that fit, clean clothes and on and on and on.
I don’t get why this isn’t getting very much attention. This is HUGE! They are doing a trial in the three units for I believe 3 years… then they will decide if this goes into effect STATEWIDE!!! In three years riflescopes could be banned in Utah completely!
The board meeting was 12/12/2024 and you can watch it on YouTube. I didn’t hear about it until the start of January. I still haven’t seen a news release about it. I watched the meeting. Basically the board wants to grow deer without reducing tags. They want to actually sell MORE TAGS because the success rate goes down, which sounds completely bass ackwards to me!
Here are some notable quotes:
Board member Bret Selman said, “We’re trying to grow deer. I agree with that. The trouble with hunters now, is we’re not hunters, we’re killers. The deer doesn’t have a chance at 800 yards. This restricted weapon gives the deer a change against us… If somebody has a better idea of how to grow bigger bucks and increase opportunity, let’s hear it.”
Board member Kent Johnson said, “…I do like the muzzleloader and the rifle restrictions. Like a lot of guys in here probably, I killed my first buck with an iron sighted rifle.” I don’t agree with this train of thought. Just because scopes were junk when you grew up doesn’t mean me and my kids shouldn’t be able to use them.
Board member Bryce Thurgood said, “If my grandpa opened my safe and seen my guns I would get my ass kicked. 100%… Because he didn’t have all this crap hunting.” I think your grandpa would probably say, “Wow, how can I get one of those?”! Just because your grandpa didn’t have heated seats and listened to 8-track tapes, doesn’t mean we should have to now!
I grew up in Utah moved in 1991. All i ever used for deer was my Winchester 1894 30 30 open sights, got my deer most years up in Spanish Fork Canyon at the first rest stop or canyons above SLC.
