depends what kind of sights and the shooter if you ask me......give a good shooter his/her prefrence in sights and they can probabl punch some holes...and at the range you mentioned dropping deer should not be much of a challenge.....but i much rather have a scope.....flintlock season i HATE lugging binocs....and they dont make a 3-9 binoc or anything USEFULL for the thick woods....2 or 4x would work but what if i see a deer a little ways out there and want to ID it.....antlers?? how many points?? meet the legal requierments here?? i hate it......but i can punch some holes with fiber optic sights on my flinter.......but a scope on the mauser i can check its head....and put that bullet within an inch of where i want to hit every time with alot of confidance..........my opinion.......i just have troubles seeing antlers..........