This season I' m pondering the idea of going with open sights on my Marlin 444SS. The area I hunt is a mix of pine thickets and hardwoods. Most of my shots have been within forty yards but occasionaly, while hunting a crossing on a logging trail in the woods, have taken 100 yard shots. We have a three point rule here meaning a legal buck has to have at least three points on one side or less than two inches of hardend bone. So even though the majority of my shots will be close, I still have to be able to count points. Last season I had a large body six point with a small rack about thirty five yards broadside to me and luckily he was browsing and gave me plenty of time to count a fork and brow tine to get the three points needed to take him, but still it took 10 - 15 seconds until he turned his head that I could see the brow tines. I have binoculars, but sometimes in thick cover the deer doesn' t present itself long enough to glass then bring up the rifle. As you can see, I have mixed emotions about this dilema. What would you do?

Let me add to this that I currently have a Bushnell 3-9X40 scope with weaver see-thru mounts on this rifle. I like the looks of the rifle without a scope and I wouldn' t have to be concerned about knocking the scope out of zero while hunting for a week. But there are times when you just need one. I guess I' ll leave it as is and think on it awhile.