I've always shied away from the red dot scopes because I've always worried about the battery dieing on me in the middle of a hunt or I always worried that a turkey would see me turning it on when I wanted to use it...

Have any of you red dot users had any of these prob???

Yes.. I used a red dot scope for about 3 years. The battery died on me and the zero changed after I replaced the battery. I'm just glad I shot it again before hunting with it. After having to replace the battery, I was on a hunt and did not turn mine on. Planned on turning it on after striking a bird. Well, to make a long story short, had two birds come in silent and didn't have an opportunity to turn it on. I learned a very valuable lesson from this incident.......you cannot hit the mark without the dot.

I purchased a Truglo shotgun scope to top my 835 and it is the best for my money.(about $80 w/ shipping) The only thing I changed was the rings, but it came with rings also. Got it from Cabela's. Hope this helps.

I used a red dot for a couple of years and carried spare batteries in all the usual places, backpack, pockets etc. and never needed them. I never got over the fear of a dead battery at the crucial moment and switched to a scope. That being said, I never had a battery failure in the field and my brother and I both killed birds using that setup. I think it is a very good sighting system, both adjustable and quick to point. Also, there are versions available now that can be left on for the entire hunt, they shut off when carried vertically as when the gun is sling carried to save the battery and also use very powerful batteries. I'm sure those would be more expensive than the $40 version I have.

Yea.. Those are just some of the reasons I never put one on my turkey guns... I guess I'm one of those guys that help write the book on murphy's law lol...

i have used a red dot for 20 yrs the old tasco scope with no problem and the new gobbler stopper.battery will last all season (30 days) and more.

Well after thinking about all the things that could cost me a turkey with a sighting system... I opted for a bushnell turkey shotgun scope...

Many of the higher end red dots have a battery life of over 1,000 hours...some much more than that.
Not something I would worry about unless I got a $50 "special".

I bought a meprolight shotgun bead once. It glowed green with a charge of radiation for 11 years. It only cost $20. when I bought it, and it worked great. I guess it is still in use as a bead sight, but it quit glowing. I have tru glow sights on my new gun.

I use a BB and thats it never had a battery wear down on it either

Idrilled and tapped my 870 for weaver base, installed a cabelas 2.5 shotgun scope. It works great.