How many of you guys use them? What types of red dots do you prefer or do you have on your gun and like? What reticles do you feel are the best? I'm looking into getting one, but would like to do some research first. Thanks

I have a tasco red dot on my muzzleloader. At first I liked it and thought it was a pretty good idea. However I found (at least with mine) that when I would point the gun in the direction of the sun I would not be able to see the dot no matter how high I set the scope. This happened most of the time during sunrise or sunset when the sun was low in the sky but this is when I see most of my deer so I think I'm going to switch next year.

If the red dot isn't a good option...what scope would be the best and at what power? 1Xsomething or 2Xsomething? The longest shot I'd ever take would be around 75-100, but the majority of my shots are from 15-45, 50 yards. So I would need a scope that turned most of the way down, would still give me a really good FOV. Thanks

I hunt the deer woods with a slug gun bearing a Tasco Pro Point 5 red dot. I love it.
I have not gotten anything with it yet, but it is SO easy to acquire and track a target with both eyes open using a red dot.
It's as fast as using iron sights, but you don't have to align rear and front, just point the dot. SWEET !!!

One of the things I like best about it is that, in addition to a brightness control, you can change the dot size.
For dim settings and longer shots, use a low intensity small dot, and for really bright areas, make the dot larger so it's easy to see. Check your sight picture periodically during the day as the lighting changes. My sight has 11 brightness settings, but I kept it at 3 or below (and on the smallest dot) for a whole day last year adn ti was fine, but again -I hunt the woods where it's a bit dimmer than a field.

I always put a fresh battery in for a day of hunting, and carry a spare. Used batteries are for the range only.
I leave the sight on all day so I don't have to mess with the dials to turn it on for a shot.

Some of the red dot scopes I've shot have a parallax problem, so make sure the red dot is in the middle of the FOV before shooting, or experiment at the range to see if the error is considerable on your setup.

Good luck.

If batteries bother you, but you still want a dot, check out Trijicon.

They have some cool dot sights that work day or night without batteries.
They use well-protected fiber optics and/or Tritium. Several automatically adjust for ambient lighting.

I've had a red dot for about 10 years now. It has never let me down. For slug hunting deer I have yet to find anything better. Running walking or standing, it alsways worked. plus, you can keep both eyes open when shooting at moving objects. I would recomend this to anyone for a slug gun.

Thanks for your opinions fellas. I have hunted with it for a couple years on a buddies gun, but I want to buy my own slug setup with scope so I'm trying to figure out if that's what I want to run with or not.

a fixed 4x scope is good out to about 150 yards...look at the nilon prostaff

I like the Bushnell Banner 1.5x4.5, I have one on my 870 and on my inline. At 1.5 it sports a generous 6" of eye relief and won't break the bank.

my buddie believes in the holo sight, it costs more than these cheap red dots. but itwill last you a lifetime. just like scopes i have went through numerous tasco and simmons then switching to leoupold scopes i think i have 7 of them now and would not own anything other than a leoupold. they will last