Handgun Hunting Afield

The Ultradot Match Dot 2 has been one of my favorite sights since putting it on my Custom Smith & Wesson model 629, so when I heard that they made it even better I knew I had to get my hands on one to try it out. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on 2 models (one green dot and one red) just as muzzleloader season was getting under way here in Wisconsin. After unboxing the sights, the first thing I noticed was the off setting between each of the brightness settings on the new models. This was a very welcome addition for me. I have known myself to leave the sights on at the end of a days shooting/hunting and am therefore in the practice of leaving the sight turned off until it is expected to be used while in the stand. I was able to set the sight to the proper brightness when I was in the stand and only a slight turn of the brightness dial was needed to turn the sight off or turn it back on at the brightness level that I wanted. In comparing the two sights in my living room it became apparent right away that the green sight was not going to work for me. While the red dot was clear and precise the green dot showed up as a large starburst even on the 2 MOA dot setting.  I asked my partner to look through the sight, as well as took a picture of the dot using my phone, both saw a clear concise dot where I saw a starburst, it was not an issue with the sight, but an issue with my vision.

My free time was limited if I wanted to be able to get my CVA Optima 2 muzzleloading pistol sighted, so I set the green aside and mounted the red model and headed to the range in the single digit weather. The new glass in the upgraded Matchdot is better than my original model. The difference is slight but it is noticeable when comparing them side by side as the image in the newer models does appear more clearly and without any noticeable size distortion. Following Ultradot’s instructions, I removed the breach plug and bore-sighted down the barrel and adjusted the sight to match. This put my first shot with Cutting Edge Ballistics 210gr 44 caliber muzzleloading bullet 3 inches to the left at 50 yards. After a few quick and accurate adjustments, the next 3 shots were all in my 2-inch circle at 50 yards. I took 3 more shots that rang a 6-inch steel target at 100 yards and I was confident that if a doe presented itself within that 100 yard range I would be able to put the bullet in the right place.

Saturday morning dawned cold with temperature hovering right around 9 degrees but it was supposed to warm up as the weekend went on. I saw a small group of deer move through my area about 8am but they stayed far enough back into the woods to not present a clear target, the rest of morning turned up nothing but squirrels so I headed back in for lunch and a warm up. The temperature had risen to a balmy 25 degrees when I headed back out to the stand for the afternoon hunt. The deer must have been enjoying the warmer temps as they were moving around in the woods not long after climbing into my stand. Buck fawns were the first to enter the field in front of me and I discreetly gave the brightness dial a short turn to turn on the sight and waited for the does to begin entering the field. I only had to wait about 25 minutes before a doe presented itself and I raised up my pistol and took in the sight picture and the 2MOA dot settled nicely in the pocket behind the does shoulder as she quartered slightly away at 40 yards. The pistol roared as the trigger broke and the doe dropped instantly without so much as a single step.

With a bit more venison in the freezer I went back to the green model and started looking at it a bit more. I kept getting that starburst, bad with the right eye and worse with my left while my camera and others saw it clearly. I decided to try and put in a new set of contacts (I wear one-month disposables and the current pair were near the end of their month) and that helped but not significantly. I took out my contacts and looked using my glasses… a clear dot. I seldom wear my glasses and hunt with them even less but at least I had found what was giving me the issue with the green Ultradot. The Matchdot 2 will continue to be one of my favorite sights but I know that at least for now I will stick to the red.