I have many rifles with peep sights. I don't hunt with any of them any more due to age related eye sight. If you're young enough then go ahead. It is a great way to hunt, but you'll still be slower than you are with a low powered scope.

 

Peeps are MHz favorite sights for punching paper and steel and for fowl weather use. The only downside IMO is when hunting in low light and the fact that it isn’t easier to identify a deer and pick it out of the background with a scope. Shooting is just more fun with a nice peep sight.

 

I'd say go for it. Ran a peep on my TC Renegade till I knocked it over and busted it. Some of my most enjoyable days out were with that rifle.
Mississippi made it legal to use single shot rifles for primitive arms and I held out till I busted that sight.
The only time you might miss having a scope is picking out a shot thru brush.

 

my 1964 30/30 has the Williams fire sight in it. I just put it in and am needing to sight it in.

 

Williams FP will offer you the most adjustments. I can attach pictures tomorrow of mine on a 336 .35 Rem. I paired it with an XS front sight blade. I just discovered The Skinner's Bear Buster front sight. That is similar to the XS front sight. I have one on order. I really prefer those to the fiber optic fire sights. I really enjoy a day in the woods hunting with open or peep sights. Great for getting a quick shot off when walking.

 

I know it's not a great picture but I'm happy I FINALLY learned how to attach pics. This elk fell to open sights at about 150 yards +/-

 

I've never owned a scope, been hunting with peep sights since the 1960's. Practice a lot, become close to your rifle, and you'll do just fine.

This is an XS rear, my favored brand. All steel, compact,rugged and adjustable. The 1/16" bead front is great for hunting, it doesn't cover a lot of the animal like a 1/8"bead will.

 

My 1895G wears the XS ghost ring and their white stripe front post. I love this combo for quick shots and can hold a hand sized group with it at 100 yards when using a sling.

My 30 TK wears the Skinner Express and their blued front post. I use it more often with the peep screwed out, leaving a ghost ring.

I do like the lower profile of the Skinner. I wish they made a smooth ring like the XS to go in that base.

 

My 9.3x62 sporting a NECG aperture.

 

As indicated the disadvantages are : hard to use in low light compared to a scope, harder to see a target or hole thru brush due to lack of magnification. This means you will need to pass up some shots. The advantages are lighter weight and ease of carry, trimmer and better balanced. A twlight aperature and bright white and fiber optic glow front sight make a great combination for a peep. I like the Williams/Lyman reciever sights due to the screw click adjustment and reference scales for elevation and windage. Learn that you eye (brain) automatically centers the front sight in the rear aperature, and all you only really need to do is focus on the front sight alignment to your target, which makes the sight very fast. A 22 set up with peeps makes for cheap practice.

Personally, if going to laz out on a stand take a scoped rifle. I mostly motion hunt, or do deer drives, and prefer a light rifle with a reciver sight for this.

 

Here are the pictures I promised earlier.

I really like the painted white blade of the XS sight. SKinner has one similar.

 

A rear peep, I use a Williams FP with the aperture removed, and a Williams firesight bead, is very fast, and accurate, and better then a standard sight setup in lower light conditions, It cannot compare to a scope in low light, and it will not identify or compare antlers as good as a scope. That said, Ive taken a very large pile of deer with mine out to about 150 yds. Its not perfect, but nothing is.

 

I have a RPP clover leaf peep on one of my 336's that I like. RPP's sight sits low enough that I didn't have to replace the front sight. The one thing that bothered me was with the front sight hood on my sight picture was to busy for me. The sight does let a lot of light in so it might be good for hunting in lower light conditions.

 

Some peeps, some optics. Mostly peeps go on scouts, drives and sneak hunts...scopes for when on stand.

 

you take off the hoods...

 

Think most people take off hoods, cuz, you don't want to see the sight picture as a circle within a circle (hood) with a post in it. Always a good idea to have an extra correct front sight around, since they can break if hunted hard, dropped etc.

 

I started with a Lyman 66LA on a Marlin 30-30 in 1964. I usually hunt with scoped rifle (Savage 99, Marlin) but I have always had a spare or 'rain/snow' rifle when hunting. Mostly I have Williams Foolproof's with a a couple Redfield's and Lyman's as the Williams seem to be easier to find and less expensive. I have a Williams Guide Peep on a Marlin 336 and just got an RSS to try. I shot my first elk with a Lyman on a Marlin 45-70. I've also shot a couple antelope, deer, and a couple cow elk through peep sights. For 'woods bumming' or walking in bear country to pack meat, I carry a peep sighted rifle. They are handier than a scope, but in bad light or heavy timber, a good scope works better. Many older peep sights have a 'support' screw that keeps the sight cross arm from bending if the rifle falls or or takes a hard rap, after a couple bent sight armss, I now drill and tap the cross arm for a screw to give support on the 'open' end of the cross arm. A big hole in the aperture is most useful in almost all shooting. There is not much reduction in group size from a .125 aperture to the .055 and the .125 is much easier to use. Using targets that allow the front sight to be easily seen helps in sighting in or group shooting, bright red or green work much better than black. A low-powered scope is still better for hunting and a higher powered scope works best for load development/group shooting of course.

 

I added an XS rail system to my BL, along with a threaded aperture and a couple Skinner peep inserts. Originally I bought the rail system so I could use a Burris FF3 red dot, but never unboxed it, and bought a Leupold FX II @ 2.5x 28 mounted using their low QXR rings.

 

I have 3 different peeps sights on my Marlins. I really like the XS sights and have them on 2 rifles. I also really like the Skinner sights and have them on 2 rifles. The Skinner’s give you the option of having the size aperature you want, or leaving it as a ghost ring. The XS sights I have are ghost rings only. Both the XS and the Skinners are similar in price range. Lastly I have a set of Brockman peeps sights on my 30-30. These are very nice sights, but also a lot more money. Although I do like them I dont think I would have paid the extra money if they were not already on the gun when I bought it.

Last thought here is get a fiber optic front sight. I use Williams red fire sights. MUCH better in low light and to me they make all the difference.

A couple pics for you with the difffernt peep options I have

 

Here's some pics of mine..front post is stock, just has some reddish orange paint to make it pop a little better