Wild hogs are one of the most invasive species in North America, causing severe damage to farmland and other natural resources. In Texas, they’re among some of the most common animals hunted because of how overpopulated and destructive they are.
While you can hunt hogs with a multitude of rifle platforms, having the right optic can greatly increase your chances of a successful hunt. By far, one of the most common optics used for hunting are reflex sights.
Understanding Reflex Sights
If you aren’t familiar with them, “reflex sight” is a term that accounts for multiple optic variants. Popular optics like holographic and red dot sights are some common subcategories of reflex sights. Although there’s often a debate on reflex vs. red dot sights, the overall function of each subcategory is largely the same; they all superimpose the reticle onto a lens to facilitate quicker aiming.
Because of their compact form factor, they fit well on multiple platforms. Most, if not all, rifle reflex sights have a picatinny mount, making them compatible with most of the popular hog hunting rifles like the AR-15. For other firearms, like shotguns, there may not be a picatinny rail present, but fortunately, there are a plethora of dedicated shotgun red dot mounts available to make them optic-compatible.
Are Reflex Sights Good for Hunting?
The short answer is yes. But there’s a lot about reflex sights that make them so good for hog hunting. Reflex sights have many benefits over other optic variants. While other optics, like variable power and prism scopes are good for hunting, reflex sights excel in target acquisition, speed, and situational awareness.
Reflex Sight Benefits
When it comes to target acquisition speed, few optics can match reflex sights. Once zeroed correctly, aiming is as simple as putting the reticle on target. The larger lenses on most modern red dot sights also provide you with a much wider field of view than either iron sights or variable power optics.
A key consideration with reflex sights is their ability to project other reticle patterns. Aside from the standard dot reticle, most modern reflex sights can project more complex reticle design like circle dot reticles, chevron patterns, and even our ACSS® CQB reticle. Even though these reticle systems certainly help with accuracy, they won’t be as accurate as a magnified optic. Still, they offer enhanced usability, allowing you to hold over for range with the included BDC holds. You’ll likely face shots at varying distances, moving targets, or wind compensation, so the added targeting information makes reflex sights with complex reticles highly suitable for hog hunts. Just bear in mind that magnified optics will provide superior accuracy over longer distances.
In addition to their speed and accuracy, reflex sights improve situational awareness. Aiming with a red dot sight allows you to keep both eyes open, allowing you to focus entirely on the target and its surroundings. This will increase your field of view and enhance your depth perception, which is a significant departure from iron sights where the focus on the front sight, leaving your target blurry in the background.
Given their benefits, it’s no surprise that reflex sights are one of the most popular optic choices for hog hunters. They offer the most in terms of agility and the target visibility, which is crucial when hog hunting.
Reflex Sights for Hunting Hogs at Night
Another noteworthy feature of reflex sights is their night vision capabilities. Feral hogs are most active at dawn and dusk, so hunters often hunt them at night or in the early morning when it’s dark out. Night Optical Devices, or NODs, help provide a clearer image of hogs at night. Many reflex sights have night vision compatible settings for this reason.
Night vision settings are extremely dim and hard to see with the naked eye. However, they’re bright enough to be seen through NODs, allowing you to use it the same way you would in daylight. If you do plan on shooting with night vision mounted to your head instead of on the rifle itself, you might need a taller mount for your red dot to use your NODs properly.
If you don’t want to use NODs to passively aim through your optic, you can opt for dedicated thermal scope or a clip-on thermal system. Thermal scopes are exactly as their name describes, a rifle scope with thermal imaging capabilities. Thermal units pick up heat signatures in darkness, allowing you to positively identify your targets while getting an optimal sight picture of it. Dedicated thermal scopes are often much larger than reflex sights, but they can still be optimal for nighttime hunting.
If you want to use a reflex sight, a clip-on thermal scope is the way to go. They’re most often used on variable power optics, but they can be used for reflex sights as well, so long as they’re compatible. Reflex sight compatible thermal units can be mounted in front of the optic, maintaining your optic’s core abilities while seeing a thermal image of your target. If you’re looking for a night vision unit without needing to additionally buy a helmet or other head mount, clip-on units are a fantastic way to get into hog hunting at night.
Reflex Sight Brand Recommendations
Choosing a reflex sight for your rifle can, at times, be a bit of a challenge since there are numerous options to pick from. If you’re interested in running a reflex sight on your hog hunting rifle, here are some brands with excellent reflex sight options to help get you started in your search.
Primary Arms Optics: Though we produce a multitude of different optics, our reflex sight options are some of our most popular. One of our standout options is the Primary Arms Optics SLx® MD-25 Rotary Knob 25mm Microdot. This red dot sight is constructed from a durable aluminum housing, has a battery life of up to 25,000 hours, and has multiple reticle options.
Depending on the model you choose, it comes with either a 2 MOA dot or our ACSS CQB Reticle, which features an outer horseshoe for quick target acquisition, a center chevron for precise aiming, and three BDC holds for shooting at a distance. It also has multiple brightness settings, including two night vision ones. It’s compatible with our mounts as well if you want a taller or shorter optic height.
Another optic to look forward to is our upcoming GLx® MD-21s. Similar in size to our SLx MD-25 Rotary Knob Microdot, the GLx MD-21s features push button controls instead of a rotary knob, a solar charging unit for longer battery life, and enhanced glass clarity.
EOTech: EOTech is the pioneer of holographic sights, originally introducing them to the market in 1996. Since then, they’ve become one of the most popular optic manufacturers, with several holographic sight variants to their name. Out of their lineup, models such as the EXPS3-0 and XPS3-0 are particularly popular.
The EXPS3-0 and XPS3-0 are incredibly similar. Both are built with durability in mind, have 1,000-hour battery lives, and utilize a circle dot reticle. Their main difference is the mount; While both optics mount directly to picatinny rails, the EXPS3-0 has an integrated QD mount, making it sit a little taller than the XPS3-0. Both have 20 daylight brightness settings, and 10 night vision ones, making them some of the most night vision compatible optics in this list.
Trijicon: Trijicon is one of the most well-known optic manufacturers around, known primarily for their Advanced Optical Gun Sights (ACOGs), but they offer reflex sights as well, with the MRO being their flagship model.
The Miniature Rifle Optic, or MRO, is a robust red dot sight with a large 25mm objective lens, rotary knob controls, and a battery life of up to 50,000 hours. It provides a wide field of view and has multiple brightness settings, including night vision compatible ones. In addition to the standard MRO, Trijicon also has an upgraded variant known as the MRO HD.
The MRO HD is largely like the standard MRO; however, it has upgraded glass clarity, a better battery life, and it uses a circle dot reticle instead of a single dot. Another prominent feature of the MRO HD is that it was optimized for magnifier use, minimizing parallax and scope shadow when in use.
Holosun: For over a decade, Holosun has focused on creating durable and reliable optics. Out of their lineup, some of their most popular models for hunting are the AEMS, HS510C, and HE512T.
The AEMS is currently one of the most popular red dot sights they offer. Standing for Advanced Enclosed Micro Sight, it has a long battery life that can last upwards of 50,000+ hours, is built from a lightweight aluminum construction. Holosun’s HS510C is a larger optic that features many of the same features as the AEMS. It differs in that it’s an open-emitter reflex sight and has an included titanium protective hood. Lastly, the HE512T is essentially an enclosed version of the HS510C; instead of using aluminum, it’s made entirely from titanium and has the same features as previous models.
Each one of these optics are excellent options for hunting hogs. They all come with Holosun’s Shake Awake™ and Solar Failsafe technology with automatic brightness adjustments and have 12 brightness settings including multiple night vision ones. Each optic also uses their Multi-Reticle System, so they each can project either a circle dot reticle, a 65-MOA open circle, or a single 2-MOA dot.
Vortex Optics: Although they’re known primarily for their variable power optics, Vortex Optics has multiple reflex sights to their name, with models such as the SPARC SOLAR and AMG UH1 being among their most popular.
The Vortex SPARC Solar is a compact red dot sight that has one of the longest battery lives of the optics in this list. Powered by CR2032, the optic uses solar power to take some of the load off the battery when in use. This optic utilizes Vortex’s Auto D-TEC technology, which switches the optic from battery to solar power whenever in direct sunlight. This gives the optic a battery life of 150,000 hours (this depends heavily on the brightness settings and environment you shoot in). Additionally, it has multiple brightness settings, including 2 night vision ones.
Vortex’s AMG UH-1 is one of the only other holographic sights available aside from EOTech. A larger optic, the AMG UH-1 is an incredibly durable optic that’s built from a shockproof construction and coated in Vortex’s ArmorTek coating. Though it has a shorter battery life of around 1,500 hours, it features the EBR-CQB reticle and has 15 brightness settings, including 4 night vision settings. Despite being heavier at 11.8 ounces, its durability and night vision compatibility make it an excellent choice for hog hunting.
SIG Sauer: Although they’re most well known for their firearms, SIG Sauer also produces its share of optics, with some of their most popular ones being their red dot sights. Most notably, the ROMEO 5, 4XT-PRO, and 8T are often used for hog hunting.
Starting with the ROMEO 5, it’s a very simplistic red dot sight that’s affordable for all budgets. It has a standard 2 MOA dot reticle, a 40,000+ hour battery life, motion activation, and multiple brightness settings for both daylight and night vision use. If you’re looking for some added versatility and durability the ROMEO 4XT-PRO is the optic for you. It has a similar footprint to the ROMEO 5, but it comes with a lot of extra features. For instance, the 4XT-PRO has a longer lasting battery life, can project multiple reticles, and has SIG’s SpectraCoat anti-reflective lens coating. Plus, it comes with an assortment of accessories like kill-flash devices, lens covers, and different height mounts.
Moving onto the ROMEO 8T, it’s a robustly built red dot sight that is perfect for hog hunting. Although it’s a fully enclosed optic, it comes with a removable titanium shroud for extra protection. Like the 4XT-PRO, it can project multiple reticles, is motion activated, and has an assortment of brightness settings which, of course, include night vision compatible ones as well. Running off CR123 batteries, this optic is incredibly efficient, and depending on how you use it, its battery life can last upwards of 100,000 hours.
Which one is best?
With so many great options, you’re probably wondering which is best. To tell you the truth, it’s impossible to crown one optic as the best one. Each one caters to different preferences and needs, and the best one is the one that best aligns with yours.
If you’re looking for a solid do-all reflex sight, any of the optics mentioned above will do the trick. However, if you’re interested in hunting with NODs, we recommend going with an NV-compatible EOTech model or the Vortex AMG UH-1, as they offer better low-light performance.
Something else to keep in mind is that the list above is only a brief glimpse into the realm of reflex sights. There are countless makes and models available from various manufacturers, so if none of the options above suit your needs, there’s likely one out there that will. Other sight options can be great too. For instance, prism scopes like our SLx® and GLx® 1x MicroPrism™ Scopes offer the same compact form factor as most reflex sights and are night vision compatible. Moreover, variable power optics can be a solid choice too, and have been used by hunters for decades.
Conclusion
If you’re planning your next hog hunting trip, having the right optic is an absolute necessity and reflex sights are some of the best ones you can choose. Being some of the quickest and most compact optics available on the market, they’re excellent for close to medium range hog hunting.
Despite being an incredible optic for hog hunting, it can certainly be a challenge to find the reflex sight that’s best for you. We recommend taking time reading up on all your options to find the one that best aligns with your needs and preferences. Doing so only takes a bit of time and helps narrow down the best sight options for you.
With an idea of what to look for in your optic, you’re almost ready to head out on your hunt. Before you head out, make sure that you are in accordance with your local and state law, and be sure to do a last-minute check to make sure you have all your gear.
