I have a Springfield Scout and will be going hog hunting and curious if I should mount a scope or just use irons?

Thoughts ?

What will be the average distance you will be shooting?
How good are you with iron sights?

Most hog hunting is around dusk, so irons may be hard to see on a dark hog.

My godson uses an SKS with irons.  Says they sometimes break through the brush too damn close for optics.

Have you considered a reddot sight?

Figured I'd chime in since I spend an awful lot of time hunting pigs both solo and as a guide. As a guide, I've seen just about every set up imaginable and thus have a pretty good idea of what is successful for each particular style of hunting them.

First off, no matter how you hunt them you'll typically only going to get a single, precisely aimed shot off. As soon as that first bullet flies the individual or entire group will be scattering for cover. This is true even when shooting suppressed and with subs. Even though a 300 blk shooting subs can be pretty quiet, the impact on a hog is loud enough to signal to the others that something is up, not to mention the squealing that ensues.  So as you sit there concealed taking aim on them you have the luxury of taking your time and shooting when you are given the best opportunity, but once that trigger is pulled any and all follow up shots will be pretty sporty. * There are situations that have allowed me to take several methodical shots but these involved using suppressors, subs and NV or thermal at night. On occasion I have witnessed them just quickly scurrying off 20-30 yards and stopping trying to figure out what's going on which gave me the time to take a few more good shots.

After that first shot and once they are on the hoof, a red dot or irons is definitely much easier to take these running shots. A magnified scope becomes pretty useless at this point.  Your distance also is a major factor.  A magnified scope is great if you are again hunting like you'd be hunting deer and will be taking a shot at 50 yards or greater. If you think that your shot opportunities will be within 50 yards then I'd lean more towards a red dot or your irons.

Figure out which style you see yourself doing more and then base your decision off of that.  Your .308 will do the job at just about any distance you'll find yourself at so you're fine there.

Good luck.