The main reason I would choose the "modern" rifle over the open sighted lever gun is with old age and eyesight issues, it's much harder to get a fast, accurate sight picture with open sights vs. a scope. It's one thing to see a stationary white target with a black circle in the middle, at a known distance at a shooting range, vs. getting a positive sight picture of the vitals of a moving deer at an uncertain distance and a cluttered background, with only a moment's window in time to make the shot.
Plus, some joker snuck into my gunsafe and replaced all my front sights with fuzzy, blurry, blodgey things vs. the nice clear, easy to see front sights that I remember from my youth.
So for me, I'll hunt with a scope.