Quote:
Originally Posted by yel911
Hunting in New England, shot are usually close. In NH. the average shot is 40 yards. Do some research and you'll find most people are over-scoped. Too much magnification. You don't want to be on stand and have your scope turned up to the max. Just the opposite, stay at low mag. and turn up as needed. At high mag. you will have a problem finding your target. Optics are "get what you paid for". As mentioned, Leupold makes one of the best scopes, plus has a lifetime warranty. I have leupold binoculars and will not part with them!!! So, you need to know what distances you plan on shooting. For me, I have a 1.75 x 5 power Bushnell Trophy series scope on my rifled barrel shotgun. With sabots, I can shoot out to 100 yards accurately. My Ruger 300 Win mag rifle has a 2 x 10 power scope and is over-scoped, but I like the fact that I can dial as needed. At 10x, a rest is mandatory. If you had a 4x scope at 20 yards, you might have an issue finding your target. Good luck!!!
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Great advice.
Don't mistake to ability to see better with the ability to shoot better. I have used the ubiquitous 3x-9x variable up here in the Pacific Northwest in the past, reasoning that 3x would be o.k. in our dark woods and 9x o.k. in our open sagebrush. In the end, I found myself essentially over-scoped in either situation. I now use the little Leupold 1.5x-4x on those hunting rifles that actually wear a scope (most of mine don't).
The 1.5x is a godsend in the woods. The 4x is plenty for the longest range anyone has any business shooting at an unwounded big game animal. The added bonus for such a small scope is that, well - it's small. We spend a lot more time carrying them than shooting them.
Many shooters make the mistake of buying the scope that will help them shoot the best on the range. That's where the vast majority of shots are fired, and we all want to impress our buddies. The problem is, what works well on well defined, stationary targets at known ranges, firing under no time constaints or other pressures, does not always work in the field. These are two completely different sets of requirements. Many hunters have the mistaken impression that whatever helps them shoot better at the range will in turn help them shoot better in the field. That's hardly ever true.