Hi Fastback65,
Congratulations on owning your dream elk rifle. I hope it brings you many successful seasons.
My advice is to go with the best quality scope that's within your budget.
German optics are quality. But Leupold scopes have not failed me.
We might look through our scopes for a cumulative 5 minutes a day. We'll glass for hours a day. About 20 years ago, I bought a pair of Zeiss binos. It was a great investment. If you haven't done so, I'd recommend investing in quality binos. Hence, depending upon your budget, you might have to compromise somewhere.
Elk are huge animals. They're even bigger when they're dead. It's been written and said a zillion times that elk are the toughest animal in North America, that they'll soak up a lot of lead before they're dead. It does make for great campfire lore; however, the reality is elk are not exempt from biology. Stop topside oxygenated blood flow and they'll die within a minute or less. Put a bullet in the wrong place, and you'll wind up doing a lot of tracking and cussing.
When many hunters see big game at distance, they'll figure out how they're going to make a 600 yard shot. When wise hunters see big game at 600 yards away, they'll figure out how they're gonna close distance. Hence, high end magnification isn't necessary.
While a .300 Win Mag is capable of killing elk at distance, my advice is to get closer if possible. That way you'll be far more confident of destroying oxygenated blood pumping equipment. Thus, a VX III 2.5 x 8 might deserve a look.
Keeping in mind that this is merely my opinion: I believe that the Leupold VX III 2.5 x 8 is the single best scope for hunting all North American big game. This scope is great quality at a reasonable price.
Just thinking about this makes me want to go on another bull elk rut hunt. Drawing a tag for such a hunt is another story.
I wish you the best, Fastback65.
