Yep. 3 guys I’ve advised lately all want 14x or more, to hunt mostly inside 250yds for deer.
Wow, I absolutely believe that but still saddened. Better off with a fixed 3x if they could find one. We live in an urbanized culture where practical field experience has been supplanted by wannabe SEAL snipers. Ask any Western hunting guide and they'll tell you their clients are over scoped, over calibered, under practiced and out of shape, but the fundamentals aren't sexy and don't sell product or periodicals.
