Howdy fellow coues hunter,
I know that coues hunting is your passion. It is mine too.
I have used a 3-9 x 40 in the past but in recent years I have gone to higher magnification for my coues hunting along with turrets. Last year was a real eyeopener. I was using a 8.5-25 x 50 LR scope and under the same early morning conditions I looked through the other rifle I brought, which my friend was using. The other rifle had a 4.5-14 x 40 AO. I used both set on 12 power to look at a couple of bucks at 400 yds. The difference was very evident. That LR scope ran circles around the 4.5 x 14 due to a clearer and brighter picture. I was so impressed that I put a 4.5-14 x 50 LR on the loaner rifle.
For our specialized coues hunting really high magnification isn't needed but it is nice to have at least 12X instead of 9X. FYI your 3-9 x 40's 9X is really a 8.6X according to Leupold's site. If there were a perfect magnification range for coues hunting I'd say it was 4.5-14 preferably with a 50 mm objective. I realize that some rifles don't lend themselves to the larger objective due to cheek weld. My LR rifles have McMillans or Laminates with higher cheek pieces.
If we ever get together I can show you some of the combinations that fit and work well for me.
Ross
