Totally agree Bob..... though I started my hunting career with a 6x Weaver. I killed piles of coyotes and prairie dogs with that scope atop a .25-06.... with an occasional pronghorn or mule deer thrown in. But once I went to Leupold variables I could see no reason to limit myself to 6x. I suppose growing up on the prairie, a guy's feelings on optics (rifles/calibers/bullets/etc) is probably quite different from a guy who grew up hunting the north woods of Maine.
You nailed it. Where we started,where we lived has lots to do with it. If I lived in your country I'd have leaned to "more scope",too. Even here we used higher optics for woodchucks and varmints in big farm fields.Mostly 10-12X Leupolds.
Anymore, today, I'm a scope chameleon.Some fixed 4X,some 6x,some variables....depends.
I guess my "favorite" Leupold variables are th 2.5-8 and the 3.5-10x. 20 years ago I'd have NEVER used a 2.5-10.
