My opinion is I zero most all of my long guns from 223 up to 375 at around 250 yards. Gives me a 0-300 yard no brainer shoot without having to think. In my little brain, once they cross the 300 yard mark, it only takes me a 1/2 a second to reference a range card or a tape on the turret to put the round as on point as I can shoot. I just naturally shoot better and faster if I use the main center of the reticle, maybe using a windage mark or two if wind is a thing. Some folks like using a reticle for holdover and if it works, then I'd say stick with it, but I don't generally waste a bunch of time dialing a mil or whatever and getting to aiming the rifle. It is reassuring to me the rifle will put the round exactly where I tell it to at any yardage if my zero and atmospherics are good.
The 3x9 is simply a fantastic hunting scope in my opinion. Honestly with the turret tapes like DF uses you really only need a dope chart to access if you're dealing with wind.
For hunting, I'm not a dialer. I use a .257 Weatherby mag sighted in at 300 yards. Drop at 400 is 8 inches, so for that distance I would hold the crosshair right on an animal's back. In the heat of hunting, with an adrenalin rush, there is no time to think about much except finding the animal in your scope. If over 400 yards I won't take the shot. That is really specialty stuff. But a ballistic reticle would seem better to me than dialing for over 400 yards if you understand your markings.
Even for a 400 yard shot there is most times no need for holdover if the animal is elevated above or below you, a situation that happens quite often. In this situation, if you aim at the top of the back, you will shoot over the animal.
