OK, I'm the OP. You can easily see I've been here a long time, but don't post a whole lot. Big Stick is a menace and needs to go away. Otherwise, you all need to get a life and grow the phuuck up. Thanks for the very few, and I mean minimal, helpful posts.
My apologies OP.
Serious reply: as stated, my 45/70 has done well with irons and a Leupold 2.5x fixed in about the exact conditions you described. I've also used a 1.5-8x Vortex Razor HD with a #4 type reticle in the woods and love it. Same goes for a fixed 4.75x Weaver.