i was just curious, in all my years of hunting (started 30 years ago, been doing it yearly for last 12 or so) ive owned scopes that have gone up to 12x and the only time I have used anything higher than 6x is at the range...i guess from a field rest, I haven't felt comfortable (or needed)with zooming in to a higher power. That and 90+ percent of my hunting in georgia is inside 150 yards (probably most inside of 100 actually) in planted pines, or a hardwood bottom, unless Im hunting powerline or beanfield type area.....the thought of sitting in my climber and cranking the scope up to 20x on a deer bewilders me
my geography has me looking for pieces of a deer between all the timber vs looking for a deer in a wide open space
Sako I suppose eastern hunters can get longer shots than 300 yards on fields and power lines,over big swamps but your experience is probably more typical. I have killed in the east at 300 yards a couple times over swamps and power lines.But it's more typical in my neck of the woods to kill well inside that distance.
There isn't much need for more than 6X back here. The west is different...sometimes. But even there you will kill a lot of game with nothing over 6X unless you are a LR expert and specialize at that sort of shooting.
