Being as I am new to long range hunting I want to practice enough this year to be comfortable to 600yards. I will worry about stretching out further next year and beyond.I have owned my STW for years but have never actually practiced enough to feel comfortable at long range. The range I have gone to in years past was only out to 300 yards so that Is what I practiced to the new range goes out to 1000 yards. Does that help? My STW goes moose hunting also and shots generally are less than 50 yards so with 6 power being on the low end I do not think it would be optimal which is why I have steered towards 4-16 power
You are really stretching the limits of what you can buy for what you are asking. For instance, shooting moose at 50 yards requires low magnification (3X or less) to get a good picture of anything other than a patch of brown fur. For the shot at 1000 yards you need moderate magnification to see what you are shooting at. Also, to reach 1000 yards you need a mount with some cant to allow you to get a lot of travel in most scopes.
Depending on how good your eyes are you will need over 12X to do well at 1000 yards. A lot of great shots with great eyes can use 10X to hit a target at 1000 yards but I don't fit into that category. I need something around 20X. Having said that, there are scopes with a "large erector ratio" that can span the 3X - 18X range but they are not cheap. For instance, Swarovski makes a 3-18X50 that would span that range but they lack total travel and they cost a lot more than you are interested in spending. However, I would highly recommend that if you are looking for moose in the woods at less than 50 yards you really need a small magnification at the low end. Then the amount you are ready to spend might limit your high end magnification but you might also have good eyes. I would even lean toward a 2X or less for that short range shot.
Having said that, there are scopes like Minox 3-15X50 that you can get from some of the shops on this list like Camera Land. I recommend the scope have "side focus" which is really parallax adjustment when you are shooting both short range and long range. This Minox does:
Minox - Camera Land NY
I have the Minox 4-20X50 and like the optics a lot. However, 4X is a bit much for shooting shorter than 50 yards. I also have the Swarovski 3-18X50 Z6i and it is an outstanding scope but it will cost about 3 times the cost of the Minox. I also have a Swarovski 3.5-18X42 Z5 that is almost as good but not the same light for light gathering.
Again, shooting less than 50 yards requires low magnification for quick target acquisition. If you are shooting in very low light you will need illumination - but if you are not shooting at dusk or dawn you will not need the illumination. Illumination also adds to the cost (for instance, the cost of a Swarovski 3-18X50 Z6i with illumination is around $3000 whereas the Z6 without illumination is arround $2300). The Minox runs around $500.
Let us know how you fit this fits into your view of your needs or to get our view of specific scopes.