What power scope for hunting to 400 yards?

[Bigeclipse]

Looking at leupolds only (I like there generous eye relief), what power scope should I be looking at for hunting coyotes/deer out to 400 yards? I know some people state oh you can shoot a deer at 400 with a 4x scope...but just because you "can" do something doesn't mean a higher power wouldn't be better. thanks for your advice!

EDIT: I also should have specified this will be a hunting rig for 0-400 yards so close up shots as well and it will be on a light weight mountain rifle (not a heavier weight long range rifle)

 

[Dosh]

Big, everyone's eyes are different. I read a poll a few years ago (don't recall where) the most popular hunting scope power in the west was 4X16 and 3X9 in the east. Doesn't sound right to me, but I live in the west and have 4X16 on most of my rifles and have never needed to kill game over 400-450 yds. I'm old, so need all the help I can get, but over 16X didn't help me much when I tried one. Your choice should be the power which looks the best at 0-400 yds to you, not the sales clerk. I'll bet opinions will vary as much as eyesight. Good luck

 

[soundwaves]

Looking at leupolds only (I like there generous eye relief), what power scope should I be looking at for hunting coyotes/deer out to 400 yards? I know some people state oh you can shoot a deer at 400 with a 4x scope...but just because you "can" do something doesn't mean a higher power wouldn't be better. thanks for your advice!

Everyones taste is diferent. l would sugest if you were gona buy a leupold that you go with a 6-24x56 or something like that. l have hunted for years with 3-12x56 scopes but once l moved to Nightforce NXS 8-32x56 there is no going back for me. others will say thats too much power for those distances but l find it that more zoomed in you are more you can notice the small wobbles and twitches and keep steady acordingly. some also say the lowest power of 8 is to big of a zoom for close range but for close range shooting situations like a driven wild boar hunt or something l would use a difrent optic all together like a red dot sight or iron sights.
it turned out the best disicion l ever made was to buy the NXS 8-32-56.
most answers you are gona get will be 16x optics. this is a matter of WHO likes what and l enjoy alot of zoom. l eaven zoom in all the way at animals 100 yards or so away if lm not in a hurry to shoot. spot them with 8x and kill em with 32.

 

[soundwaves]

dont decide on what people tell you. go out and try diferent power scopes and decide for your self. some oldys and newbe hunters arnt good with finding the animal with the scope and arnt quick at adjusting power. my dad is one of them very excited hunters WHO has troble finding the animal and zooming in and if he has zoomed all the way in with a 24x scope , when he adjusts his adjustable triger he tends to loose the animal again so he has to zoom out and find the animal all over again and stuff. so he doesnt like my scope 8-32x56 as its really easy to loose your target at full power. me on the other hand can be on a running wild boar that is 50 yards away at max power as soon as l shoulder the rifle ( not that l would be useing that much power for that type of close in hunting but you get what l mean ) just my 2 cents. hope it helps.

 

[Rick Richard]

Soundwaves has it right. All that extra magnification will not do any good in the event you have to make a quick acquisition on game. For hunting, I prefer nothing over 16 to 18 power when mountain hunting. In the woods, a 3 x 9 will serve you well.

That was for hunting. If I am shooting targets; paper or steel at long range, then I want all the magnification I can get. So, it all depends what your primary focus will be for a particular rifle.

 

[Engineering101]

If you are looking at Leupolds you've probably already seen their VX6 in 3 to 18 power. That would be my recommendation. It is light and compact so a good choice for a light rifle that you want to keep light. Also it is good for load development when you want some zoom to see targets and you can still use it on 3X to jump shoot in heavy timber. Optics are good and the click values are right on with 20 MOA per rev. I also see that they are selling dirt cheap right now on Natchez shooters site.

 

[Montanasloth]

3-9X40 Leupold VX-2. Mine is lite weight, strong (took a nasty spill and shaves some aluminum off the eye piece and nothing happened to the scope), and super clear at all reasonable hunting times. Depending on your budget you can move up into some of the better Leupolds but for the money its a pretty good all around hunting scope.

 

[soundwaves]

get this if you can aford one Zeiss V8 4.8-35x60 good for short and long range. a good review on you tube vid... :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2T66CxxKAU

 

[PGJPJ]

I'm not a "long range" shooter at all. I find myself in the timber most of the time, only sometimes in an open clear cut, where a shot may be 4-600 yards.

But anyway. The 3x9 VX2 is a good value. I also have a 4x12 VX2, also just fine. My 3.5x10 VX3 has been working well for me, but my newest, the VX6 2x12 really has been suiting my style of hunting.

But, those are just what works for me. Like other's have said, it just depends on the style hunting you do, what feels right to you, and maybe also what you can afford.

 

[WildRose]

Looking at leupolds only (I like there generous eye relief), what power scope should I be looking at for hunting coyotes/deer out to 400 yards? I know some people state oh you can shoot a deer at 400 with a 4x scope...but just because you "can" do something doesn't mean a higher power wouldn't be better. thanks for your advice!

EDIT: I also should have specified this will be a hunting rig for 0-400 yards so close up shots as well and it will be on a light weight mountain rifle (not a heavier weight long range rifle)

BE if I were you I'd look hard at the VX6-3-18x50. If that's more than you want to spend look at the VX3's -4.5-15x50 and 3.5-10x50. You don't "need" more than 10x on the top end but it sure is nice to have more than you need just to make a good shot because it can save you on having to also tote glasses or a spotting scope to judge racks etc.

One problem you can get into in the real world not having enough magnification is that here in Texas to qualify as an "antlerless deer" during the regular season the deer must not have horns that protrude through the skin at all. Shoot a little button buck when you think you're cleaning up does during the regular season and if you don't have a buck tag it can get very expensive.

It can also make the difference in other states where to be a legal buck or bull there must be a minimum number of points on one or both sides.

 

[FEENIX]

Looking at leupolds only (I like there generous eye relief), what power scope should I be looking at for hunting coyotes/deer out to 400 yards?

So I and others don't misconstrue your goal, does this mean you are only looking for Leupold brand scopes?

3-9X40 Leupold VX-2. Mine is lite weight, strong (took a nasty spill and shaves some aluminum off the eye piece and nothing happened to the scope), and super clear at all reasonable hunting times. Depending on your budget you can move up into some of the better Leupolds but for the money its a pretty good all around hunting scope.

Bingo! I don't know about the OP, but this is always a big driver for me.

 

[Greyfox]

Back when my long shots were 400 yards I had no problem placing my shots in the vital area of deer and coyotes with 4.5x14x40 Leupold VX3 with a B&C reticle on top of a 270 Winchester Model 70. As my max range increased to 1000+ yards, my preference became a 5x20x50, but I generally have the power set at 10-15x while hunting as many of my opportunities are under 500 yards. IMO, field of view is more important then magnification when time to shot is a factor.

 

[N2TRKYS]

VX3i 3.5-10x40 or VX3i 4.5-14x40.

I use Leupolds on all of my hunting rifles. I normally use a 50mm objective and don't notice the weight difference. I recently bought the 40mm scopes. The jury is still out on if I keep them or not. I may go back to the 50s. That part is personal preference, though.

FWIW, I like a plain duplex on my scopes. My hunting is 400 yards and in, as well. I don't like the cluttered look of some of the other reticles.


Good luck.

 

[Bigeclipse]

thanks everyone.

To clarify some more I have several rifles for me and my wife. In the northeast we mostly hunt timbers so shots are typically well under 200 yards. We do have some open fields which allow us 250-300 yard shots and one shooting lane into a field that is close to 400 yards MAX. My wife and I both have a "longer range rig" if you want to call it that which are wearing 4.5-14x44 and hers is wearing a 4-16x50 I think. Both work wonderfully as dedicated longer range rifles. If we know we will be sitting the fields that particular day, we will bring those rifles but those rifles also have varmint barrels and are heavy (especially for my wife). We decided we should get some back packing type weight rifles that we would use in the tree stands for closer shots but if for some reason we need them to stretch to 400 yards we would like for them to do it. It sounds like 2/3/4-10x40/50 is really the range I should be looking into which should work great for the woods but be able to function at longer range if we need it to. As for going with leupold only...I really Love their customer service, lifetime warranty, and LOVE their eye relief. It gets dang cold up here and sometimes I wear super thick layers which can present a problem with eye relief. For example my one rifle currently wears a Burris fullfield2 4.5-14x44 and when wearing my thick layers I start to get the black ring inside my scope on lower power let alone higher power (when prone this is not as bad of a problem). The scope is as far back in the scope rings as it can go with the tally one piece rings I have...I guess I could go with a rail and new rings to try and get it further back.