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Scope for hunting out west.?

For longer shots there is not enough magnification. Try shooting 1MOA target at 500m with x10 magnification off shooting sticks. 5-25 is standard today. I think minimum magnification around 4-6 for a hunting scope is nice for wide field of view. The maximum magnification- sky is the limit. If you have money go 30-36. I do hunt up to 300m and I usually go with meopta 4.5-30.
 
What is such a thing as to much? asking for a friend.
I won't even do load development with a 10 or 12 power scope let alone hunt.
I haven't saw a 10 or 12 x scope on a rifle with people I hunt or live around in years.
 
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I dont know its got to be around 20 years ago I bought a 5-20 Huskema scope when Aaron Davidson was there he actually helped me set up the turret, graduated from a Leupy 3x9 and never looked back the same scope is on a 6 Creed currently planing on do some speed goat hunting with soon.
 
Personally, I'd use the same scope for western hunting that I use here in the east.

While, yes I do hunt in woods with shots/visibility limited to about 125 yards or less. I also do a lot of my hunting over some fields and on gas/power lines.
Opportunities can be from contact to 1,500 yards+.

Power range for my optics is typically in the 4-12 to 4-20 range.

Budget and weight have been my biggest hurdles.

Sightron has been one of my go to's for a number of years.

But for the past few years, I've been buying the Crimson Trace Hardline series.
Good glass! Good fit and finish. Reliable tracking. Smooth operation on the controls.
And for the price, they are actually quite the bargain.
 
Repeating what I said earlier the Leopold VX6HD 3-18 covers all the bases. Light weight, low magnification, high magnification and everything in between. Those that are saying to use low power scopes either aren't old enough to need them or never hunted out west.
 
Don’t think it’s been mentioned yet but I stay away from scopes with AO and side parallax adjustments because it is just something else to deal with that you do not need for a big game scope. A larger objective like 50 - 52 is good for low light conditions which you will appreciate while waiting for that trophy… Also I stay away from fine crosshairs due to being hard to see in dark woods at optimum shooting times. I would think about 12x is all you would ever need which will give ample power for sighting in and long distances. The latest versions of lighted reticles are really nice and I have swapped all my big game scopes to Trijicons.
 
I like the real high powered ones so I can just use the bear spray for the up close and personal encounters.
Seriously though, is it still not very common to have a partition in the chamber or on top of the mag ahead of your long range rounds in case you bust something up close?
 

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