DD - I'd have to say I'm really hard on my hunting guns and scopes and there are 2 scopes that my rifles will always be wearing. My first choice in glass is the Leupold VX-IIs, I have one on my 7mag (3-9x40) and one on my 243 (4-12x40). These scops survived 2 South Dakota and Nebraska deer seasons (extreme cold, no fogging, in the rain/snow, mud, etc) and gave me no glitches to date. They have never moved a 1/4" since I've owned them (and they get beat around in truck year round, ride on 4-wheelers, been on snowmobiles, etc).

I used to be a big Nikon guy, then I made the switch to Leupold. Nikon is a great scope, I have one left on my Ruger 10-22 and its a 4.5-14x40 Buckmaster, and its a grreat scope as well. I'm not sure you could compare it to the VX-II line of scopes.

I have zero experience with Zeiss scopes, so I can't vouch for what the others were saying.