Last year i bought a new .50 Encore for M/L season. Put a 4X Simmonsshotgun scope on it as a temporary measure until my FX III 6X42 Leupold came in from Cabela's. Since then i have killed three deer and 7 or8 hogs with that gun. One deer was at over 160 yards and a hog was at 175 yards. The Leupold is still in the box-waiting.
I think a simple 3X or 4X fixed power scope is one of the most underutilized "really good things" out there. Will do the job for better than 90% of all hunting tasks.