When I bought my Ruger M-77 .243 in 1980, I put a Bushnell ScopeChief 3x9x40 scope on it, I lived in Virginia at the time and I used it for deer and turkey in the fall and crows and groundhogs in the summer...About 6 years ago I replaced the Bushnell with a Leupold and stayed with a 3x9x40...I've moved back to my native Carolina and still use it for deer, crows, groundhogs and now, coyotes as well...I have shot several groups at 200 yards that measure under an inch and a half...You don't need high power to shoot small groups and you can have too much especially in hunting condidtions...I don't have any problem killing groundhogs out to 250-300 yards with the scope set on 9 power...

Most big game scopes are set parallex free at 150 yards...I did have my Leupold Compact that I have on my .22 set to 75 yards, but when I called Leupold and asked about parallex, they said the maximum effect at 100 yards was about 1/4 inch...