If you can go Leupold Vari-X III, look at the Zeiss Conquest series. Prices are close. I have both lines and like the Conquest better becauseit appears to me to be a bit crisper in very low light and has a bettercontrast, making it easier for me to pick out game in the brush.

I have no scopes in excess of 12X. And that one is a variable from 4-12X that seldom gets set above 6X. My shots are not long down here in the deep south so 4x to 6X is plenty for me. Frankly, most of the time I stay on 3X.

I have hunted in eastern Montana several seasons.Wide open. There my shots beyondmy "comfoprt zone" ... which is about 350 yards. I had , took and made two shots on mule deer rght at 325 yards. The 9X - 10X range came in handy on those longer shots. Guess what I am saying is, at least for me ... longer distances, I was better served by greater "X".