stubblejumper: I would say one other thing. For me, 30 minutes after sunset I can no longer see well enough to discriminate a target with my naked eye. My practice is to first become alerted to a target and then identify the target with my naked eye before training the scope on this target. What I have experienced is that, even at this 30 minute offset I can place crosshairs on object and see where the crosshairs locate. Even if the legal shooting hours extended further, I wouldn't be able to hunt because I couldn't see and identify targets with my naked eye.
How do you identify targets with your naked eye in such dark conditions? This same analysis pertains to the points raised by Pawildman. If the sky is cloudy to such an extent that you can't see the crosshairs on a target through a VariX III, how do you identify your target with your naked eye?
I will grant that hunting some game allows you to hunt outside the time range I mentioned. But I still suppose you will not want to hunt when you can't identify your target with your nake eye. Maybe you are using binoculars with good light gathering characteristics. I'm neither trying to disparage or attack you or to sell Leupold scopes. They work for me and I'm content with them. I'm sure that other scopes provide good service for others.
Of course I use binoculars,and they are Zeiss Classics which do a great job of transmitting light.
By the way,you wasted three paragraphs,and to be honest you sounded quite silly by insinuating that I looked at objects through a riflescope before first positively identifying them as game animals.It would have been much wiser to simply ask if I used binoculars than to go on and on about not being able to properly identify objects with the naked eye.