At 300 yards you will not notice the difference between 9X and 12X when trying to judge animals. In order to judge animals the quality of the glass is what comes into play, not magnification. If there is nothing wrong(mechanically) with your scope then I would keep it. You would be far better served by buying good quality binoculars. Spend as much as you can. High end 8X binoculars can watch a deer bat it's eye at 300 yards. Tom.