I've had Illuminated reticle scopes and found I never used them in a hunting situation, neat idea but IMO it's just that. A good quality scope will give you plenty of light to get the job done in legal shooting hours, unless your using it at night I would put the extra money toward a better scope. Nikon makes a great scope for the money your talking. Stay away from the Wal-mart scopes, Center point, Tasco, Simmons, Barska, BSA, etc. We have all learned the hard way. Just an opinion.. Good Luck