RE: best scope
Myself and some other hunters have done some side by side comparisons of Leupolds v. Nikon. Myself and one other owned Nikons. The two with Leupolds now own Nikons. There was a fairly large time difference after sundown between the two. The Nikons consistently held a fifteen to twenty minute longer advantage. As for Zeiss, I don't have much experience with their scopes, but I love their binoculars. Their low end products still seem to outshine other manufacturer's high end products.