The best low light scope I have used was a nightforce 5.5-22x56 with lighted NP-R2 reticle. It gathered a lot of light and the lighted reticle was awsome for night hunting. I
That is incidentally what my best friend uses and he lives in Alabama where I plan on hunting again as I have for the last several years.
I HAVE GONE THROUGH ZEISS, SWAROVSKI, LEUPOLD, KAHLES,NIKON, ETC. I HAVE SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY TRYING TO FIND THAT PERFECT LOW-LIGHT SCOPE
Sounds like we are on the same track.
I haven't really concentrated that much on deer hunting in the past but plan on putting more emphasis on it in the next few years. Very good chance of getting a very good buck where I hunt but to exhaust all the possibilities I need something that really stands out at last light or first light and it sounds like a big objective along with an illuminated reticle may be the ticket at least in this area.