Never had a bit of trouble with Bushnell. Have them on my muzzy, my 12 Ga. H&R and my 300 win mag. also have one for my 44 but don't use it. Spend your money the way you want, but for the average hunter you are not going to get alot of return buying one of the high dollar scope.

Definitely a personal preference question...I hunt just north of you in Manitoba and I'm sure that our temperature patterns are quite similar. I've never had a difficulty with Bushnell or Nikon in the cold weather. I would go for a 3x9x40mm scope which ever you buy. The better the lense you buy the better the light intake will be in low light conditions. If you have the bucks a Zeiss conquest is an excellent scope. What is your price range?

Price range is an important part of any recommendation. You do get what you pay for with optics. Here are my picks:
$200-Elite 32003-9
$300-Leupold VX-II 3-9
$400-Zeiss 3-9 or Leupold VX III 2.5-8
More money to spend, take your pick,I doubt you could go wrong.
IMHO, the best combination of price and performance is the Leupold VX-II.
Will

Another vote for the Leupold Vari-X II or VX-II in 3x9. Currently I have six of them on an assortment of rifles some of which are long range guns. A few are almost 20 years old and I've never hada singleproblem with any of them.

I totally agree, but mostly because I love ample eye relief, and I find the Leupold's have as much or more than most.
I have looked through scopes with equal clarity, some with justlitle bit more clarity (to my eye) but none that combine all the qualities along with the AMPLE EYE relief.
That said, there are some that are close, to me anyway.

agreed. never, ever felt like a 3200 or 4200 came up short

I went with a Nikon Prostaff.. I have had Leopold, Baush and Lomb, and Zeiss and I took them all off and put Nikon on my guns.. For about 160.00 it has great eye relief and is very clear..

Leupold VX-II 3-9x40 !!!!!!

I have a 3x9x40 Nikon Monarch. In the northeast most deer are taken within 100 yards and I usually set the magnification toward the lower range, maybe 4.

2-7 or 3-9, probably 3-9 of the 2. 6-18 is way too much IMO for a .308, less you plan to do 1000yd shots competitions, someting near a 3-9 is perfect. whether its a 3.5-10 or 2.5-8