The quality of your rifle scope can have a huge effect on whether or not your hunt is successful.
Many people don't realize that the quality of the rifle scope can be more important than the quality of the rifle itself.
It is definitely worth spending more to ensure your rifles scope is rugged and light weight with good quality optics.
The best rifle scopes do not necessarily need to magnify too much.
Unless you are an experienced hunter, magnification can give you a false sense of perspective and may cause you to overcompensate for the drop.
Most rifle scopes are equipped with lines to give you a range estimate to assist in adjusting for the perspective distortion.
Choose a rifle scope with good cross-hair guides.
These are the guide lines you see when you look through the rifle scope.
Choose a magnification that is right for your hunt.
The most common size for deer hunting is 3-9x40.
What do these numbers mean? The first two, 3-9x40 means your image can be magnified 3 times up to 9 times therefore being a variable scope.
The 3 power is plenty for close shots and the 9 power gives you plenty of magnification for the longer shots.
Some scopes are fixed and therefore you would not be able to adjust the magnification.
The last number in 3-9x40 refers to the objective lens and in this case would be 40mm.
The size of the lens determines how much light it is able to transmit.
The larger the objective lens on your rifle scope, the more light it can transmit.
This gives you a brighter and clearer image of your target animal.
However, keep in mind that a larger scope will be more difficult to carry and typically weigh more, so consider these elements when choosing your rifle scope.
The terrain you are hunting in will also affect your field of vision.
Obviously if you are hunting in a densely forested area instead of the open plains your view will be limited and you won't need that powerful of a scope.
Keep all these useful points in mind when choosing your rifle scope and in doing so you will ensure yourself a more successful hunt.
Good luck and good hunting!