I'm a fan of 4-16 scopes, but that's mostly due to punching paper. For hunting, I leave the scope on 8 power. But this past Sunday I was sipping my coffee and watching does eat corn, and here came two more deer (I mentioned this the other day) and just from force of habit I used the binocs to look them over. Not Doe at all, and I suspected that the larger one was the spike I'd been looking for, but just could not tell with the 10 power binocs. Cranked the scope to 14 or 16 and was able to be sure that one side was a spike. A 3-9 scope would not have done the job. Not trying to start a grump session on what scope or scope power range is best, but just to say that this was one time that higher power really helped out.

14 power! Must have for this very reason.

I've got a 3 x 15 on my Daughter's 7mm-08 and though I always have a good pair of 8x binoculars with me, I have on occasion cranked up the scope to check something. Not a bad idea, just make sure the muzzle of your weapon is always pointed a safe direction.

Good tip!

Flint.

I use a 2x7 scope but I keep a 15-45 spotting scope with me in the blind because at 140 yards to the feeder I don't want to miss a small fork and kill an illegal deer.

I actually take two pair of Bino's with me, 10X, and 15x, for this reason...or it used to be for this reason. The scope I have on my main hunting rifle is a 5-20x56 so if there's a question about it being a shooter I usually grab it nowadays.

I have a 6-24X40 on my rifles just for the purpose of checking to make sure a deer is legal. At 100 yds the deer's head will take up the entire field of view which makes it very easy to check points and width. I typically shoot at 10-12X.