I'm lucky to have deer hunted in Texas for a life time. My first scope was a Weaver K4 when I was 15 yo & over the 50 years since then I have become pretty much a Leupold Variable snob for all my rifles. I guess it not new, but it seems that a battery lighted green or red reticle is the rage. I was always taught that if it was too dark to see my coarse crosshairs clearly, it was definitely not alright to shoot. A lighted reticle does not illuminate the target just the scope's aiming point. Since I've never really used one, I'm not being critical, just wondering. Am I missing out on something?

It can help in low-light situations with thin reticles but no, you’re probably not missing much.

No Sir, you are not missing out.

It's made for low light situations where the black crosshairs are hard to see. I have only used them when hunting pigs at night.

I have one on my wife’s AR that she uses to hunt hogs with and it really helps in low light with a black hog.

Hunting vermin at night, with spotlight is the only times I use illuminated reticles. Don't need them shooting deer in legal light.

For First focal plane when your on lowest power for the FOV it can make seeing your reticle easier in brush.
Few of my friends swear by the Trijicon tritium dot that’s doesn’t need a battery and I have used them and they are quite good.

When I have tried to use the Illuminated reticles in the field, the reticle was too bright (even on the lowest setting) and made it where I could not see the target. The several times I have used it were in a shooting match at night with a some what lit target. I never use them. So it is not a selling point on a scope for me. (Except for a 1x scope for an AR)

I have two with lit reticles and both are too bright at the lowest setting, but my newest scope (Leupold VX5 with firedot) is terrific. Just the tiny lit dot with variable brightness. I’ve only used it on black hogs so far, and it was extremely useful. And, it seems that the faint red dot helps focus on the center of the crosshairs. It may be useful on deer and deer at distance. We’ll see.

A BiL has a lit dot type reticle, says he, in a Zeiss. I haven’t looked through it.

I have ran a bunch of them.. many can't get dim enough so as not to negatively impact the situation..

My test is to be in a dark room, turn it to the lowest setting and cup the eyepiece with my hand.
If I am having a hard time picking it up and have to slowly increase brightness then for low light hunting I know it will work.

If I see glowing from the bottom of the tube, it's going to be too much.

I just got a Khales 3.5-18 tactical and it passed with flying colors

Really all I want is just a small barely lit dot or center crosshairs, never the whole reticle lit up.

^^I test this way as well.

As I have gotten older I need more light to see well. Most of my life I had better than 20-20 vision and preferred fine crosshair scopes. In low light, dark targets, or dark backgrounds it has become difficult for me to see those fine black crosshairs now. In some scenarios it's impossible. By necessity I have been having to change my Leupold fine crosshair scopes to lighted reticle scopes. I don't know about all the rage as I never would have preferred a lighted reticle when I was younger, but there is a need out there for some of us.

I used to shoot open sighted more than I did with scopes but I am farsighted now and it will only get worse. Using open sights is becoming difficult. Which is devastating considering I have a significant antique to wartime military rifle collection and used to shoot several of them often. As my vision first started changing, I started changing my collection focus to scoped rifles such as original sniper rifles and other older rifles with original time period optics. Because of my past experience shooting open sighted and how well I found I could shoot with scopes like the old German Ajax, I now prefer a #4 reticle or similar with my modern hunting rifles.

So with my criteria changing to an adjustable brightness lighted #4 reticle, my scope choices are very limited, but they are out there. I have already put one on my Smokeless Muzzleloader and on my main deer rifle. That thick post in good light with the option of a lighted dot on top of the post in poor light has made all the difference in the world for me when shooting those rifles.

for deer hunting I can get by with good glass and a bold reticle like a #4

yeah,I have done this at SHOT show and received a few puzzled looks from the manufacture rep

I was told that Leopold uses a better retical in there scopes when it is going to be illuminated some competive shooters shoot them non illuminated. Ron

^^^^^

Agree with the above.

While I use my scopes with an illuminated reticle (or center dot) mostly at night for hogs...there are times when other critters (in the daylight hours) are in a heavy shadow. Enough to loose sight of portions of the reticle (see pic attached for example).

Not a problem when I was younger. But in some situations...I can see the target well enough to positively I.D. and see WHERE on the animal I would like to aim...but the cross-hair/reticle (all or part of it) can be lost.

A small center dot has been most useful for me. The other optics I have with fully lighted reticles (even with multiple intensity levels) tend to draw the eye to the reticle itself and 'wash out' the target. They end up being not as 'useful' in as many situations as the center dot type.

I was reading this thread yesterday and grabbed a rifle that I new had a lit reticle at mid dusk. I've had this scope for a few years, but apparently never installed a battery.