Hear me out first...

Right now, I am hunting with a Winchester Model 88 (Post-'64) chambered in .308 Win. It has a Leupold 3-9x scope on it.

I hunt in the [Redacted] State Forest. There is rarely a shot over 50 yards and maybe 100 yards at the very most. The woods are just too dense and we set up our stands in the thickest woods.

Last weekend, I had 3 does come in at 15yds (if that). Luckily, I had already turned the scope down to 3x before the encounter or I would have been royally screwed.

I brought the scope up and could barely find the deer. They were just too close for 3x zoom. I did get a shot and a kill

So here's my grand idea: put a LPVO on the Model 88. I currently have a Steiner P4xI (1-4x) on my 16" AR. I think swapping them would be the way to go. This would give me Lower Power or no zoom at all, and the Steiner has a huge eyebox making quick target acquisition easier (who knows, maybe I could have ended up with 2 dead deer!).

I could throw an offset RDS on the AR to cover that situation.

This really breaks the norm, and wanted to get your thoughts.

Use pistol to drop deer at 15 yards.

Otherwise 1.75-6 Leupold is what you likely seek.  

I mean, not that I dont love another reason to go out and buy another pistol, i dont think that is in the cards right now. I would love to acquire a .44 mag revolver to hunt with though.

Sounds logical to me...  I've heard good things about the Steiner P4xI (1-4x) btw

Yea, I love it. I never have trouble finding the dot and the 1x is a true 1x. I can keep both eyes open without strain.

ETA: plus the LPVOs usually come with a cat-tail to make switching power very fast.

I would leave the Steiner on the AR and go with the Leupold, or my favorite. A 1.5x8 Minox.

The Leupold is 3x-9x which makes it hard to get a quick find on a deer. At 15 yards, the doe's body took up the entire scope window even on 3x.

I'm thinking I might leave the Steiner on the AR, but get a Vortex 1-6 or even 1-8 for the .308

Run a canted red dot? I'm not sure I would go down to a 1-6/LPVO purely because of potential light transmission issues at dusk/dawn.

Fellow PA hunter here.
I used Leupold VXIII on my 06.... yes, point blank shots or anything under 25 yards and the scope is full of fur...
BUT my situation is a little different.  Most of my shots are in the 60 to 200 yard range at my primary stand location.
I've had deer walk right out of some thick behind me and walk within 5 yards.  Prior to getting my super blackhawk, I'd let them walk out a bit until they were comfortable 30-40 yards out, then grunt to turn their heads when I had the rifle on them.
My other stands offer shots in the 20-60 yard range, and I just keep my old PA special (30-30 with a fixed 4x scope in "shoot-thru" rings") for those spots or some still hunting.
Wouldn't dream of using tall rings like that on the long-range rifle... but it works beautifully on the 30-30.  Irons for that quick and close shot, 4x scope for further out.

I've thought quite a few times on the idea of a "do it all" setup and haven't found one that doesn't give up capability at one end of the spectrum or the other.... at least under current PA regs.
One of my ARs with a 4-12 and offset irons would fit the bill nicely, but alas, the powers that be haven't ok'd that yet despite the legislature giving the green light 3 years ago.

For your situation, I'd strongly consider adding a used 357, 41 mag or 44 mag to the arsenal.  If you take some time to search, you should be able to find one for about the same price, a little less, or not much more than what you'd pay for a decent LPVO.

I thought about that, but 1) havent looked to see if there is a mount that would work with the old Weaver style scope mount and 2) kind of want to keep it looking traditional

Are LPVO's notorious for lower light capture? It would make sense because the light entry end of the tube is much smaller compared to the 3x-9x

I would love to add a Smith and Wesson 629 to the arsenal. I may consider this. the idea of just swapping the scopes would save me a bunch of money though...

I hunt elk, and use a 1x4.  Only my heavy caliber bolt guns get more magnification.    90% of the time I am on 1 or 2x.

This one was a straight 4x IOR, it was dropped for a 1x4.

Attached File

I absolutely agree with the LPVO...

I hunt adirondacks of NY.  Shots are anywhere from 6 feet to about 120 yards.  Occasionally, you find a rare open patch where 200 250 yards could be possible.  My average is about 110 yards on about three dozen deer....

I have primarily used a 30 year old Leupold VariX III 1.75 to 6x.  Perfect for this hunting.  Ive take shots, and scored, at 176 yards, and taken moose at 292 yards in Canada with a 1.5 to 6x...  6x is plenty for any hunting under 300 yards....

However the lower 1 or 1.5 power is a MASSIVE aid when trying to find deer quickly in a lot of visual clutter at short range.  

Do it

Gotcha.
Purely from a front lense perspective, you’ll be worse off going from a x44 or whatever to a x20/24. At 1x you’ll be fine, 4x would probably be okay, but I would imagine a 6-8 would be fairly poor.

Have you seen the SWFA 2.5-10x32 lightweight scope? May be a great option for you and it’s geared towards hunting. Just a bit limited on reticle options, and it’s sfp. But if you can get past that, swfa makes great stuff.

thanks for your input! I think I am going to try it. Cant hurt to do some training with it over the summer and see what I think. I can always go back if needed.

Thanks for the recommendation. I will take a look at that one. The 2.5 might still be a little high for the low end magnification, but I will definitely take a look.

This is why both of my slug guns and my primary muzzleloader are equipped with 20 year old Burris Signature Select 1.5-6x40 scopes. I wish that I had bought more of them when they were discontinued. Most of my rifles have Leupold VX-R 3-9x40s. I would have preferred 2-7s but they were nowhere to be found. For recticles, I like duplex with E-dot or Fire-dot.