I disagree about the scope replacement. I have taken as-many deer, boar, ram and varmints with inexpensive Tascos, Bushnells and BSAs scopes-as I have with expensive Leupold Vari-X IIIs and Redfields.
The sole difference I have noted with all of the scopes that I have owned, is the dawn and dusk factor. Most hunting takes place well past dawn and well before dusk. My favorite scope is actually the Tasco, the straight 4X Pronghorn! A few years back I had $700.00 to put into a rifled package, I put $599.00 into the rifle (Weatherby Mark V STS/synthetic) chambered in .270 Win. Then I went to WalMart and bought a Tasco 4X Pronghorn scope on it. I installed the scope with a set of Leupold "Dual dovetailed" bases and rings, mounted with industrial grade LockTite. I used that package for about 3 years. Several friends and I hunted here in Michigan and out in Texas, taking several whitetails, several Russian boar and a whole lot of varmints. I never any issues with the scope.
Over the course of several years and too many hundreds of dollars wasted on scopes, I have come to see that most scopes are highly over-rated. Like jewelry, there is lot of namesake pricing happens.
Doc2005