Extra power also helps determine the size of the rack, and on deer hunting, if there are broken tines from bucks fighting.
On my longer range rifles, I use 4-16's, 6-24's and 8-32's.
A 250 lb buck standing in grass is a small target at 500 yards. If he is walking or trotting broadside, you don't have much to look at when it comes to examining the rack on 10x.
I paid $3500 to hunt trophy's in Kansas, shot one with only half a rack...will never do that again...always have enough glass. Remember, you can always turn a high powered scope down, but you have your limit when you are limited to 10x.
There is one heck of a difference when it comes to shooting at a fixed, stationary target at 500 yards and shooting at live game.
Folks like different rigs, looks are more important than it is to others. A large scope does not look that appealing to some, while to others it improves the quality of the tool.
I was shooting rock chucks in the late 70's with 4-12's out to 550 yards. We had out limitations with this power scope, for instance if there was only a head sticking out over a rock, etc. When Leupold came out with their 6.5-20's, we all dumped our 4-12's without question.
Hunting big game is so different depending on what kind of terrain an distances that you are hunting.
We have one food plot set up 550 yards from 1 of our stands. I carried a 7 Mag with a Leupold 3.5-10 A.O. out there one day and it has a fine duplex in it. Deer piled out in the food plot about 2 hours before dark. I opted not to shoot because the deer were TINY in the scope and I would have to shoot center of mass on the deer...NOT A GOOD THING! I had about the same amount of hair above and below the reticle as the reticle covered...all I could think was what a joke this scope with it's fine duplex is at that range...hope and a prayer at best.
If I were shooting targets or steel plates, then I would have had no problem with the 3.5-10 in hitting a 10" steel plate(I had a target knob on the elevation, calibrated to 600). Live animals are not steel plates and targets.
I like to place my shot on the animal, or not take the shot.
Shooting center of mass on a coyote is a lot different than shooting center of mass on big game animals.
Hunting on the Mid-West plains were game when hit can run 200 yards and they are still in plain sight is another issue entirely compared to if they are poorly hit in an area of the country where the wooded areas are like Jungles.
What ever equipment you use, practice at those distances. There are not many people that shoot deer at 500 yards, and those that do take their equipment very serious and are very proficient with it at those ranges, no matter what scope they are using.
