I went with an illuminated Reticle - a simple red dot in the middle of the cross hair. I haven't found it provides me with any more ability to take a shot on a deer compared to my other rifles with have traditional No 4 and 4a reticles. The other big issue is that it has three turrets which makes it a pain in the arse to put in and out of the cabinet.
And in terms of optics, I have a mid 1970's Zeiss 6x42 in claw mounts on one Rifle, a Swarovski Nova 3-9x36 on another (must be 25 years old), a 4-12x50 Swarovski on 223, a Leica 2.5-10 x 42 ERi (with illuminated dot) on the Rigby and a S&B 6x42 on the 22lr, and I really can not choose between any of them in terms of optical clarrity, image or low light performance. I have shot Boar at 3am in the middle of winter with the Zeiss 6x42, and Roe with the 3-9x36 at very last light.
Optics for last 25 odd years have been very good, and top end optics have been very good for many years. Low and mid range optics have though improved enormously. Where a number of modern scopes do have an advantage is their easy dialed turret, so you dial to a predetermined distance. Its a bit like flicking up the leaves on an old open sight. Useful for those shooting out to long distances and on small targets at long distance, but for 95% of hunting applications zeroing for maximum point blank range for your cartridge (ie about 180 to 220 yards or metres depending on calibre and your preferred unit of measure) means that its point and shoot and your bullet will be either side of the cross hair out to 220 and if its a bit further hold a touch higher. IMHO if you need to think about holding over the back or adjusting sights its too far, and I have been hunting long enough to know that wind and all other embuggerences really come into play down range that for me its much much better to either pass up the shot, or get in closer, and ditto if you cannot see the buck with your naked eye and are relying on optics to place the shot.
