I know the standard is like a 3-9x40 for most situations. However, for those of you who shoot 90% of your deer under 100 yards, do you think a scope in the way of a 2-7x33 would give a wider field of view? What is everyone's opinions on the power of scopes that you use? I have always been curious about this and whether or not I need as much power as I have in my scope. Thanks

My full power rifles, mostly, carry a 3-9x40. The intermediate cartridge rifles which I am more likely to take if my shots are limited to 100 yards or so, or much less in places, tend to have 1-4x24, 1-6, etc.
The downside to these, at least with the optics I personally own, is that with such small tubes and objectives, the early/late performance suffers a bit.

You are thinking right. A 2-8x is usually better but a LOT of other factors go into the Field of View. And for the most part when selecting a hunting scope this is overlooked by the average Joe.

Not me. This is one of the first things I look at in the specs. There can be a drastic difference in trying to pick up a deer in the scope looking through the woods.

4x is plenty for 100 yard shots.

The older my eyes get the more I realize how a scopes performance is affected at dusk. The higher you crank up the power, the dimmer most of them get in those crucial last 10 minutes. For most hunts, even at dark, a 3-9 is fine. But if you're shooting longer than say 150 in those last 10 minutes of daylight I like to go a little higher with the magnification if the scope will still clearly pick it up.

I'm really liking my 2-10x42 Leupold VX5hd. I believe my next one will be a 1-6x24 Trijicon Accupoint for purely a mountain rifle. Most of my hunting is in the mountains with less than 150 yards of view. The 2-10 will easily cover deep woods and most field type situations.

Never waiver off of 4x 300 longest shot I have
Glass with binos. To insure of deer .

Most folks on Alabama first think about the size of the objective lens and use this to determine which scope to buy. They mistakenly think they gotta have a 50mm objective to "gather more light"

Scopes do not gather light, they transmit available light. They proprietary coatings developed by each manufacturer determine how much light is transmitted and what colors may be enhanced for better contrast. The best scopes have better glass and coatings tailored for hunting.

Objective lens size will matter for long range shooting in low light but again, quality of glass & coatings is more important. I have a 6x24x50 Zeiss for thus purpose but I have shot deer at 10X or 12X at over 300 yards with this scope on low light due to exit pupil size. A 3x9x40 scope at 3X will have any exit pupil over 13mm, which is twice the size of the pupil in your eyes. This is when quality glass and coatings make the difference.

I hunted for years with a VX3 1.75-6 x 36 on a 7-08. Most of my scopes now are 3.5-10 x 40s except for the varmint rifles. Never been a fan of 50mm scopes, looks like the Hubble telescope on my pea shooters.

Hunting short range in the woods there's things that are a must have IMO. Low power, good glass and a reticle you can see. You don't need a lot of power and a big objective Hubble telescope . And a BDC or thin reticle is useless .

Great woods scope right there.

My go to Alabama gun has a 1.7-10x42 on it but I also hunt with a variety of guns that have various power range scopes kn them. The highest power scope I hunt with in Alabama is a 5-25x52.

Much of this depends on the way you hunt. Let's assume the 100 yard normal limit means you're a walking woods hunter like myself. The 2x7 will work well, but in a variable power optic, I really prefer something that starts at 1x because its occasionally useful in tight areas like mountain laurel thickets, etc. The best optic I currently have is a Leupold VX6 1X6X24. It works great in the woods and will get you though the occasional longer shot. Glass is good, and field of view is amazing. Now for the drawbacks: it weighs 16oz (and that's light for it's class), is $1400 and the illumination sucks during daylight (though it's fine in low light). Battery life is also low. Not sure how my $400 foreign made Burris MTAC 1x4 is daylight bright and has great battery life but Leupold couldn't pull that off on their premier line...

I wish they'd offer it again, but with the firedot.

I like a 1.5-4 on guns that i do any still hunting/ woods hunting with.

Now that would be bout as good as it gets for a woods scope.

Most of y'all don't even need a scope you can just hold your .243 at your hip, point and deer and say "Pew, Pew, Pew!"

DRT.

Well played 🤣🤣🤣

All of that is spot on but I put the part a lot of people don't think about in caps. A bold reticle that you can see is as importatnt to low light woods hunting as anything else.

You are correct, Sir . Doesn't matter if you have a $2,000 Euro Hubble if you can't see the "cross hairs" when it's show time.

I looked through a VX3HD and a VX5HD and they both looked the same to me. I went with the 3 because it was cheaper.