Optics threads are 2nd only to politics in contentiousness.
Lot of strong opinions about the matter.
My $.02..... I have shot, owned, hunted with, looked through, handled, fondled, etc, pretty much any scope out there. Further, I consider myself to be kinda picky and snobbish about quality items. All that being said, there ain't jack-squat difference between a $1,500 Kahles and a $250 Nikon. Now, do I mean spec-wise?...no. But to 99.99% of hunters, in 99.99% of hunting situations, there is ZERO discernible difference.
I know to never say never, but I will NEVER own anything but a Nikon Prostaff scope again. They do everything I want with 101% satisfaction. I can shoot hundreds of yards, I can see in darn near pitch darkness, sit on a plot till slap dark, thread the needle at 200yds in a cutover, you name it. Why on the Lord's earth would I spend obscene money for a scope that does the same? I stood at my truck one night after several of us came out of the woods. We were parked in an old hay field. Everybody was slobbering over this boy's 56mm Zeiss (I was too), so I picked it up and looked across that field. No crap, it was sweet, I could've shot a deer I'm confident. I then picked up my 50mm Nikon (Buckmasters series) and to my surprise, I couldn't tell any/enough difference. I could've done the same.
Here's what it seems like to me... If you hunt around a bunch of fellas who use and tout high-dollar scopes, so will you. It's sorta like a duty of acceptance. But for practical hunting situations, that $189 - $359 Nikon Prostaff lineup is fantastic.
