For hunting leopard from a blind at night, with a light, what do you think of this for a scope?

Leupold VX3, 3.5X10 X 50 MM

Or would you recommend something else?

Rifle will be 7 mag, 30-06 or 300 Win mag

Thanks

Not for at night or with a light, but I've used and prefer the LEICA ER i 2.5-10x42 for leopard.

So, if you trust Leupold, I think you'll be fine.

I would suggest a heavy or lighted reticle though.

The Swarovski 1-6x24 Z6 (not the EE extended relieve) with an illuminated circle-dot reticle or a Leupold V6 1-6x24 also with an illuminated reticle.

You shouldn't need anymore than 6X and if things go South you can go all the way to 1x and the illumninated reticle will do more for you than a larger objective/

I used the Leupold VX.R3-9x40 fire dot duplex for my Leopard. You can turn the light way down for just a small red dot helps a lot when the spot light is on him . My PH liked it so much that I gave it to him , clear glass great scope for anything, but especially good for Leopard

Whatever you use, illuminated reticle is important at night. Even at the end of daylight it can be hard to see a regular reticle scope.

I have used a Z6i #4 in either 1.7-10 or 2-12 formats. The larger objective gathers a bit more light, but not that big of a deal with a spotlight.

One thing that an illuminated reticle does for you is allows you to get on the scope and be in the right spot (since the gun is rested) before the PH turns up the light, so no hunting for the reticle after the light goes on.

Trijicon 2.5 - 10 x 50mm illuminated scope, without the use/weight of a battery operated scope!

Your Leupold VX3 should work fine. I shot my leopard using a Leupold VX6 2-12x42, and I had plenty of light gathering performance. I shot my cat at 1:20 AM, and it was pitch black. When the red light came on, I could see the leopard on the bait and my reticle pretty clearly. My shot was 85 yards, and I had my scope set to 6x. In retrospect, I should have set it to 4x for a better field of view. Good luck on your hunt!

I used a 30.06 with a Trijicon 2.5 to 10 x 56 mm for my leopard. Great scope and no worrying about batteries. You don't need much magnification because the shot will be close. 4x is fine. The large objective lens helps gather light though.

Thanks for all the advice guys.
I hope to book my hunt at DSC.
Been talking to the Safari company about it for a while.

Your Leupold will work i think.
Other options could be Swarowski 2,5-15x56, 2-12x50, Zeiss 3-12x56 etc..
All with illuminated rect.!

df06,

Your scope will work fine but as others have said ideally an illuminated reticle would be best. Personally I agree with Aaron on the Trijicon. I really like my 3x9 Trijicon with the illuminated post.

Mark

I spent nearly two grand on an illuminated Schmidt & Bender for my leopard hunt. The son of a gun showed up at 4:30 in the afternoon in bright sunlight.
I agree with the Trijicon suggestion or the Leupold VXR as reasonable suggestions. I used a VXR on a black bear hunt over bait and the dot showed up perfectly under the trees on the black bear's fur.

Your 'leopard' scope is, if all goes well a one shot scope. If you have the bucks in the bank buy a one shot scope. A Swarovski Z6 1-6 IR fills all the boxes. But if you are prepared to compromise a wee fraction of your 'leopard' scopes performance you could put a 2-12 IR in your gun safe and it would probably become your go-to scope for the rest of your days. From a blind with a lamp is not a million miles away from fox lamping in the UK and charging leopard is not much different to rapidly approaching irate Wild Boar and my Swaro' has served me well for both and I've never felt the scope has lost me one opportunity that came my way.

What Bill George said.