I've been looking at a few scopes for a 224 Valkyrie that I'd like to take shooting prarie dogs next spring. My friend who has invited me suggested a scope with a max zoom of around 20 power. My Nikon Monarch fits that bill at 5-25X, but the crosshairs are super thick. So much so that they nearly obscure a 1" dot at 200 yards. I don't see how I'd use that for prarie dogs at distance very well.

So far, I've looked at the following scopes (in ascending price)

Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25
Burris Veracity 4-20
Vortex Viper HST 6.5-20
Vortex Viper Gen II 5-25
Leupold VX3i FFP 6.5-20

With the exception of the HST, all are 1st focal plane.

So, I've not gotten into long range shooting before, nor have I gone shooting prarie dogs before, but I have an opportunity to do so now. Anyone have any experience with those scopes, or have a suggestion on a better scope in the same price range? ($500-725) The Leupold is at the far top end of my current budget, even with the Leupold VIP pricing. The others were priced on Expert Voice with LEO pricing.