Low light and background
Recently I got a chance to get out during archery season here in New York State and hunted from a tree stand with a Horton Vision crossbow. The crossbow came with a bolt drop comepsator and it worked impressively. Using 100gr arrow points, it was dead on out to 50yds and I tested it at every range. I probable would have gotten this crossbow without the scope because I still have young eyes and think i could have faired well without it. There is an adjustable reticle knob that can allow for varying brightness and it also can illuminate with red or green reticles.
At first, I thought I didn’t need the illumination, but when I was out in the woods and depending on the background of what I was aiming at, the different color reticles were actually a bonus. I could see the black crosshairs on this scope, but when I was aiming into thick vegitation, the red reticle option looked best, when I was aiming into the dark woods with mostly a wooden tree and leave background, the green reticle really stood out. Trijicon riflescopes and ACOGS have been issued to military and law enforcement for many years now, but although there have been some changes to the reticle configurations, there has been a real trend away from just the red reticle. Even laser manufacturers are moving more towards green for proveable reasons. The human eye picks up certain colors better than others in low light, and it’s yet another reason to do some research into what you are using a rifle scope for and what environement it will be in.