Depending on exactly how and where you hunt I havent met one that I like perfectly for this use with a primary focus on the northeast. Credo seems to be a good scope that will do what you want and be perfectly at home when you are hunting locally, although you may have issues with the bolt handle on a bolt-action rifle contacting the throw-lever at high-magnification. I had to cut the lever off on the bolt gun I have one on, although I like it on my 7600. I bought two that I used this year and so far I like them, although I do have a few quibbles.
Yes, its easy to remove the cap and dial for practice at the range, although to me not ideal for the field. The credo has an easy zero-set under the turret cap, but it lifts quite easily allowing it to spin freely--maybe a bit too easily to rely on in the field or not lose your zero a bit too easily. That hasnt happened to me, but its so easy to lift that I cant help but think it could happen at some point if I'm not careful.
A nightforce SHV 3-10 would be the other obvious choice which will do exactly the same but without the above caveats, but probably a bit more $. Both of these scopes I notice the field of view is a bit tight for my liking, but I'm using it in the woods at 30 yards probably twice as much as I am at 100. I think most of the other scopes I have used with exposed elevation dial are just out of place and too bulky for my everyday hunting at home. A LPVO might work great if your eyes are good, but from experience I would pay extra to avoid any scope with an adjustable parallax if it'll spend most of its life in the woods at less than 200 yards. I like a bit more magnification to see branches in the way of a shot and I'm reticle-finicky so havent yet found a LPVO I like as much. I would love to find a 2-8 that was reliable, but I have had nothing but problems with the 2.5-8's I have owned.
Personally, given that use, I might rely more on a reticle than removing the cap to dial. That credo and other scopes (accupoint, etc) are available in a mil-dot reticle that is basically a standard duplex, but with a hashmark at every mil in the center section. You can be pretty accurate with that out to 350-400 yards or so without even needing to dial, and those holds are easily memorized--for me with a 6.5cm halfway between the first two dots is 200 yards, I hold high with the first dot at 300 and high with the second dot at 400.
yes a MPBR zero can work and lots of people use it effectively. It's kind of sloppy to me since you have maximum built-in error at your maximum range where it will stack on top of your own error, but for sure it does work. It still takes doing it right (ie a real zero, not just "about 2 inches high") and practice to make it work well, so just practice it before hand so you know what you are realistically capable of from a field position. Most people who do this at longer range that I personally know, do it with a pretty flat-shooting cartridge (270, 7mag, etc), and they practice at 300 and 400 yards, and many also hold appropriately high or low to account for thre error. Example, my 6.5creedmore dope with a 200 yard zero only gets me to about 300 yards max range before I start routinely missing low becasue of the built-in error, unless I also hold high--if your zero is at 200, at 300 that puts the center of my group over 8" low-- if you are holding 2moa groups from a field position (roughly 6" groups at 300) that puts most of your shots outside of a 12" target even when everything goes perfectly, and about half of them outside of a 18" circle. I use a SMALL MPBR in the northeast that keeps me within an inch of point of aim out to about 200 yards, but I have found I am not as effective and no faster with a MPBR zero as I am using a reticle hold for shots 250+. To me, with that cartridge, a MPBR zero is great for about 225 yards and less, and beyond that I havent personally been able to make it work well enough to like it.
And, at the end of the day every time I travel west to hunt I end up shooting stuff at close range, so at some level I always seem to overthink this stuff. My solution is to just use the simple scope at home, and I got a second scope (and rifle
)for when I travel. It took a few years but in the end, within the scale of the cost of out of state hunting, the second scope was no more extravagant than hunting elsewhere in the first place.
