Good story. Lots of fun for the young ones. I use a Bushnell 2-6X Trophy on my Ruger MKIII. 2x for close shots. 6x for the long ones. Lots of versatility.
In fact I made my longest witnessed groundhog kill with at 640 yds. Pre ballistic plex and rifle scope. I think it took 5 or 6 shots to do it. Used a 70 BT and it stayed in him. Farmer was impressed. I didn't have the nerve to admit it was 1000% luck.