I think that holdover reticles are the cats azz and have them on all my main hunting rigs. I do not want to f-around turning the elevation knob when a target appears out of no where, I want to aim and shoot. And yes, the separations are calibrated for a certain load but so what. If I am off by two or three inches at 400 yards I do not care, its still a dead deer.

You will need to be either a really good range estimator, or if you shoot from a fixed stand know the yardages in your area. A laser rangefinder is cheap and a great tool.

I am good at math. No, really. I use it in my job everyday. But I do not want to have to calculate Mil-Dots in my head.

You also need to practice at the max range you want to hunt at.

Last but not least, research the reticles you think you might want to try and calculate the drop at the various holdover points. My two favorites are the Burris Ballistic-Plex and the Vortex Dead Hold. I think the Nikon circles are garbage. I had a Leupold B&C that was OK, but the Burris and Vortex are better. I had a Minox Z3 BDC that had good glass but the reticle design was stupid.