If I understand correctly, your price range is significantly under $500. In such a case, I would suggest a fixed power scope. In new scopes, the Leupold FX3 6x42 is well suited to your focus on target shooting (which I read as plinking) and good for whitetail except in tight woods where you wouldn't need any scope. Buying a scope used can also bring quality optics down into affordable prices. Meopta offered a 6x42 that was somewhat recently discontinued, so they're available like-new for low prices. I've seen older Schmidt & Bender 6x42 (what they call Klassik now), and Zeiss Diavari 3-9X variable scopes, or Swarovski Habicht also in this price range. Maybe if you narrow down the magnification you'll actually use, you could look for a good scope of that design. A lot of whitetail hunting is close range, but some hunting is not at all. Paper target shooting calls for high power and the narrow field of view is acceptable, but awful for hunting. If you don't mind low power and a wide field of view for informal target shooting, it might be ideal for hunting and give you a larger exit pupil as well. I've mentioned 6x42, but 4x32 or even a LPVO might be better depending on where you hunt.
Also consider a red dot. A good clean red dot works great at 100 yards and is probably as good at the low power as LPVO's that cost three times as much. They might bust your budget though. I just saw an Aimpoint for $901. Sheesh.