Been a busy end of the week. But I have been monitoring this thread. I never expected quite the response, and I want to thank everyone for their input!
I understand that the D7200 is probably the best way to go when it comes to IQ. However I am still very tempted by the low prices that the D300 carries these days. I did state in my post that I do like to shoot in a max of ISO 3200, that's true. But the majority of the photos that I take are in daytime situations, which the D300 excels in, right? I have no plans on doing any large prints, so more MP's aren't that much of a benefit, and I don't do much cropping. Since I live near adorama, ill probably pick up a used d300, and see how I like it. If it's not giving me the ideal results, I'll return it.