[c-b 1]

30.06 would be my choice for deer, or bear, it is a good all around caliber, You can buy 30.06 ammo in any sporting goods store any where in the country. Many of the new rifles don't have iron sights on them, if you ever have a problem with the scope, your hunt is finished, if it has iron sights and a scope, if there is a problem with the scope, you can take it off, and keep hunting.

I don't have a preference for a scope.

[tarotsailor]

This may be a somewhat unusual answer, but I hunted for years in Wyoming with a WW1 era 7mm Mauser (7x57mm) carbine I bought for $75, and they threw in 500rds of WW1 FMJ ammo with it. I took off the excess wood and shaped the stock down quite a bit...I did a lot of walking and wanted it light as I could get, also the reason I chose the shorter barrel. No scope, and I had a gunsmith change the block and toggle sights to a gradient peep sight, which I prefer. I think he charged me $30 to do it.

That was the ugliest gun I’d ever owned in my life. I was embarrased to be seen with it. But it was the lightest gun I’d ever carried going to desert waterholes or climbing hills after mule deer. Easy to shoot, ballistics are almost identical to a .308 but Mauser freaks insist it exceeds it in knockdown power. That gun was accurate and indestructible, but so ugly when I moved to the boat I had trouble giving it away.