Getting into deer hunting, need a new rifle. Sell me on your favorite

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223

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No

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30-06

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or .308 or 7mm-08 is what I would do for a solid all around whitetail rifle.

Most are going to say .300 mag, 7mm, .308, 30-06.

For me in Louisiana I leave the big guns at the house.

I shoot a .260 Remington. It is comparable to the 7mm-08 which is another caliber that I would highly recommend.

Look at the ballistics and you will see that they don't drop as fast as those bigger calibers.

Kick way less and I've flipped a doe at 330 yards so the knockdown is there.

I have a youth model that I used to use climbing but, now it's my every day rifle. Put good optics on it and you won't be dissapointed.

I would go with a .308. Short action, broad ammo options, ease of finding ammo, minimal recoil, proven.. It’s something about that .30cal bullet on whitetail I prefer personally, though.

Great suggestions, guys. The price point and quality reviews of the Savage Axis series have me leaning that direction.

I'll kick tires, and look at the .308 or .30-06.

If I was new to the game, I’d buy myself a Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker in .308 and top it with a Leupold 3.5-10x40 in Talley lightweight rings.

I have a Savage 110 ultralight in 308. It has the carbon fiber proof research. I love it and highly recommend.

Where do you hunt that it's legal to hunt with a rimfire?

What do you want to spend? You can get a perfectly serviceable deer blaster for pretty dang cheap. If you prefer finer things, lots of suggrstions there too. Caliber doesn't matter much, whatever tickles your pickle. .30-06, .308 and .270 are always my top 3 suggestions. All are available in pretty much every rifle model and all have good ammo availability and selection.

Some really good quality rifles to look at over a wide budget

Tikka T3, Winchester model 70, ruger m77 Hawkeye, ruger american, weatherby vanguard, howa 1500

.257 Roberts

I'm amazed we got this far without a Creedmoor recommendation? Guess I'll have to be the one even though I don't own one.

OP - especially since you are a shotgun guy and not a rifle guy, you will want to spend considerable time behind the gun learning proper technique. You don't want to do that on a heavy kicker as it is much more likely to develop bad habits/flinching/etc. and you simply won't shoot it enough. I love a .30-06 but they tend to be near the edge of what most consider comfortable recoil-wise (and can sometimes be pretty rough depending on rifle/load) and as such I don't think they are a good choice for new shooters, especially kids.

Whitetail are not hard to kill. put a well constructed bullet where it needs to go and they'll die pretty quick, regardless of what rifle it came out of.

With the above in mind, I'd go for something that will be comfortable to shoot a bunch. .243, 6.5 Creedmoor (I'm a .260 rem guy, but ammo availability is much better for the Creedmoor), 7mm-08, .308 would be my short list and I'd be looking for reduced recoil ammo for practice/the kid on the second 2. All have good ammo availability, mild or mild-ish recoil, and will kill deer plenty dead.

How much walking/carrying the rifle will you be doing?