You have been given some good advice so far. I will add my 2 cents. I would say for what you want the 308 cal. is perfect. The ammo to plink with is cheap and the performance the round has is perfect for any size deer out to 300 yards. As far as guns go the Remington model 7 is a good choice. I Hunt with a winchester model 88 in 308 and have killed 10 deer with this gun with perfect performance. Good luck in choosing a deer gun. As for hunting ammo I use either winchester fail safe or Ballistic tips 150 grain, they work great. good luck.