Here's the setup for you, Smitty: get a CVA Buckhorn or leftover Staghorn in .50cal... get a decent scope (my choice was Bushnell Trophy 1.5x4, but I wish I'd gotten the Leupold 2x7 for another 90 bucks), and go... go hunting. You'll come in under 300, and you'll be set.

I use mine during BP- and regular gun season.