Wow, I'm kind of surprised the old 30-30 hasn't been mentioned more than it has. I started out deer hunting with a used 30-30 Marlin w/ open sights, in fact I still own that rifle, my 4 year old has already laid his claim on it for when he gets "bigger". I shot bb guns alot, and the occasional 20 ga. and .22 LR way before I was old enough to hunt deer. I say go with an open sighted 30-30.....but I'm biased I guess.