Depends....If you are not a shooter and just starting you can't beat a .22 for practise. Inexpensive to buy and cheap to shoot. Perfect gun to learn both shooting and safety skills. For hunting a great gun to start out with is the 30-30. I prefer the Marlin to the Winchester but that is personal preference. I started my first son off with a 30-30 but was introduced to the 7-08 and ended up buying one for my second son as his first hunting rifle. What a sweet cal. Check out the ballistics on the 7-08, they really impressed me. Nice short action, little recoil, and respectable down range hitting power. I also have a .243 but after shooting the 7-08, I think it will have better hitting power due to the heavier grain bullet. What ever cal. and/or make/model of gun you choose it has to feel good when you shoulder it. The cal. also depends on the type of hunting you will be doing as well as location you will be doing most of your hunting in.