ORIGINAL: vabyrd

Well, you'll probably get a bunch of guys whinning about this and that, but here is your best bet, and you get it on your first reply. Buy a good quality 30-06. Its the most popular hunting round ever, and you can find ammo anywhere and in any configuration. Bullet weights from 125 to 220. Remington alone makes 21 different loads just for this caliber. Plenty of levels of guns from cheap to custom. I prefer to stay away from the prepacked rifle and scope combos. Once you decide your budget, look at both used and new. Sometimes your "used" dollars go further than "new". The economy is tight, lots of guys dumping their extras for cash. good Luck.