I shoot both an in-line and a shot gun. The shot gun was my first rifle and it is a lot of fun and the only problem is the kick. The shot gun is an all around rifle and can be used for many different things, from skeet shooting to deer hunting. If you are strickly going deer, bear, or elk hunting I would choose the in-line or flint lock rifle. Here in PA, you can only use the shot gun 2 weeks for deer, or extra time for turkey. If you had a flint lock rifle, you could use it about 4 or more weeks of deer hunting. The in-line with a scope I would find more accurate.

Good luck....

Tomster