You certainly don't need anything in the mini 14 style to get a decent light weight rifle nowadays. Just look into the various makes that offer light weight models and try them out for size, weight and fit. If you will only be using it for what you stated and won't be lugging it up and down mountains out west, the weight shouldn't really matter that much IMHO. I won't argue with the guy on his 5.56 comments, but I go with Oldtimr regarding that caliber as more of a varmint gun. I have never seen the need for a semi automatic for deer hunting and have always thought they were more of a "spray and pray" type of rifle. I'm going to stay with the two calibers I mentioned, especially since you don't reload and can get heavier bullets for deer and lighter ones for varmints over the counter in most decent sized shops.