RE: What was your first deer rifle?
My first was a Marlin 336, 35 Remington. When I lived in Ill I took my first deer with a Mossberg bolt action 20 ga. I just removed the screw-on choke and it shot pretty straight. I now use a Remington 700 custom in .35 Whelen. I don' t have to track very many deer, they drop.
Russ