Jason, I've got a used Remington 742 carbine in .30-06 that I picked up recently. It shoots fine, and came equipped with a Leupold Vari-X II 3-9x40. Pretty old rifle, and has a muzzle blast that'll wake the dead for miles around, but it's really a hoot.

I was wondering whether it was too much gun for a small deer. Maybe I could try lighter loads (maybe those Remington reduced-recoil loads or something).