NJ...boy what a can of worms you opened here. ...the point is there are untold numbers of options here. The thing to do here is pretty much what you should do anytime you make a hunting equipment purchase....buy the best you can afford. As far as caliber the .270 or 30.06 are good all around and hard to beat. You can hunt anything from Coyotes to Grizzlies with these calibers. Whatever you do dont get cheap on the scope. All of these replies are great, the Bushnell elite and the Leupold are great choices. Personally i shoot a Leupold vari-x III and i love it, but ( and im gonna get in trouble when i say this), I dont think they are worth the money. In my opinion if i had it to do again I would go with the 4200 or even 3200 elite. They have just as good of light transmission and as qaulity of glass with raingaurd to boot! Good luck and enjoy TX.