I am new to deer hunting, but a longtime shooter and a longtime resident of Texas.

Which part of Texas will you hunt? I hunt the piney woods of East Texas and a .30-30 carbine with open sights is great for that area. Good luck seeing a deer beyond 75 yards in this part of the state.

I have read some about the big game ranches of the South Texas brush country (King Ranch and then points west up towards San Antonio) and the shots there vary a lot, longer ones are found along the senderos which are like pathways cut through the brush. I'm guessing 200 yards would be plenty down there. I've driven through the King Ranch (along Highway 77 south of Refugio) many times, but never hunted there. The shots get a bit longer as you get further west into the Hill Country west of San Antonio. (My next door neighbor hunts there every year and I am green with envy.) If I am guessing correctly here, then I would recommend the .30-06 Springfield bolt action with a decent scope. I have been quite impressed with the low-end Leupolds. Matte finish is a very good idea. My next door neighbor uses an old, multi-generational .30-30 carbine. He always hunts the same area, so that carbine might not work in other parts of the Hill Country or in the Brush Country.

For West Texas hunting, like Abilene, Lubbock, Alpine and so on, I'm thinking the key is long range effectiveness. That means you should look for fast, flat-shooting bullets that won't take your shoulder off. Again, it's hard to go wrong with .30-06.

For what it's worth, if you like to shoot A LOT, you might want to go with .308 as you should be able to get cheap, surplus military 7.62mm NATO ammunition. It has about 95 percent of the ballistics of the .30-06, but smaller and lighter.