Moose_Maximus

Keep in mind that deer in Texas are pretty small. Also, depending on exactly where you'll be hunting, you may not be taking very long-distance shots.

Down here, people use 30-30's, .35 Rems, .243s, .270s, .30-06s, and just about any other caliber you care to name.

If you plan on hunting other stuff, it's generally easier to get something with more oomph and use lighter-powered rounds than it is to try to magnify the results from a smaller cartridge.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this can of worms you opened!

semi

30.06 Winchester Mod 70 (package) around $400 at wal-mart. comes with a cheap scope that you can replace later. It's a great all around rifle and you will be able to hunt anything with the 06.

Georgetownboys

You will enjoy your Texas hunt. I live and hunt in the Texas hill country. Lot's of 30-06 and .270 out there.

JMO. . . .270 with a 3-9x40 will work very well. I use this with a 130gr for Deer and 150gr for the pigs. Zero it at 100yards. You may not have to make many shots over 100 yards although I made one at just over 200 2 seasons back.

If you go with the remington ADL or BDL be ready to have the trigger worked. It comes pretty tight from the factory. I have one and like it but did work the trigger. Perhaps you should check some of the others with adjustable triggers.

LY

My vote is for the T/C Encore if this is going to be your one and only rife. The price is competative with most of the others and cheaper than alot. You get to pick your first caliber for hunting in TX and if any other opportunities arise anywhere else in the world, then it'll only cost you a little over $200 for a new barrel/caliber. It also gives you the option of adding a shotgun barrel and/or muzzleloader barrel later on.

Superpig

If you are only going to hunt whitetail deer with this rifle I would purchase a 270 Winchester. Ammo is plentiful in this caliber and recoil is very manageable. The 270 is also a flat shooting round and an excellent deer rifle. As for rifles it depends on how much you would like to spend. For a rifle you will use 6 or 8 days a year I would buy a Savage package gun from the local Wal Mart. The rifle will cost around $350 with the tax and will have a cheap 3-9X40 scope. If you would like to spend more there are any number of rifles from Browning, Remington, Ruger, Savage, Tikka, Weatherby, Howa, CZ, & numerous others. The best thing is to go to a sporting goods store and handle as many as possible and buy the one you like the best. If you buy a rifle for $350 and have more to spend use that money on a quality scope from Weaver, Bushnell Elites, Nikon, Leupold, Burris, Zeiss, or Swarovski. The scope is every bit as important as the rifle. Another option is to attend a gun show in your area and purchase a rifle that already has a quality scope on it. This can lead to considerable savings on a good rifle/scope combo.

NVMIKE

If you only get to have one rifle it should be 30-06, 7mag, 300mag, the old 30-06 is hard to beat.

crimedog

Two Cents:


Remington CDL in Rem 280 $509.00, the scope can be anything with a good name, I have a Bushnell Banner that cost 89.00 on a 308 and would buy it again. The one thing I find disturbing in this discussion is the 1 inch groups, I have 10 Remington rifles with scopes from $89.00 to $1200.00 and only one has any gun work, they all shoot 1/2 or less groups at 100 yards, although one Remington stock had to be replaced because it was molded wrong it cost me 50.00 for a new ADL stock. Don't overlook Savage rifles, I've shot them and they shoot at least 1 inch groups. Hope this helps.

dpv

I view rifles as tools. They are fun to shoot and great to look at but the most important thing is that they do what you want them to. I would look at Savage or a Weatherby Vanguard. They are both on the low end price wise, but extremely accurate rugged rifles. Since you mentioned Maine I assume you might have a chance to shoot black bear as well as deer. The .270 has been mentioned and that would be great on deer and is a nice flat shooter. Many bear have been bagged with it as well, although I would rather have something larger for bear. If I was looking for a one rifle to do it all I would go for .30-06 or .308. They are pretty similar balistically, neither of them will seperate your shoulder, although they can both kick a little....the '06 kicks more.
The Savage and Vanguard are both affordable and you can spend the difference in ammo to practice with at the range.
Good luck

David

Ruger-Redhawk

NJ the main thing is find one that fits you well.What fits me might be terrible for you.Caliber wise the 30-06 would be a good choice. There is a wide range of bullets for the 06.Scopes are another story.I recommend buying the best scope you can afford. I don't mean going overboard.I would stay away from the lower ends scope.E.g. Tasco,Simmons, BSA to name a few.Leupold, Burris,Bushnell all have a good line of scopes in all different price ranges.I personally like the Ruger M-77's. They fit me well.You still have time to search for the perfect rifle for yourself.It's better to take your time getting what you want then to rush out and buy something you'll regret later down the road.

Ruger Redhawk

rgarand3006

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.