While I am a supporter of buying American made products, it is by NO means for the reasons of Savage99's idiotic and 100% prejudicial statements. I only wish to support our own economy over others. Simple and too the point. That being said, if you want good optics, German or Japanese glass is 10 times better than all other glass made. European firearms are in the top 3 made. The newer Japanese made firearms are coming up in the class as well.

Backcountryboy, If you would, please ignore the statements made by the Savage 99 poster as his lame and ignorant comments are in no way indicative of the rest of us here on HuntingNet.com and I for one will apologize for his sheer stupidity in posting that ridiculous and inflaming post.

Unbelievable stupid posts and I have hit the Alert button asking a Mod to step in and censure Savage 99 for violating of rules #4, #13, and #16, as well as for downright sheer stupidity!!!

Topic locked for editing.

Topic is now open again.

For the OP, you've already received some excellent advice on calibers, rifles, flinching, etc. There are some people who only hunt with one rifle but most hunters have more than one rifle and caliber for hunting different types of big game animals.

You mentioned deer, elk, moose, and possibly black bear as the animals you anticipate hunting. Depending on what state you live in, you'll probably be able to hunt deer and black bear every year in your home state (deer and black bear seasons overlap in many states) and should think about what caliber and rifle would best suit your style of hunting, terrain, etc. for those animals since that would be a rifle you use every year.

For elk and moose, you would probably have to hunt out of state for those animals and probably won't hunt either or both of them every year. You would probably want a bigger caliber for both of those animals and it would be a rifle you likely don't use every year.

Between your dad and any of his friends who own rifles, you could probably shoot different calibers and rifles to get a better idea of how much recoil you shoot well with and where your limits are. Hopefully this helps some.

Thanks guys,
I am leaning toward the .30-06, but have not decided for sure. I would probably put a limb saver or similar recoil pad on the rifle no matter which caliber I bought. Do these make a noticeable difference?

Absolutely! Limbsavers are exactly THAT. Your shoulder will thank you. While the .30/06 is't a beast in recoil, it's not a soft puppy either. Good form is needed. Without it, you will be a sore monkey afterwards. My TC stocks are all Pro Hunter and have Limbsaver tech in them. It makes the recoil on my 12 gauge slug barrel and my .300 win mag barrel manageable. Just remember, the lighter the rifle, the sharper the felt recoil will be.

I use a limbsaver on a 30-06 when shooting at a target. It adds an inch or more to the stock length and can make it hard to get your eye at a comfortable and correct distance from the scope. My stock is the correct length without the limbsaver so it makes me scrunch forward to get the right scope picture when I use it. It is worth it tho, seems that a rifle will kick more at the range then in the field. I could shorten the stock sometime, but haven't. I just take the limbsaver off when I am in the field, a 30-06 does kick, but hopefully I will only be shooting once. I am sure that there are other good recoil pads tho, so check around once you have made a rifle choice.

+1 on the slip-on limbsaver. I use one on a 45-70 Guide rifle and am amazed at the difference.

I have several different Deer Rifles and highly reccomend the 7mm/08 Caliber for its great knock-down power and lighter Recoil.I also have an older used Remington Bolt-action 30-06 that I started out using the Remington Managed Recoil Ammo in it and Love the lighter recoil yet I still have the larger Caliber to hunt with and I can always go back to the standard Factory Ammo if I want to and that could work for You since Your Young and just starting out You can widen Your options on the Gun You choose!

If it were me, I'd look at the 280 Remington, the 160 gr accubonds would handle moose and elk well, shoot as flat as the '06, have roughly the same energy, and less recoil.
RR