I would agree with you, Iowa has done a good job managing bucks, along with the most corn grown in the country so those deer are well fed as well. However, from what i hear from my iowa contacts (i actually work in council bluffs) is that the insurance companies are gaining some pull, (having to pay for too many deer-car collisions) and the game and parks is responding with offering more tags, longer seasons, etc. like i said this is heresay. (I also know that many of the people I work with are just a tiny bit jealous I get to go out with my 7mm mag while they are stuck using a slug gun, or muzzleloader I believe...). That's here nor there.

However, the poster is talking about hunting, not managing. The best way to be successful in killing a deer is hands down a centerfire rifle. Again maybe not the best for management, but best way for a successful harvest. This isn't a thread about management and state regs. He's asking advice on how to be successful when he primarily will be hunting deer, and that would be with a rifle.

I see your point though on the management aspect. I myself advocate for moving the rifle season here in Nebraska to December, and only allow archery during the rut. Our current rifle season is smack in the middle of the rut at the bucks most vulnerable time to be killed. However, try hunting the Sandhills of Nebraska without a single tree in a 1000 square acre radius with a shotgun. In some places a rifle is almost a necessity.

I guess when I think of deer hunting i think of more than just being able to kill an animal I want to kill a mature buck and the states that have high powers the deer are way less likely to get there. My point is the guy is just starting out if he wants to get a big buck shooting a 150 inch deer that is 3 during the rut with a high po just isnt the way to do it. Im just putting my opinion out there to a first timer. The rumer I heard about iowa is they are giving less tags do to ehd we lost an est. 10000 deer do to it and if dry next year we will be in trouble so hope they dont do that.

For the money , I would buy a Thompson Center Venture. They have a newer model with a different name that the barrel is interchangeable. The gun is the most accurate one I've ever shot, hands down and they run about $450. Mine is a .308

We all start somewhere. And if the state he is in has a rifle season, which I believe he stated it does, him buying a shotgun isn't going to change the fact that there will be tens of thousands of other people out there shooting deer with a high power. So, he should put himself in a position starting out to be successful. I personally like hunting with my bow the best, because I have a longer season, and get to hunt long before the 9 day rifle season. To each their own I guess. I'm lucky to get to hunt bow, rifle, and muzzleloader so I get a taste of each of the different seasons.

Nebraska released info on their deer harvest this past year. Harvest was down 30% mostly due to EHD and drought. Looking to eliminate some 86,000 antler less tags next year.

Not drinking this koolaid for one second... Rifles don't make hunters take long shots at poorly identified game. Quite honestly, I notice more "ground shrink" when I'm bow or pistol hunting than I do with a high powered rifle. They sure seem to look big on the hoof to my naked eye, but the scope doesn't lie when I zoom in for a better look.

Shooting a small buck is the hunter's fault, regardless of what weapon he's using.

To answer the question at hand, however...

Your tool box has a hammer for some jobs, a wrench for other jobs. A hammer does its job well, but can never be a wrench (rifle can't be used for wingshooting). A wrench also does its intended job well, and even though guys do it, a wrench doesn't make a very good hammer (rifled shotgun still isn't up to snuff with a rifle).

For the game species you described, you'll be far better served to have both a rifle and a shotgun.

But if you can only afford one for now, if you're primarily planning to hunt deer, then get a good quality deer rifle. If you end up going wingshooting, you'll likely end up going with someone else and can borrow a shotgun pretty easily. A lower price or used shotgun might be another good avenue.

Relatively speaking, a combo shotgun will cost enough extra over a bare bones model to get you a long ways towards a rifle. Figure you can get into an 870 or 500 for $250-300, a rifled barrel will run you another $150, whereas you could put that $150 towards a decent deer rifle, like a used savage or Stevens that would run $250ish.

Your mileage may vary, like I said before, you can use a wrench like a hammer, but if you're building a house, buying a hammer for all of those nails makes a lot more sense to me.

So say I'm a first time hunter, I don't really know all the in's and out's for patterning deer yet, and I don't have feeders or trail cams, haven't managed food plots, and I hang my stand in a spot that's "close" but not quite the perfect spot... New guys never make mistakes, right?

So now season is open and rut is in full swing, I'm in my deer stand waiting for a nice 150" rutting management buck, but all-be-d@mned if he doesn't show up 200yrds away each day I see him...

Sure sounds like a situation where I'd much rather have a rifle than a bow or shotgun the first time he gives me that opportunity, rather than either never getting a shot, or having the neighbor get to put him on the wall...

Having a rifle gives you better odds at getting within range of your target animal, no if's, and's, or but's, especially for a new hunter. A rifle will NOT force you to shoot a sub-optimum buck, that's sounding like some personal baggage that doesn't have any relevance for this guys question.

Im saying he is first time hunter and will not be able to judge a buck at 200 yards. His question was what gun will be the best for all the animals and I said a shot gun. Im trying to let a new hunter know how hard it is to judge an animal with bone on its head. I have a ton of experience with whitetails so saying I dont know what im talking about is just a bit untrue. My personal baggage is big deer on the wall that all were killed without a high power sir

Why do you guys keep suggesting the person who started this thread buy a rifle? They live in IOWA where you can't anything with a centerfire (except for the southern 2 tier counties). No ducks, no turkey, no pheasant. Absolutely every other thing to hunt in Iowa is done with a shotgun or rimfire (coyote notwithstanding). Everytime I read one of you guys saying "get a rifle, it's the only way" I want to pull my hair out!!

***Don't know where you got that from because the OP said he lives in Maryland and can use a shotgun or rifle if he wants to :busted:

the person who started the thread is from maryland