Gun Collections.

Originally Posted by Amui That depends on what your budget is, and what type of hunting you want to go do. For bird hunting or hunting larger game with dogs/in an open field, a Shotgun is the place to go, and typically a 12 gauge is universally accepted for both bird and larger game. If you're going for a cheaper shotgun I'd maybe suggest a Remington 870 Express, higher end would be a Winchester SX3 or something similar. With a rifle you're typically looking for a .308 or a .30-06 for hunting purposes, and you're probably going to be sitting in a stand either freezing your butt off or sweating a river depending on your location, can you stick a scout scope on a Mosin Nagant and kill nearly anything alive in North America with its 7.62x54r round? heck yes, does it cost about $100-200 less than a decent hunting rifle? yes, will you be accurate over 200-300 yards? maybe not. If you're looking for a teeny tiny bit more high end rifle, you really can't do wrong with a Browning A-Bolt or a Remington 700, I believe both can come in .30-06 and .308 calibers, and both are tried and true hunting rifles made from quality parts, I'd top either off with a Leupold scope and call it a day.

I mostly want to hunt deer.

Originally Posted by nerdwerld I mostly want to hunt deer.

Like I said, if you're wanting to join a hunting club with a bunch of old geezers and hunt with dogs (This can be the most fun you can have while hunting, but you really need to look for a club that is humane to their dogs because most are not), go for the shotguns I suggested or something similar, 12 gauge is basically the only choice for deer, anything more or less is overkill/not enough and you'll want to get accustomed to shooting 12 gauge buckshot because it'll pack a punch and your arm will know it, I suggest picking up a recoil pad.

If you want to sit in a tree stand for long periods of time and freeze and/or bake, go for the rifle, .30-06 or .308 are both great calibers to use for deer, and you'll also have to find land you're allowed to hunt on and probably invest in bags of deer corn and plenty of patience.

If anyone suggests you use a Bow to hunt with, they're an imbecile, a Bow usually will not instantly kill something and ends up torturing the animal, plus its a pain in the ♫♫♫ to track such long blood trails.