[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Hunt with a rifle first... hands down, at least until you get the hang of it.

What sort of range do you need? 250 yards? 500 yards? 1000 yards? As this will determine the kind of gun you're going to want.

At 250 yards you can take down just about anything with any sort of gun (that isn't a 22). If you plan on shooting really long distances - you need to think about something more powerful.

If you want something that shoots long and straight, a good investment is a Rem 700 model in 7mm Rem Mag. It is about the best in terms of ballistics you're going to find that isn't a .50 BMG or .338 Lapua (which will cost you an arm and a leg).

The model I quoted will probably run you around $700.

Yeah, I'd say that if people are asking about hunting, and they don't already know what kind of gun they should be using (read: haven't done much shooting), it's probably not a good idea to be suggesting they be going for a lot of long range shots/guns.

That being said, I'm a pretty strong believer that the .30-06 is pretty much the best "Jack of all trades" guns you can get for Alberta, followed closely by .308. There's nothing in the province you can't kill with those guns from a pretty decent range.