I'm looking for advice on buying my first rifle. I'm a long-time fisherman, but now I'm thinking about joining my buddies next fall for deer/elk hunting. This spring I passed hunters safety, but learned that I'm 'cross-eyed', as in, I've always shot left but am right eye dominant. I was thinking about getting a .22 to practice shooting right-handed, but then I learned that ammo is hard to come by these days. A guy at Cabelas suggested getting a .23 or slightly larger caliber for 'practice', but then some friends said I should just get the rifle I plan to hunt with, spend a little more for ammo, and practice with that. Right now I'm thinking 30-06 for hunting. I don't foresee frequent recreational shooting, so this kind of makes sense. Anyway, I'm going to continue researching, but any advice on ammo, caliber, make/model, and retailers/sellers would be appreciated. Thanks.

30-06 is a good call. It'll do anything needed in the lower 48. Ammo is easy to find and comes in about 1000 flavors.

Thanks SundayMonday, but I should of been more specific. My main question is, should I invest in a low caliber practice rifle or just get a hunting rifle? If the former, is .22LR a bad choice with the current ammo market? I was also thinking .243 since it could be used for deer. In the end I'm splitting hairs (and will likely end up with a couple rifles over time), but after talking with a few friends and folks at shops, I realized I could use all the help I can get. Thanks again.

Practice like you intent to play. If you want to be proficient with your hunting rifle than you need to log some time getting to know it. Granted there are some similarities and commonalities from platform to platform, but there is no substitute for training with the tool you expect to use when you find yourself in the moment of truth.

I've got a lever action .22 that I love to take to the range and run a bunch of rounds through. "Practice" with this rifle helps me tune up certain skills related to the fundamentals (grip, stance, sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control), but when the stress is on the devil is in the details. Unless you spent some time building muscle memory with the weapon in your hand, you shouldn't expect to mange it flawlessly when under a bit of pressure.

In a perfect world, I say go for both, but if you have to choose one over the other get to know your killing machine even if that means spending a bit more to do it. This is of course assuming you stick with the notion that bringing home some groceries is the priority as opposed to shooting for fun.

With some good instruction and oversight you shouldn't need to put too many rounds through your hunting rifle to start feeling comfortable with it and putting the rounds where they need to go.

For the stated intent, Kimber 84M Montana in 7-08 pushing 120 Gr. Barnes TTSX's topped with

a) 3.5-10x40 Leupold VXIII with an added M1 elevation turret or
b) SWFA 6x42 SS w/ mil-quad reticle

Either optic sitting in appropriate Talley L/W mounts and capped with Butler Creek flip up covers. Butler Creek and Boonie Packer also makes some light weight nylon webbing/non-slip slings.

Roll your own ammo for *your* rifle, not everybody elses.

Zero it for 250 yards and stay under 300 for POA/POI obvious outcomes or buy a quality laser range finder so you *know* how far away intended targets actually are. Study on JBM Ballistics website for external ballistic savvy to effectively use same. Shooting sticks are handy. Pop copious primers at the range and in the field using the tools available. The .308 parent case will make it easy on your shoulder to do so with an improved BC for the 7mm pills.

I know you'll smile when you are standing next to a nice buck or bull. The pack out, maybe not so much....

For a guy in your situation it would be hard to beat a Tikka. Do a little research and you will find most agree for inexpensive, out of the box accuracy, easy choice. Your caliber selection (30-06) will work fine on anything you point it at and finding ammo anywhere you go should not be a problem. Don't go cheap on a scope.
The only thing i'm a little worried about is you may find yourself a frequent recreational shooter once the hook is set.

If you're concerned about finding .22 ammo,you could always buy a nice pellet rifle.

Lots of time behind a rifle is never a bad thing.

I think a lot depends on where you plan on hunting. I love my 308MX lever action for forest, fog and storms and the .270 for open terrain.

As Coley noted once you've decided get really proficient at it. Also look into how to properly break in a barrel.

As for a plinker I'm in the market for one to use varmint hunting and am really leaning towards a .17HMR.

Well, after researching the advice given here and talking with a few buddies I've decided to go with the Tikka T3 Lite 30-06 in stainless.

Driftin' - your post nearly broke my brain, but after a little googling, I got the gist. I'm not committed enough to start rolling my own ammo right now, but I am following up on your scope suggestions.

Thanks everybody. See you at the range.

Had faith in ya....

Going used could lead to an excellent upgrade.

Linky

Hunting can be fun.