Personally, I hunt with a Remington .223. It's light, no kick, and is one of the most accurate guns I've ever shot despite differences in distance. I've shot it at everything between 10 and 100 yards with the same result: a dead deer. My dad got it for me when I was younger because he thought it would be a better 'girls' gun and now my 6'10" brother argues with me every year on whether he gets to take it out when he goes because it will drop a deer just as fast as his and doesn't bruise his shoulder in the process. With the bullets we use, it does leave a decent sized exit wound but as long as you shoot where you're supposed to, all you lose is some rib meat.