Well, just to be the oddball, if I could go back and do it again with what I know now, I'd take one of the two Mauser 98's my father brought back from WWII, have a good gunsmith polish it up and turn it into a .30-06 with a nice piece of stable walnut cut to fit me perfectly, and put a peep sight on it.
Then I'd go out and kill the same game at the same ranges in the same terrain and never miss a beat.
And since "going back" would mean to the mid-late 60's, I'd pick up a really good 1950's vintage Winchester 94 .30-30 and put a peep sight on it as well, for those times when I didn't need or want to shoot a .30-06.
Doesn't mean I wouldn't also get many dozens of other rifles and scopes of all sizes 'cause, ya know, loonyism, but two sturdy, dependable rifles with sturdy sighting systems are all I'd really need...
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
