Caliber wise I believe I am going to go with a .30-06 with a Leupold 2.5x8. Basic. This handles black bear and deer, with reasonable length shots. Was really thinking hard about a .300WM ( a favorite) but that's significantly more weight there to be lugging up a mountain somewhere after the deer. (Bears, per my research, will be lower down in early September, and the deer will be high up). Don't want to go lighter caliber-wise, to leave plenty of margin of error on the bears. I have more than one to pick from so one happy project over the next few months will be wringing the options out.
Thanks for your help guys!
