What distances will you be shooting about. Dont worry so much about drop as drop becomes a constant so it doesnt matter if you have 15 ft of drop at 1000 yards or 25 ft of drop. Its always the same so you dial it and know what it is. Ive shot everything from a 6mm, 308, 30-06, 300WM, etc from distances of 0yards out to 1 mile. Yes I said that right. Out to 1 mile. With that being said, the 308 is a good starter gun due to all the options and ammo availability. For hunting purposes, you cant hunt deer in ohio with hi-power rifle so your hunting here is pretty much limited to varmits and pests. Now if you go out west, thats a different story.