[bclark1]

I was in your shoes 3 years ago. Started from scratch, no help, just read and learned. Message boards make a great start, so hopefully you'll get some good advice. Right now I'm 5 deer and one wall-hanger later, so it's certainly doable.

Any quality 30/06 will give you the most versatility. You can load it down for coyotes or up for bear as you please, being in PA. Will do it all for you. As a new hunter, you're also going to want to practice. 7.62 ammo is through the roof - you can still get 30/06 for about a quarter a round for practice through the CMP though. Any of the mentioned rifles will work. I got a Charles Daly Mauser because it was written up as new rifle of the year in F+S that year. Action's rough but it's an excellent shooter. Any major brand bolt will suit you. Leverguns are nice too, and the range on them is getting out there with some advances in ammo. Then you've got your pumps and semis, but just empirically it seems to me that bolts rule the roost.

As for glass, I like the Burris Fullfield II, I think it's an excellent value. I mounted it myself, have dinged it a bit, and it's still right on for me. Avoid tactical scopes, two knobs for adjustment is plenty if you haven't been shooting scoped rifles recently. Again though, any quality manufacturer will work out - you can get lucky with lesser ones, but generally companies like Burris, Leupold, Nikon, etc. (excuse me for those I've left out) you won't go wrong with in the sub-$300 range. I've had good luck with Bushnell as well, but that was only for binocs/spotting scope/rangefinder, I haven't tried their riflescopes. Variable magnification is nice, with 3-9x seeming the "norm." I like 9x to get the best view of what I'm shooting, but if you need to pick something up in close I don't know a lot of guys who can get on and shoot an in-close moving target with that kind of magnification. My rifle setup was probably about $500 in-hand.

Ammo, for PA whitetail, 150gr should work. Try a few brands and find what shoots best out of your rifle. For factory loads I like the premium Remington polymer-tipped rounds in 150gr and 165gr, but that's not to say it'll be the best out of your rifle. The premium stuff is just what shoots well for me - much cheaper cartridges have been killing them as long as man's had rifles. While you can hunt a whole season on your box, I generally shoot a minimum of one box of my hunting loads when I change my zero back from surplus ammo come deer season. So figure 2 boxes minimum, $30-60 depending.

Clothing is a product of your environment and the type of hunting you plan to do. If you have private land or can set up a stand or blind on public land and will be sitting still for a while, bundle up! On the other hand, it really does not take much to stay warm even if you're still hunting. Any movement whatsoever is a huge help. Just think about your surroundings. You'll get a lot of guys that say camo really isn't necessary at all - I still wear it, oh well. Can't hurt. Remember your extremities - I deer hunt in Wisconsin around Thanksgiving, so it's usually pretty chilly. Keeping your core warm is important, but it's easy to forget good socks and boots, good gloves, and warm headgear. If you're totally hypothermic you need to end your hunt, but losing feeling in your hands or being very uncomfortable in one spot is certainly detrimental to your day afield as well. And, as mentioned, don't forget the blaze according to hunting regs - usually 400 sq. in. unbroken will get you by, but double-check. You can use a lot of what you already have for layering and then just buy a new heavy cover layer and some decent boots if you don't have them - you could probably keep this under $300 for a quality pair of insulated boots and a nice coat, or spend ten times that on ten all-new super-premium layers, lot of flexibility here. For another $100 (probably less) you can get a couple nice pairs of winter socks, a fleece head mask and some base-layer gloves to shoot with and put your big suckers over when you're waiting, which addresses some of my earlier complaints.

As for scents, a lot of guys will say you don't need them in rifle season. I've played with them without much luck. I do hit my clothes with a scent-killer before I go out. Again, plenty of hunters would say even that's totally unnecessary for gun season. I just like to do it up I guess. Scents can be more important earlier in the season when deer are rutting harder and if you need to get them in closer for archery. If you want to wash yourself and your clothes, you can probably score a scent-killer package for under $20 at Walmart.

Knife is another flexible purchase. I like serrations on at least part of the blade personally, but I've used a straight blade as well. I think Gerbers are a good value, solid knives that you can get at sub-premium prices on eBay or whatever. This is not so important as making sure whatever you have is sharp and knowing how to dress out the animal. While you might put some stuff in a pack or whatever, keep the knife in a secure pocket on your person. There are a lot of reasons you might need it that don't involve cutting into a deer. Might even be good to have a backup. Serrated Gerber Gator folders are doable under $30 on eBay.

GPS you can go cheap on. Having back-up land-nav is important too. Get a map of your state park and bring a compass. Even if you're an abysmal woodsman, you will know that if you walk East, you will eventually hit such-and-such state road if you're in a bind. But you could even do that by the direction of the sun if necessary. I have had a lot of help from a Garmin eTrex getting my way back to my car in a state park that had several flooded areas unmarked on their map. You can score one for under $100 if you shop around. I have a nicer one now, Magellan Crossover, good for land/vehicle/boat nav and comes loaded with some park maps, but for as ugly and barebones as the eTrex is, it does what you need it to - marks where you were, and tells you how to get back. Both are waterproof and generally suited to the outdoors. But do get a compass, and printouts of your state park - which you should keep in a ziplock bag with a pencil somewhere safe and mark up with notes as you move if you're on big public land. $90 or so for an eTrex, can be much more if you want something special, $10 for a compass.

I only mention the compass thing because you should expect all your gear to break or fail. Particularly anything that requires batteries. And then be happy when it does work. It's not such an issue in the fall, but I've seen GPS's have spotty signals just from thick leaf cover in the woods, nevermind a dud battery. If you're on private land in a stand somewhere, not a big deal if everything is screwed up except your rifle, but when I've tried some brush-busting expeditions involving more than a couple miles distance from my parking site, having a GPS get funny, running out of water, not being able to find something you need... huge pain in the rear.

Anyway, I enjoyed rambling. Keep the questions coming, it's blast once you get started. Good luck!