45-70 is my choice, especially since you already have a 30-30. The lighter 45-70 loads don’t kick much. Just pad yourself when shooting from the bench. And set up your sandbags so that you are sitting up straight and can roll with the recoil.
Sounds like you have your target round. You don’t need quarter moa for hunting. So many factory loads will shoot 1 moa today. Don’t fall into the long range hunting craze. Too many wounded animals. Look up some of the youtube videos where expert shooters fail to put their first shot on...
If he only went 75-80 yards then the bullet expanded fine. Can’t always tell by the exit hole. And you can always shoot for the shoulder and don’t sweat a little wasted meat
Like so many others I started with dads old 30-30 when hunting up north in Michigan. First one I bought was a 12 ga mossberg bolt action slug gun because we lived in the shotgun zone. I wish the straight wall rifle cartridges were legal back then. Less recoil and cheaper ammo
If you are part of a church community you might contact a similar church in Kansas and explain what you are looking for. Even offer to pay a small fee.
Depends on if you hunted whitetail or mule deer in the past. Whitetail are more spooky. I have hunted both. And depends on if you are hunting public or private lands. The upper peninsula can be different than the lower. Bigger tracts of public land but wolves have hurt the deer herd in many...