TL;DR: what are some rifles that are good for hunting first, and home defense second?
With the prospect of unbounded inflation, expensive food (e.g., meat), and getting late into the game of saving for retirement (spent a long time in grad school), I want to hunt. If I bring home enough wild game for food, I'll have saved a lot of money (especially if the price of meat skyrockets).
Suggestions?
An AR-15 in 5.56. While not optimal for hunting you can take a deer with a 5.56, and in a survival situation the concept of “ethically killing” a deer goes out the window.
A .22lr would be a good rifle to have for small critters as well
If you want one gun to do just about everything you need a 12 gauge pump shotgun. It will do just about anything except long distance shooting.
I too feel that a shotgun is the best all rounder. You can get a shotgun in semi-auto for $500 and a pump for $200. It is the preferred hunting method of fowl, and can take rabbit all the way up to deer as well. A big thing with shotguns is choke tubes.