Certainly one might want to have a couple of three toys in the safe ... doesn't mean they should not be well chosen. That's half the fun.

Glad to see that you included the antelope in your list. Don't forget the piggies in Texas ... they're fun to hunt and good to eat.

I tend toward larger calibers and as a result I personally would consider the 6mm Rem as minimum. 270 7-08, 308, 30-06 would be my preferences I think. At the small end I have a .264 Win Mag and a .270 Win (though I've taken piggies with things up to .458 calibers).

The Zeiss Conquest scopes are terrific. I personally don't like huge scopes so I stay with the 1.8-5.5x38 and 3-9x42 models. They can be had from $300 to $389 shipped. Great scopes.

30-06 is an elephant gun...a very common, easy to find bullets for elephant gun. I just can't see fightin all that recoil for deer and pigs you could hang with a shoe lace. Get a .243 Win with at least a 22" tube and a trigger you like. With most shots being under a hundred yards or even say 250 a fixed 4 or any of the 200+ dollar variables on quality mounts will make a weapon that is fun to shoot, easy to practice with and thus VERY efficient. Ammo is almost as easy to find as 30-06 too. I know alot of guys that are to big and tough to shoot a little gun and so they close their eyes and hope when the ol' 06 barks the bullet hits 'something'.

I honestly thought you were looking for advice on which batteries to use in feeders---was real interested when I saw it ran to two pages of replies

270. 30-06 or 308. Any will be great.

Best Texas rifle? Remington 260, good for everything. Need good shot placement for an Aoudad - remember behind the shoulder is a gut shot, not a lung.

I personally use a .308 winchester, as does my wife and son. 150 grain Hornady SST. I have a stainless syntheic Tikka T3 with a Weaver 2.5-10 x 38mm; my wife has a Tikka T3 blue/wood with a Weaver 3.5-10 x 40mm GrandSlam, and my son has a Remington Mohawk 600 with a 2-7 x 32mm Weaver.