First, welcome to the forum and you made a good choice asking a question in this thread. Secondly, I live in Price right up 301 from you also on a farm and hunt the same animals. My first muzzleloader was a Smoothbore. Its a .75 caliber (11 gauge) British Brown Bess Musket made by Pedersoli. I do not reccommend this as a first muzzleloader btw. I have hunted with it almost exclusively and have taken 8 Deer, 3 Turkey, 6 Coyote, 4 Geese, 10 Ducks and enough squirrels to make a smoking jacket with slippers to match. That being said smoothbores take a lot of work to get right. It took me a full year to consistently hit on or around bullseye with about a 3-4" group at 75 yards and now three years later I can do that at 125 yards consistently. I am going to break down smoothbores first and then rifles. Firstly, most smoothbores only have a front sight typically a blade although some have a bead like your shotgun that you're used using. However some smoothbores have a rear sight and all can have a rear sight added to them. A rear sight helps you focus the aim better and hit the target more consistently. Secondly, Smoothbores come in about 9 different calibers. They are .78(10 gauge), .75(11 gauge), .72(12 gauge), .66(16 gauge), .62(20 gauge), .58 (24 gauge), .56(26 gauge), .54(28gauge) and .50(36 gauge). The prominent ones are12,16, 20 and 24. These smoothbores may also be reffered to as "Smoothrifles". Since you want to hunt deer and small game I would suggest 16, 20 or 24 gauge although 28 does the job as well. 16 and 20 will do best against those kevlar feathered geese in the winter. I would personally suggest not exceeding a barrel length of 44" as at that point you'll have a cumbersome log. Personally an all around smoothbore imo would be 38-42" weighing in at no more than 6-8lbs in 16 gauge or 20 gauge. I would also add a rear sight to the desired firearm. I'm currently building a cherry stocked, 44" barrel 16 gauge club butt, full stock "fowler" (another term for smoothbores) which I will be installing a rear sight on. This all being said a smoothbore will reliably (after you've trained on it) send a patched round ball into its intended target at 50-75 yards everytime with ease. You can also fire shot from the barrel allowing you to take birds and game. Moving on to the rifles, you mentioned an interest in Jäger(Jaeger)Rifles and Longrifles. Jaegers typically have a barrel length no greater than 32" (the American Jaeger goes to 38" I believe) but I assume you mean a European style Jaeger rifle. Most Jaegers have 31" barrels and are .54 caliber to .62 caliber and can be quite handy although some weigh out like a brick. These rifles are best for thickets and brush as well as blinds and stands as they are short. The Longrifle however is a different story. The rifles typically go from .32 caliber to .62 caliber these days and have a 38" to 53" barrel. Most common for Deer hunting are .40, .44, .45, .50, .54, .58, .62 and barrel lengths are most common in 38", 40", 42", 44" and 46". These rifles typically weigh 6-9lbs and come in a vareity of styles like Lancaster, Leigh Valley, Southern Mountain, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee Long rifles to name the few I know lol. These rifles are best for off hand shooting (ground hunting) as they have a lot of balance due to their length, they are also long so need to be used with planned movements in thick brush and thickets or else you get all hung up. My Bess has a 41" barrel and I move through the brush easily. I would go no larger than .54 caliber as its not needed for the Eastern Shore of Maryland. To be honest I would get a .50 or .54 if you are going to also get a smoothbore. If you only want one then I would go with .40, .44, .45 and .50 caliber. As the smaller calibers can be used on game. As for the remainder of your questions. GOEX will be making powder soon in the mean time I reccommend Schutzen powder from
Schuetzen Black Powder - Graf & Sons . If going with a smoothbore or a .50/.54 caliber than go with 2F or FF powder and if going for a smaller rifle like .40, .44 and .45 go with 3F or FFF. Cleaning supplies can be as simple as dish soap and hot water or oils like Ballistol, Hoppe's No.9 and Thompson Center Oil. WD-40 also works but it isnt a favorite here for some people. Once you find a desired caliber get some patches balls and shot. Forgot to mention DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT use steel shot in a muzzleloader. I reccommend using Bismuth as its non toxic and soft on the bore so I can be used on waterfowl and game alike. Hope this helps ya out.
