Is this a shotgun only season? If not I would buy a rifle or your pretty much limited to the range at which your going to be taking a deer. If so I like 30-30 Marlin lever action or 270 savage bolt action all should be in your price range. A shotgun is a great gun though like mentioned above because your very versitile and can hunt pretty much any kind of game. I started out with a shotgun using slugs when I was just a little kid and upgraded to a rifle as i got older.Not sure on how the PAL works now,when i was under 18 I had my hunter licence and I got paper work from the police station allowing me to hunt on my own and carry a rifle but this was over 15 years ago best way is to just ask when your on your PAL course.