Many NH hunting "Zones" are shotgun and .22 only. Single shot, and double barrell shotguns can be fitted with chamber inserts for a variety of pistol and rifle calibers. I only recall these devices being made to 12g but they may be available for other guages. These allow you to 'play' with a wider selection of ammo but still only have one gun to store and maintain. Using an insert would not free you from the caliber/cartridge restrictions applicable in the zones.
Although many gun and hunting magazines say .30/30 is light for deer and blackbear they usualy include a comment that it is still the caliber that brings down most of the deer harvested in this country.
The 7.62X39 caliber is considerred to be nearly identical to .30/30 in ballistic and stopping power terms. Eastern European ammo in this caliber is fairly cheap for plinking at cans and such but if you don't trust the quality for more practical use there is US made ammo available too.
"Simonov" (SKS) type carbines are still fairly cheap and can be fitted with a 5 round magazine for hunting purposes if desired. Some of them are setup to accept AK magazines and there are 5 round versions of those available as well. You could get a MAK variant, which is essentially a semi-auto AK47 with a thumbhole stock/grip which makes it legal for hunting. Prices on those though, are close to a US made hunting rifle so unless you'd like the ability to use a mag up to 75 rounds, at the range, these are probably not the tools for you.
Good luck!
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