My Hawken Hunter Carbine shoots better than either of my SKSs. My inline, a CVA Wolf, does, too.
Now, what's an SKS run now days, about 400 bucks? Maybe 300? Can you not get a Savage 110 for not much more? I mean, if you already have one and nothing else and wanna hunt deer, SURE it will take deer. But, if you're looking to buy a deer rifle, SURE, there are better choices. Me, I have two SKSs, set me back 75 bucks and 115 bucks, and I have a multitude of other rifles i hunt with, favorite, I guess, being my Remington M7 Stainless in .308 Winchester that I've mentioned already. I would NOT buy an SKS as a first deer rifle, but that don't mean they can't be effective.
On the triggers, I used to buy a lot of SKSs when I had an FFL. I found about 1 of 10 had a crisp trigger. My 20" rifle Norinco (all were Norincos) had such a trigger and i kept it and ordered another one for the football pot at work...
Yeah, in Texas, we give rifles away on football pots. Doubt you'll find that in New Jersey.