guns

You can get a reasonably priced .22lr and have a lot of fun with it. Even cheaper ones are fine. I bought my daughter a Savage Mk II bolt action a long time ago and we still have fun shooting it together. It's accurate further out than my eyes are, and ammo is generally the limiting factor (ie some cheap ammo isn't as accurate, but the flip side is it's cheap ). If the used market is a thing in your area, I'd definitely consider it There are many great used .22's out there. Most major brand guns are durable and most are more accurate than the people shooting them usually.

You definitely can shoot at 100m with iron sights if your eyes are good enough. A scope just magnifies more, and you will likely be more accurate with it if it's zeroed properly. I like scopes. I like red dots, I like irons. There's a time and place for everything. :-)

Be sure to get some training, and wear good ear protection!

Thoughts on calibers for longer distance shooting and hunting?

Starting with a 22 is the perfect way to defer that question while you gain knowledge. :-) You might have local/provincial restrictions on what calibers and metals you can use for hunting. What it is you prefer to hunt might influence the caliber choice. And the connotation of "all that's going on," might dictate an entirely different set of choices. In any case, one fun thing about the range is that if you chat people up, you and your wife will have an opportunity to shoot all sorts of different things.