Alot of getting a good kick drum sound has to do with 1/ the drum and beater itself 2/ the mike(s) and how it's/they're placed 3/ the drummer, and his attack.
I use (at least) 2 mikes on the kick.
Currently, my choices are a D112 and an RE20. One close to the head, one outside the drum, or farther away from the head. Which goes where varies for me.
Oft times I'll put a large diaphram condenser about 4 feet in front of the kick, then place a heavy blanket over the kick drum, extending out to a stool behind the stand that the condenser is on. A poor man's kick drum tunnel.
Try all sorts of stuff, that's my philosophy
I tend to try get a signal that's fairly close to 0db. I've found that recording at 24/44.1 it doesn't really matter that much, as long as you don't clip. An occasional foray into the red doesn't hurt (too much). If I need more, I can boost it with an eq or compressor plug.
EQ has much to do with the punchy kick sound. Pulling out some mids helps, putting in some high "snap" helps.
Slap a 4 band eq on there and mess around.
When it sounds good, stop messing!
I also like this trick:
http://badhabitstudios.com/images/kikTrik.jpg
Thanks to Bad Habit Studios for turning me on to that.
Give it a whirl, you'll see a whole new world opening up.