Just last year I took up a first time hunter and he bought a Mossberg 30-06 (the one's they sell at walmart for $250). I put together some handloads and the gun shot good. It is afterall a Savage with a cheaper stock. There is a pawn shop on Sheridan and 25th in Glenwood and they sometimes have cheap rifles. If you can handle the recoil as you say I would look at a 7mm Rem Mag in a 700 BDL. I would also buy (or load) 160gr Seirra GameKing bullets. They perform great and are just about the right weight for anything here in Colorado. A 30-06is also a classicpick and ammo is priced lower than most others but if you can reload the ammo all costs about the same. Good Luck Jovan