Oh my Gawd, the crazy Canadian! LOL!
Here's some biased advice for your requirements.
Horton if you are going to hunt and want a reasonably priced dependable bow.
Excalibur if you are going to be a little arrow junkie and shoot hundreds and hundreds of arrows a year.
Both have stellar reputations as illustrated on this forum.
I only know of one arrow addict that has a horton and he has problems most certainly related to the number of shots taken. All other horton owners are happy as a pig in poop.
Most excal owners are arrow addicts and have no noticeable number of failures.
If you want to up your dollar limit then go to a ten point or a faster excalibur.
Dollar for dollar its tough to beat an excalibur vixen. You can shoot all day without fatigue (its light and draw weight is not high). Nothing is likely to go wrong. If you screw up a string you wack one on in ten minutes and you back in the game. You can even make your own strings!
It has plenty of power (enough for moose). Its fast enough (285 with the lightest arrow). Last but not least is that all good looking women will admire you!
Good luck in our quest for a bow and welcome to our family!