Based on what you are telling us that you want to hunt. I might suggest the .308. Lots of good ones out there. Personally, I am biast toward the Remington rifles, but there are lots of excellnt companies out there. The .308 is big enough to kill hogs, Deer, small bears, pretty much anything in the lower 48 states. It is effective out to a pretty good distance. If youare really good, easily 500 meters for some larger game with the right ammo and shot placement. NOT A SHOT FOR BEGINNERS. You can use this to hunt some Varments. I used mine to shoot Prarie Dogs in South Dakota out to 700+ meters. Some luck involved in hitting them at that range, and some lots of experience to get close. IF you by factory ammo, you will pay as little as $15 a box, up to $25-30 if you buy top quality stuff. You can hand load excellent loads for about $8 a box. I loaded .308 that shot less than 1/2 MOA at a hundred. This is definatly not the do all answer to a rifle, but certainly makes for a good first rifle. There are better rifles for each game out there, but this really works well for all of them.

Some excellent Rifles to look at in .308:

Remington 700 LTR. Very well balanced. A little whippy to shoot, but manageable. Light enough to carry round the woods and hills, and accurate enough to shoot out to 600-700 meters. Short enough and easy to work in close if needed. I looked at one last year new at a gn shop in Savannah GA for right around $800-900.

FN SPR: Another tactical rifle, but if you pick it up, you will think, this, is the perfect PIG GUN. my buddy owns a gun shop in Cali, and when he got one in, everybody who picked it up said the same thing. It would be perfect for pigs and deer. It was wonderful to shoot. Groups nice and tight. (this is an expensive rifle)
(sorry everybody, this has really gone up in price since I last looked at one. I would still reccommend it though)

CZ makes some fine rifles. I have not shot them, but I have never heard anythingbad about them. Much more affodable than the ones above, still good guns.

For an excellent scope, for the Price, I really reccommend the Nikon. There are others that I like better, and they are all well over $1000. (Nightforce, Zeiss, Schmidt and Bender) The Nikon is durable, and very clear. YOu can get into one for $250-300. That is what I had on my Remington 700.

Just some recommendations from my own experience. Good luck finding what you want.