I'm finally old enough to buy my own rifle, and hunting and collecting firearms has been an interest I've shared with my dad for a few years now. I've gotten a few squirrels with my Savage .17, but I haven't gotten a deer, yet; but this is my second deer season (with a rifle) so I'm pretty confident I've got a white tail in the bag this year.

At any rate, all the guns my dad owns are all in his name, and none in mine. I want to buy my "first" rifle entirely with my own money to add to our collection, but I'm not sure what to get, or even where to start.

We own the following rifles:
Marlin 30-30 (what I used for white tail last season)
Mosin-Nagant (7.62x54r)
Marlin 336c (35 Remmington)

We also own a few other firearms, but nothing I'm into using as some are shotguns, which I'm not a fan of.

Anyway, we hunt from blinds atop rocks a decent distance out from my family's cabin. The forest is pretty thick and there's a lot of brush so I'd imagine any deer you would see would be, at most, 250ft away. But my dad is also into hunting black bear, and that's something that I'd be interested in doing as well. I'm also going hunting with my friend on his land, and his land has a lot more clearings and long stretches where longer shots could happen.

The point is, yesterday was opening day and I took out the Nagant. My dad was a little worried that the bullet could get some serious range; I think it would be fine as we're over a thousand feet for sure from a dwelling and a road, and since the brush is so thick, there's no way the bullet could travel far, but I don't know if I could talk my dad into a 30-06... but I think it'd be fine.

But what I'm getting at is I've been looking into 30-06s; they seem like they have a wide selection of ammo that ranges in power. And from the rifles I've looked at, the pricing isn't half bad either (although I haven't looked into ammo much).

My dad usually takes out the 35 when I take the 30-30, and last season I was using the 30-30 with 170gr Remmington ammunition, and I hit a deer in the back of the thigh. I know this was a bad shot that I shouldn't of taken, but the deer moved right before I pulled the trigger and began to trot away from me. I was a little dissapointed that while tracking the deer, there wasn't much blood. It seemed as though the bullet caused a decent wound (as there were some large amounts of blood in areas the deer had rested) but for the most part, it seemed to only be a fleshwound. I never found the deer even after hours of searching, so I was looking for something with slightly more power than the 30-30 (which is also lever action, which I don't like),

Both the 35 and the 30-30 seem to be good "brush rifles" at the ranges we're at, and I'm wondering if the 30-06 could be used for this role too, or if the range would just be overkill. Like I said, I haven't really looked into the ammo but I've heard they are very versatile rifles.

Other than that, I'm looking for a bolt action. One of the biggest turn offs with the 30-30 and 35 are that they're both lever action; while it doesn't matter much for hunting, I really prefer to target shoot with a bolt action... it's simply more fun.

So does anyone have any suggestions for a caliber I should be looking into, or what guns in general? I'm looking to spend closer to $400-$500, but I could go a little higher, although I'd prefer not to. I don't care what the stock is made of, but I would prefer just about any type of wood over synthetic, although I really don't care that much. Any other factors I'm not too worried about, as long as it isn't single shot, is bolt action, and could be used for white tail or black bears.

Thanks for any advice.