270 is one deer dropping caliber...270 and 130gr bullets were built to hunt whitetails....I have yet to fire a bullet from my 270win that hasnt dropped a deer 30 yrds from where it stood...

I probaly would look at a savage or a weatherby vangaurdas well ive seen great rifles by savage for a very reasonable price and the weatherby rifles are under $400 as well. A follow up shot is occasionally needed and its nice to be able to rack in another round just in case something would happen on that 1st shot because it occasionally does.

While i think that the single shot is very practical and will probaly suit your needs if your accurate enough, nothing is better than a bolt action rifle...