Congrats Thunder Stick,
You have hit on the #1 problem with the general frequently asked "what cal. for deer? im new lol" Their are many cal. that will kill deer but have different characteristics.
I can make a ar15 in .223 rem kill deer if I get 1-7 twist and throw 90 grain bullets. Which limits it to about 100 yards. I read this in a Hornady 2006 catalog I had. They said a 22-250 would have been better due to its capacity. I suspect if they re-wrote the article today they would champion the .223 wssm with 22-250 playing runner up.
That should give you 200 yard deer range and 300-400 yards on yotes and such.

So I think we need to know more about the hunting you are going to do.
Where are you going to get your ammo? Off the shelf or roll your own? Do you cheap out on the ammo? or will you get the best?
What ranges can you expect to see the targets at? Your hunting style? ground blind? Tree stand? just walk around till you find a log to sit on and wait for some thing to come along (my dads favorite on opening weekend fire arms)?
You need to take these into account. This will decide what kind of gun you will want.

Personally I always thought for the re loader guys those "short magnums" should be quite interesting. just my 2 cents