All have given you good advice on caliber selection. A 30 30 or 45 70 will do all that you ask in your terrain. A 270 will give you more reach should you decide to hunt in an area where you have to stretch out a shot. I am partial to the 45 70 myself for the timber. Works great for everything from mice to moose. Go to a shop and handle everything that they have and find the one that feels most comfortable. Short shots, you really don't need the scope. 100 to 200 yards is an easy poke with open sights. If you go plain barrel and scope route, don't cheap out on the scope. You get what you pay for. in the glass department.