Out of the 5 cartridges I've owned (243,30-30,35Rem.,308,30-06) the 243 would be the one of choice if I was going to only deer hunt, which is all I've done.
With that being said if I was going to hunt anywhere in NA I think I'd go with one of the cartridge based off the 30-06,excludeing the .25 caliber.
Rifle and glass: a Remington 700 based action married to a McMillan or Manners stock with a Leupold 6X fixed power scope on top, probably the FXII 6X36.