I don't really follow the Whitetail Deer Hunting section any more, so I'll answer here.
Almost everything on the market these days is going to have 1) Die Hard fans, 2) Die Hard critics/opponents, and 3) a happy population falling in the middle.
For my money, if I'm buying a new deer rifle, my first preference would be a Remington 700, followed by a distant second place of a Savage 10/12/16 or Ruger M77 Hawkeye.
Budget friendly models like the Savage Axis, Ruger American, Mossberg Patriot/MVP/4x4, etc are certainly functional, but life is too short to dance with ugly girls. A good deer rifle will last many lifetimes, and the cost will get diluted over many hours and miles carried in the field - no sense in short changing yourself if you can afford to get a better model.