What kind of hunting will you be doing. A friend of mine goes to SC, he hunts at a club where they are basically assigned a stand for the day. Shots can be long. He says most of the guys down there shoot 7mm mags.

Doesn't sound like you have much, if any, rifle experience, let alone long range shooting experience, or the time to do much between now and hunting season. I would not get a heavy recoiling cartridge, just to say you'll be able to reach out there. I would stick with a standard cartridge like a 270, 30/06, 308, 260, 7-08, and shoot as much as you can between now and your trip. These will give you good performance on those little SC deer out to 250 and beyond, if you hit them right. Just focus on becoming proficient with the gun you get.