First of all I find when I buy a rifle it is usually one I've fallen in love with rather than a rifle I "really need".

Allow me to make some assumptions and correct me if I'm wrong.

Hunting white-tails "in the woods" you will mostly have shots at animals at 100 yards or less. 90% of the time? Many times you will have to get into action fast and may be shooting at a deer moving out in front of you. And a second shot may be needed as fast as possible.

So do you need a highly accurate long barreled bolt action with a powerful cartridge and a powerful scope? Say a Rem 700 in 7mm mag. with a 6Xscope?

Or would you be better off with a shorter barrel on a pump, lever action or semi-auto? Someting in a modest cartridge like .308, .300 savage, 7mm-08. A low power scope is, I think, better than iron sights. A low power variable like a 2 to 7 power would work great.
A Win. model 100 or 88 in .308 with a low power scope would be good for fast close in shooting(or a Savage model 99 or a Browning lever action) and could still handle the odd longer range opportunity out to 250 or maybe 300 yards. 300 yard shots actually are made far more often in print than they are in reality.

In the end though you will probably buy a rifle that you like the looks and feel of. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Robin