I've hunted ducks and pheasant all my life, and this coming season I'm going to start deer hunting (hopefully). I'm going to put in for X-3b, but if I don't get it, I'll probably hunt B zone. Been reading a few books on blacktails and have gotten some good advice from people. I was wondering....

What do you think a *good* deer rifle would be for me? I'm looking to spend under $700 for the rifle itself, and hopefully under 500 for the scope. Right now, I'm leaning towards a .270, propably rem 700. But a buddy of mine yesterday told me that I could develop a flinch if I go right into shooting a .270 (since I've never shot a rifle before, well, once I shot a .22). But, I'm used to shooting duck loads in my 12 ga. so I'm guessing the recoil from a .270 is similar?

Any suggestions for good guns? What about the wsm, or maybe a .25-06?