RE: First Rifle
 

I've owned rifles from .22 to .416 Rigby. Load my own ammo 95% of the time. A 30-06 is nice, and as most of the gents stated, it'll perform anytime, anywhere with 125's thru 180's. Recoil is very acceptable!
My newest purchase was a 300 WSM a few years ago and boy let me tell you I love this round!
I load 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips forall types of deer, antelope, etc.
Myblack bear and elk load is a 180 grain Nosler Partition. The 180 knockscritters down very hard! Yet to require a second shot. The accuracy of this round is .92" for my 165's and 1.13" for the 180's at 100 yds benched.
Once I got going with this round, I even sold my customized .35 Whelen which shot REAL well!!
Now I hunt with two guns. A .358 Winchester BLR 81 which I've hunted with for the past 16 years and the .300 WSM. I'd take these two guns with my loads anywhere in the US for any game that walks with complete confidence. There's the key word.... confidence. The .300 WSM shoots well, very accurate round, very tolerable recoil, lots of factory rounds available and is a handloaders dream. Spend enough time behind a good gun and you'll be ready to hunt anywhere. The .300 WSM gets the nod.

RE: First Rifle
 

It can difficult to rival the track record of the .30-06, but to each his own. I'd go with a .30 cartridge as a minimum. The .270, .280, and 7mm Mag can all do the job in good hands, but I'd want something bigger for a multi-use big game rifle.

RE: First Rifle
 

The rifles from 260 on up with the right bullet will do the job. Buy anyone of them, shoot it enough to become proficent with it and you will eat well.:D