Stick with the 270 win. It will do it all later on when you choose to go after larger game.

You may have forgotten,,,,,,the lady mentioned she may wish to pursue larger game later. It seems to me then...........one should eliminate the 243 as a suggestion, and perhaps the 250. Excellent suggestions remain......257, 260, and 7-08.

Myself, i would eliminate the 257, if it required a long action. Neither of my 'big game' rifles are 260, but both are 6.5 caliber which indicate i really like the caliber, yes i do. However, the 7-08 is far more available today than the 260. At the store, one can find 7-08 rifles all around, but 260 rifles are kinda scarce.

Several others have suggested the 270. Myself, i see no logical reason to use a long case, and necessarily more powder to hunt big game in America, when the shorter case works just fine.

Thus, the choice whittles down to the 7-08.

Now, if i can somehow justify purchasing one for myself.

I want to thank you all for your suggestions. Wow, thanks a lot! The tree limbs are definitely an issue, as I live in the mtns of Tennessee. I also hunt in upstate SC...both are very wooded areas, so long shots aren't usually an option. Y'all have given me great info...really. Now I can weed out all the other guns I had read about....I was on serious (pull my hair out) information overload.
In response to having a mentor...not really...sort of? My neighbor has tried to teach me a few things and let's me shoot his big guns for fun. I still have the option of using the neighbors .270. It's long and gets heavy after a while, but do-able

If you aren't looking for shooting anything bigger than a deer. You said weight was a big issue. I would still hold and look at the bushmaster Carbon AR-15.

DanMorgan

I've probably killed 100+ deer with a 223, it'll do the job, with the right bullet in the right place, but not the best even for deer sized game
RR

+1...especially in the hardwood forests of NC...

It will kill them in the bean and corn fields in NC as well...

I like the 7-08 as well. But, it depends on what you mean by larger game. If your talking black bears, fine. Moose? Probably not. I you are comfortable with a .270 and want the option to hunt bigger, I'd stick with it. Or maybe look at a .308 or .280 Rem, which have similar recoil to the .270.

Myself, i wouldn't feel under gunned at all if i were carrying a 7-08 on a moose hunt. Coincidentally, the last elk i killed, i did so with a swede.

Wish I had a dollar for every "ideal rifle" thread I've come across on various hunting forums.

I'd go out and buy myself the ideal rifle, which happens to be a .......................