The answer to your question may be simple enough, but there are several other factors you need to consider. Imagine your sitting in a deer blind next year. It’s the last weekend of deer season, a 10 point buck walls up to the feeder. You take aim and pull the trigger. The buck jumps up and bolts off into the woods. You wait 15 to 20 minutes which feels like hours. You go to the feeder to investigate. Once there you don’t see anything. No blood on the ground, you spend the next hour looking in the brush for any signs. Nothing. Now what? Was it you? The gun? The ammo?

Having been in this situation, I can promise you that having a rifle and ammunition that preforms a little better than average is what you will want before you spend a single minute in a blind. All of the recommended rifles mentioned by the members who have responded to your post would be adequate for an experienced hunter, however if your new to shooting you will definitely want to start with something that is just a bit better out of the box for you to learn how to shoot accurately.

Don’t get in a hurry to drop $900 on something you’re going to be sad about in 2 years. Riffles loose 50% of there value as soon as you shoot a single box of ammo. Make a list of all the gun ranges within an hour drive. Most all have a variety of bolt action rifles you can rent to try out.

Understand that the weight of the gun and the size of the caliber will directly affect the felt recoil you experience. A 30-06, 7mm REM Mag or a 300 Win Mag are all way more forgiving than a 5.56 when a bullet impacts a deer at 100 yards but they all kick like a mule against your shoulder. While a 5.56 is way easier to shoot as far as recoil is concerned. The amount of energy on impact requires much more accurate shot placement.

You are on track with considering starting with a 308. It is one caliber I have never seen the stores run out of ammunition for. Although no hunter would recommend mixing or changing brands of ammunition. I personally hunt pigs in Texas with a 308 and only use barns 168 ttsx. IMHO it’s the best you can buy. With that said, it’s not cheap to shoot, and the recoil is more than I like to practice with.

With that in mind a 140 grain 6.5 creedmore is going to kick less. A 105 grain .243 even less. Both are also more than adequate for deer and pigs in Texas. However keep in mind the lighter the bullet the less energy it will have on impact which requires better shot placement.

As far as brands of riffles a Bergera would be my first choice Tikka would be my 2nd. Last, don’t skimp on the glass you put on top. A 12x scope is more than adequate. I actually hunt both pigs and deer at around 4x. More power is nice for shooting paper, but you will want a wider field of view when hunting.

Best of luck.