I have one of the recent deluxe featherweight 30-06. I forget the exact wording on the floor plate. It is heavier than my earlier push feed featherweight. All steel. I have this strictly for shooting at the club and for the fancy walnut and hi-grade blue. Contrary to other views this an heirloom gun and IMHO a fine choice for so-called pride of ownership. We can nit pick the words but people should understand the phrase without making an argument. If those are not the right words then tell me how I am supposed to say that and not have to read a post about how a person can be proud of any old beater. We are simply trying to communicate here.
Hunting is a whole different story and if a person is really serious he should be looking beyond the old war horse. With out getting into those choices, I did recently see a really excellent woods rifle in a model 70. This was a push feed era Carbine. That had a thin 20" barrel and had look and feel of birch. I absolutely have no need for another 'deer' rifle and yet almost purchased this one. The gun did look good compared to what most companies offer today. I bet if reintroduced these would sell today. I dont think this should be hard to locate another one if someone was determined to carry a M70 all day long hunting.
I think the best gun is infinitely more important than nit picking caliber choices. You could take one of these carbines in any caliber and be fine.
I know the OP wants something a little higher grade than this carbine and has got some good advise on the featherweight vs anything heavier for hunting. I'll toss the old carbine in the mix- FWIW.