Seem to be a lot of .243 fans here. I've never shot it (but i'd like to;-). Must say I've seen just as many threads argue it's too small for deer, most cons say it's less forgiving of poor bullet placement.
All the energy in a 8mm Rem Magnum won't make up for poor bullet placement: Gutshot is Gutshot: Messy.
Bolt actions are more accurate than semi's? True 20 years ago.... Not really applicable today.
Given that;
a) the most accurate ammo for your gun is ammo meticulously developed and loaded for it (neck sized beats full length sizing)..... and
b) handloaders actually shoot their rifles more than most folks that buy their ammo,
picking a gun that is easy to handload for would be conducive to better shooting, provided you take the time to learn to roll your own. So it IS applicable today. And will be tomorrow.
What about the AR-10 and 15 models shooting sub MOA out of the box? Compare that to some of your bolts shooting 1.5-2 in groups out of the box.
Apples and oranges: Compare bolties and semis of similar price: the bolt guns shooting 2 inch groups are 1/3 the price of any AR ..... and often have a better trigger.
AR-10? 1300 Bucks? Show me a $1300 bolt gun that won't shoot 1 MOA, and I'll show you a manufacturer that won't stay in business..... either that or they put $900 of engraving a $400 gun.
All this is probably unimportant to the OP, though... if a person can't hit a deer in the chest with a 2 MOA gun at under 300 yards, he can't likely do it with a sub 1 MOA gun, either.........
My advice remains the same: For deer, a .243 would do the trick. If you think elk might be a possibility later on in life, a little larger caliber would be in order........ 7-08, .308, .270, 30-06...... the best advice I could give you is to learn to reload, so you will shoot your rifle more, and can tailor your ammo to the application. I shoot a .270 WIN, and have loaded everthing from 90 gr Speer TNT prairie dog poppers to 150 gr SGK BTSPs for deer ........ I did not save any money, but have shot thousands of rounds out of that gun- probably more than my grandfather did in the 39 years that he owned it.