Dev said:
... and do you guys also think the .223 .22lr is a good pair, seems like it would be to me, ...
Yes ... and no.
You already have a .22 rimfire rifle. Okay, it's a single shot, but you're looking at this from a prepper viewpoint, not a plinker viewpoint. For hunting small game, a single shot will take a squirrel or a rabbit just the same as a repeater. For your purposes, I don't think another .22 rimfire is a priority.
There's an axiom about handguns for self defense, that "The handgun is for fighting your way to your rifle." There is certainly a place in any prepper's bug-out-bag for a handgun, but IMHO your next purchase should be something that can perform double duty, serving effectively for both home defense and hunting mid-size game (at least deer size).
Forget the "evil black rifle" hype. An AR-15 is a semi-automatic, centerfire rifle that shoots a .22 caliber bullet (actually .223 or .224, but the truth is that a .22LR bullet is also .223 inches in diameter). So the .223/5.56x45 AR-15 round is really nothing more than a slightly heavier, pointier, faster .22 bullet. Many states (including my current state of residence) don't allow hunting deer with .223/5.56x45 because they don't consider it to be big enough or powerful enough to ensure clean kills on the game.
That said, a .223 will take deer. If you like the caliber, there's nothing wrong with using an AR-pattern rifle as your platform. On the other hand, if you really don't care for the evil blackness of the AR-15, you can get bolt action rifles in .223, and more traditional semi-autos -- the Ruger Mini 14 or Ranch Rifle are examples. A major advantage to the .223/5.56x45 is that ammo is available everywhere, and generally at reasonable prices.
If you want to jump up a bit in caliber, someone has already mentioned the SKS. The SKS takes the same 7.62x39 round as the AK-47, but the SKS is an older, more traditional looking design. It's a good, solid rifle, and a lot of deer have been taken by hunters with SKSes. It's a mil-surp, and can be found within your price range. Or you can look at commercial rifles firing the 7.62x39, such as the Ruger Mini 30 ... but now you're into a bunch more money.
For comparison purposes (rough), a standard 55-grain 5.56x45 has 1200 to 1300 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. The current military issue 62-grain version develops about the same energy, trading a bit of velocity and gaining a bit of down-range penetration.
The 7.62x39, in a typical commercial loading, develops around 1500 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. So you get a bullet that makes a bigger hole (.30 caliber compared to .22 caliber) and has more energy. 7.62x39 ammunition is also widely available.
If you don't like the shotgun idea, I think in your place I would lean toward something in 7.62x39.