Two guys on my deer lease hunt with Ruger 77 rifles with the wood stock and blued finish. They bought them in the 70's or 80's and that is all they use with the 130 grain bullets.
Me, I can't stick with just one rifle all the time. I have to try different ones and about the time I think I have settled down to just one, I go out and buy something different. Really truly the one that feels the best in my hands when deer hunting is my Browning Bar MK II Safari in 30.06. I have taken several deer with it and it shoots like a laser. I must say I have not carried it much in the past few years and have mainly used either my Model 700 XCR in 30.06 or my Model 700 XCR in 7 MM Magnum. I must say the XCR is one heck of a finish on a rifle and there are no worries about rust from bad weather or hard hunting.
As far as if I could only hunt with just one rifle (which would suck
) it would probably be the 30.06 in the Model 700 XCR.