Danus,
Whenever I see a thread with a guy who wants a cheap hunting rifle to take on his first hunt, my first reccomendation would be a Mosin, and if they don't want one, maybe another military surplus rifle. Why? Well usually the person has experience shooting pistols, maybe an SKS, AR, AK, or other type rifle with iron sights, but never been hunting before. The shots would rarely be past 100 yards. Especially if he's sitting next to a tree and waiting. Why do you need a Savage (with accutrigger!, psh), Tikka, Ruger, with some 10x scope? That's cumbersom and gets in the way. Plus you stick a caliber on the end like .300 WSM, 7mm Mag, etc, the price for getting to know the gun goes up.
I offer a simple solution: Grab a mosin. Pick one that you like. You can find them with great bores. Ammo is cheap and plentiful, even when you exclude surplus. Plus the round hits hard, like a 30-06. For 70 dollars, you can't really go wrong.
there are some guys who'll tout that their M38 shoots 12 MOA at 25 yards, good for them. They have a bad gun/they are flinching/they arn't used to the sights. I can shoot 1 gallon jugs at 100 yards all day long wtih my M44, and I know a 200 grain softpoint will do a number on any white tail I'll ever see.
Plus the bayonet is great to have when you need to prop your gun up. Simply extend the bayonet, and place firmly into the earth.