I've been hearing that too much magnification severly hurts you in the short range.
Yes it would, IF you tried to use high magnification at short range, sounds like you might have been reading about fixed power stuff.
A good variable scope will offer you the best of both worlds, near and far.
There are many magnification sets to choose from today, as Abel said, there is the 3-9, which used to be the 'all around' magnification set, but there are a lot better sets out there like the 2-12, 3-12, 4-16, 5-20, well, the 5-20's are encroaching on too much magnification on the low end for woods hunting up close.
The 3-12's are the widest used set today, offering 3X for the really close stuff and 12X for the distant targets.
The objective lens diameter is what you should think about, some folks think 40mm is all one will ever need, obviously some of these folks have not not used a 50mm at dark thirty...the 56mm is better yet, BUT the mounting height becomes nasty, and without a special stock, the 56's will be more trouble than they are worth.
A good quality 3-12X50, or the Burris 2-12X50 will do for you pretty much everything.
Don't be mesmerized by the 30mm main tube, a 1" tube is just as good, and in some scopes, better than a 30mm tube. The bigger tube does not let more light through the scope, so forget that. The bigger tubes simply offer more erector latitude, which unless your going out to 700y and beyond, and dialing on elevation, you will never need.
Remember to get your eye on the same plane as the scopes center line, you may need a aftermarket cheek piece.