Bitteroot,
I remember this article well. He used hundreds of dowels of various thicknesses, set up in dozens of arrays, and shot through them with all of the so-called brush busters. Each and every one of them significantly deflected after hitting a 1/4 inch dowel, even the .45-70.
The concept of busting through brush with your bullet is a total myth.
Ethan,
You are wasting your time trying to pick between these 3 calibers if your shots will be at 50 yards or less. All three of them are stone cold deer killers at the range.
So, devote your time instead to finding a rifle you can afford that feels absolutely perfect, and don't worry about which of the calibers it is in. The only caveat to this is that the .35 Remington is fairly expensive, and sometimes difficult to find.
Probably the cheapest way to go would be to look for a used Marlin 336 Spikehorn, in .30-30, with the stained hardwood stocks, not the real walnut ones. (These are only $400 new, so you can probably find one for $350 or so.)
The Marlin 1894 carbine in .44 mag would also be great, but these are pretty expensive, even used.
Hope this helps.
Mannyrock
