This sums it up.http://whitetail.winchester.com/2013/the-myth-of-minimum-impact-energy/
So if you want to stay cheap and low recoil go with a good high quality 30-06 and sell all the others and make the wife happy. With the high bc .308 bullets in the 200 to 220 gr weight the 200gr ELD-X MV 2700 will hold 1925 fps and 1646 ft lbs at 600 yards and time of flight is 0.79 seconds. If you use the 212gr ELD-X MV 2646 at 600 yards it 1928 fps and 1749 ft lbs and time of flight is 0.798 seconds.
