Pretty typical Campfire thread on cartridges for hunting game larger than deer, whether elk, African plains game or big bears: The votes for bigger rifles come from hunters who either have never hunted the game in question, or maybe have done it once or twice and believed their guide that a bigger rifle's required.
This isn't because their guide is so experienced, but because like many hunters, many guides believe particular cartridges work better than any others, when the bullet and shooter are MUCH more important factors. Such guides tend to be surprised when a smaller cartridge than they believe necessary kills an animal quickly, even when it happens over and over again.
I've hunted with a few guides here than there, and while some are very knowledgeable about hunting rifles and bullets, most are not. Consequently, over the decades I've developed a ballistic BS detector concerning advice on rifles for big game larger than deer:
1) The farther the hunter lives from the animal in question, the larger the cartridge necessary. This is most common if the hunter has never hunted (or even seen) the game in question.
2) If the person dispensing advice firmly mentions a minimum bullet diameter and weight, they're stuck back in the early 20th century with Elmer Keith.
3) The same as 3 except they firmly advise a "magnum." Often this is part of 3.
4) They state that anybody who "can't handle the recoil of an adequate rifle" shouldn't hunt the game in question.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
