When I started deer hunting 40 years ago, the camp, which I am still a member of, only had one bolt gun on the rack. The rest were lever actions (mostly .30/30), semi-autos (742's in .30/06, .270 and .308) and shotguns of all flavors. Yes, we did run dogs back then. It was all woods; no clear-cuts or ROW's, long shots were 125 yds.. Currently you'll find one or two lever actions, no semi-autos, no shotguns and a butt load of bolt guns (lots of magnums). But the hunting has changed. We don't run dogs anymore, we do have clear-cuts and we now have almost 2 miles of high line ROW running thru our camp. Since I don't hunt the clear-cuts or high line very often I usually take one of my lever guns (lately my 99 in .375 Win.) and a lightweight bolt gun (lately a 6.5x55 or a .308).
At our farm in eastern AR we hunt a big field and fairly small wooded patches. Over there I'm toting a flat shooting bolt or single shot.
Personally I think most of us woods hunters would be better served with one of the modern slug only shotguns.
Different guns/calibers are more popular in different areas of the country. As I understand it, in the northeast the pump and lever action rifle are still very popular. I'm a certified rifle loony so I have a wide selection of calibers in bolt guns, lever actions and single shots.
