As Phil Shoemaker noted in his last article in Successful Hunter, the .223 is the most popular cartridge in Alaska and is used on everything from small furbearers and pests up to moose and grizzly. That doesn't mean that it is the cartridge of choice for taking bruins and large ungulates--it's often the only one that is at hand for the task.
I believe that it is incumbent on a hunter to select a cartridge/rifle combination that he or she can shoot accurately and that will kill the quarry quickly and reliably with any shot that will be taken. The more "marginal" the cartridge, the lower the percentage of possible killing shots relative to the number of animals encountered.
Regardless of how large or small the bullet and how fast it is leaving the barrel, you still have to be able to get it into the heart/lung complex or the central nervous system to gaurantee a quick, clean kill.
End of sermon--pass the plate...
