I don't know if it's a recent trend or just since people have learned that everything you hear on the internet isn't true. I seem to remember stories of all kinds of game taken with what some consider small, 243,257 Roberts, 257 Weatherby, calibers way back when they were first introduced.
When I was growing up folks in this part weren't too concerned about game regulations. Lots of people used the 22 LR for deer and were very successful, especially with the semi autos. They used them because they were poor people and only owned a 22 LR and a single barrel 12 ga for everything. They shot whatever presented itself with whatever they had handy. You see the same things with Eskimo people who shoot even polar bears with light calibers. I bet the 30/30 has killed more Elk historically than any other caliber.
It seems that when I first got on the web, the arm chair hunters all said you needed at least a 30-06 for deer and a 300 WM for Elk. Truth be told, I think the old hunters knew more about shot placement and tracking and were less concerned than we are today about DRT shots.
