The closer you get to the east coast, the bigger the cartridge you need.
Travis
I think deflave nailed it!
Well, I'm not so sure.....you guys are looking at a few NR hunters.
Back here you rarely, if ever, see a guy during deer/bear/moose season toting a 300 or 7mm magnum.If he does it's usually a novelty move to try something "different".At least that's what I see in Maine, NH, and Vermont and after 40+ years hunting here, I can't recall a single hunter carrying a 300 or 338 magnum....we're as "far east" as you can get.
Go into any big gun store back here and its obvious what everyone is shooting....the Federal and Fusion ammo stocks consist largely of 243,30-30,308,30/06,7/08,6.5x55,270,....standard case stuff is what sells. 223 ammo flies off the shelves.Big Boomer stuff moves slowly.
Up in Alberta, Sask, and Manitoba I have mostly brought a 270...the natives thought it was "little". They hold tags each year for deer,elk, moose,bear, and hunt in grizz country...the most common rifles I see are 300 magnums and 338's...."works on everything" they say.The most experienced and successful western trophy hunters I personally know shoot 7mm magnums.
Folks in ranch country, state side,I notice, use smaller rifles....they shoot a lot,carry rifles in trucks year round for vermin and plinking. When I first went to Montana, the rancher used a 22-250;another in Wyoming used mostly a 250 Savage and 257 Roberts on everything up to elk.One cowboy I know loved the 300 Weatherby...others the 338,the 264,and yet another the 7 Rem Mag.These have been Colorado, Wyoming,Montana,and New Mexico folks.
I gave my rancher friend a Rem 700 270MR; after several animals,he found it "better" on elk and the big mule deer he like to hunt. I found a good deal on a M70 300 win mag in Rawlins,bought it,left it at the ranch, and he used it on several elk,including a couple of nice 6x6's. He also has shot elk with a 7mm STW.
His impartial observation (no ballistic ax to grind on the internet)was that the 270 was a quantum step up over the little 250;and that while the 270 certainly kills elk just fine, the 300 Winchester flat hammers them.....of course, Bill can shoot,which is the real issue that escapes a lot of people.
So I find it pretty hard to generalize about people's rifle preferences based on what part of the country they come from.
