smokepole,
Funny story, when I left Montana my brother tells me, "be sure to take good care of my rifle, dont be dropping it and beating it up"...
Had a good friend from AK use it on 2 nice WY pronghorns as well...he really liked it too.
Its just an easy rifle to shoot well, easy to carry, etc.
I also killed an elk on the same hunt my Dad and Brother took theres last year. I had been meaning to kill an elk with my Dads pre-64 in 30/06 for years. Finally got around to it last fall. My Dad, my late Grandfather, and I have all now killed deer, elk, and pronghorn in Montana with the same rifle.