I started with the .30-06, handloading 125 gr Sierras over IMR-4064 for jack rabbits in the desert. Sierra used to be in Santa Fe Springs and my Dad would go buy "seconds" by the pound in brown paper bags direct from the factory. I stuck with the '06 for a number of years. I was gifted a Rem 700 BDL in .300 Win Mag from my father-in-law when he stopped elk hunting in OR, and it became my go-to gun. When the barrel went south, I had a .300 Wthby barrel put on. It was a bit more of the same. In both mag versions, that 700 accounted for a ton of deer and pigs as well as a couple 6x6 elk. Now, I shoot a Tikka T-3 in .300 Win Mag and enjoy it. Shooting off the bench with that light a rifle is work, though. I get it sighted in and then start shooting from field positions and shooting sticks where the recoil is not so noticeable.
For me - other than varmints, the .300 Win is the first one I take out of the safe for a big game hunt. But my old .30-06 goes along as back up.
