My only thing is that I have never gotten the idea that a .308 or .270 is a pussy cat to shoot and a 30-06 is a monster.
I agree. The most unpleasant rifle I had was 700 ADL in .270. I hated the muzzle blast and it was just downright painful to shoot for some reason. I've never noticed that the 30-06 is much of a kicker at all until you get up to hot 180 hand loads. Then it thumps a little more than some others.
All that said, yeah, for deer the 30-06 is probably overkill. But so what? It works, is easy to shoot, and can be had in relatively light and short rifles. If you are just a guy who hunts and not a rifle loony, it can't be beat.
