I've been following this thread with a great deal of amusement. Time to join the pizzin match....
If an '06 is "too much gun" for you use something lighter, with less recoil, that you can shoot accurately and comfortably.. Doesn't mean you are a puzzy - just means you have a problem with recoil. Jack O'Conner did, and he killed more game with the .270 and 130 grain bullets than most of us will ever kill with anything!
There is an excellent selection of Premium bullets out there now that O'Conner didn't have access to, in all calibers, that will compensate quite nicely for smaller caliber/ lighter recoil. Higher velocity can figure in also.
Above all, placement is everything - I've largely gone back to non-premiums....not that I'm such a good shot - I just like to pick em... A large bore, and/or Premium won't compensate for a gut shot...
I'm 6'0, 165 lbs and tolerate recoil up to .375 WM in standard weight rifles just fine. That .416 I shot some years back I'll pass on....
Then again, I'm a believer of tuning in a rifle, firing it for POA accuracy before taking it hunting, and leaving it the hell alone the rest of the time. YMMV, but pouring lead down the barrel for no apparent reason doesn't do it for me... My perfect season for a rifle so tunedto confidence (and carried in the field/dry fired, etc. extensively to develop muscle memory) is to take it out of storage, wipe the bore, put one round thru it for check, drop a beast with the next round, use a third round for insurance, clean the gun and put it away for next use.
My personal heaviest rifle is a 10 lb .338WM (pretty much dedicated moose rifle in heavy-cover brown-bear habitat) which has less perceived recoil than the 17 inch bbled '06 (both are Ru77OM). OK- the M98 30-06 with 27 inch heavy bbl is likely a weight match for the .338 - and boy is it nice to shoot! I 'm using it as a snow-machine carry-gun for caribou on the Arctic tundra.
Mostly in other hunting I carry "Stub" in preference to either of the heavyweights above...
Which isn't to say I won't carry the 7 1/2 lb. .260 on a bust-ass mountain hunt for anything up to moose (It did fine on that Colorado elk a few years back). I might hesitate a bit on a brown bear, even with a premium bullet, but then I have a pact with them things. If they don't try to put big ugly holes in me, I'll reciprocate. I don't doubt that the .260 would kill one, however. Just might get a bit sporty... Especially since, given the above, I won't have a choice...
Black bears for meat are definitely at risk...
A .30-06 is adequate for all North American game, including the big bears, with properly chosen bullets, and proper placement. Ask Phil Shomaker.
There is no such thing as too much gun for game - only for the shooter. If the chit hits the fan, I'd rather have a guy beside me who can shoot a .270, than a guy with a .416 that can't...
If, on the other hand, all things being equal, I'll pick the guy that can shoot that hand-held 5 inch Naval gun.....
If I was limited to just one rifle for big game hunting in North America, I would pick either a .300 (WM, or SM) for the velocity/trajectory, or a 30-06 for ammo availability. I just can't decide......
I loved my .300 Norma Mag, which burned up in a fire about 40 years ago. Never since have had a .30 Mag., only '06's (as well as other calibers) which '06's have never proved to be too little or too much gun.
Well, there was this one rock ptarmigan... but that was a matter of aim.. A head/neck and a leg , strung together with back skin wasn't exactly meal-making...
A .22 would have been better in that instance....
