...You may not be able to understand it but believe me when I say that most Alaskan guides have more confidence when they see a hunter show up with a well worn 30-06, or even a 270, than with a 338 or 375. The 30-06 has been a favorite brown bear cartridge for a number of experienced guides and gov't hunters and biologists...
Back about twenty five years ago or so, I was talking with Mike McDonald, the now retired biologist for ADF&G, about bear guns. Since he did most of the necropsies on bears killed in "Defense of Life & Property" I was wondering what he saw successfully used and his answer took me by surprise. He said that more bears were killed with a 180 grain bullet out of a .30-06 than any other, by a large margin. He said that included DLP cases where it was killed or be killed. He said that most DLP cases were by folks moose or caribou hunting and had a run in with Ursus Horribilis.
Living in Alaksa for most of my life, carrying a .270 Win with 150gr C&C bullets for 14 years for everything, then moving up to a .338WM and a .458WM for another twenty some years, I finally settled on a .30-06 with either 165gr or 180gr bullets as my primary smokeless centerfire rifle.
Just my $0.02
Ed
"Not in an open forum, where truth has less value than opinions, where all opinions are equally welcome regardless of their origins, rationale, inanity, or truth, where opinions are neither of equal value nor decisive." Ken Howell
