Mister Seafire: I have a buddy whose been deer hunting since the early 70's with the same BAR in 308 WIN since Nixon's first term, and could not conceive of shooting anything else. Me? I started off that way and got progressively more experimental, egged on by both my compatriots here and my throng of adoring fans. Over time, I began to realize that my summers were getting more complex, because I had all these different rifles and loads to maintain. I started pairing down about 3 years ago and left a few projects hanging.
The Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06 was the breaking point for me back in 2014. I found I finally had achieved the ultimate no-muss no-fuss, no messy-belts-or-pins kind of deer rifle for which I had been searching. My first trial load shot a 1 inch group. The scope could image deer in deep woods 10 minutes before legal hunting. I've had projects since, but after that kind of success it kind of puts a crimp in everything else.
