Tejano,
At the end of the day, I'll be happy to have a 45-70 in the safe. You only have to please yourself.
A hunting partner was using a guide gun in a stand near me, he miscalculated the range and the bullet hit at the deer's feet. 400 yards instead of the 300 he thought. A 45-70 would be great for walking around but the brush is so thick one jump and the deer is safe. If I had access for the entire season a 45-70 would be a lot of fun to hunt with but if I really want to harvest a deer it would be too limiting. We only get to hunt 4-8 days at this place typically due to our schedules.
Another reason for wanting a fast but maybe not the fastest cartridge is most of the deer will be moving at a fast walk to a run. Very hard for me to add lead, hold over and wind simultaneously. Typically I will aim as far forward as possible but still on the vitals. Hits then can be anywhere from point of aim to a couple of ribs back if the deer is moving fast. This has worked so far with only one shot hitting on the wrong side of the diafram. Actually the shot was ok it was shrapnel and secondary projectiles that broke the diafram.
When I really think about it the super boomers may only gain me 20-50 yards over the mediums I shoot now and may encourage me to take riskier shots so could be counter productive. The 6AI may be the one and hold off on anything past about 375 unless stationary.
