Back in my youth I borrowed a .30-30, .30-06 and .300 WM from a gun guy buddy of my dads and shot deer with all of them. Actually that first buck with the .30-30 tipped over faster than with the other two. Then like an earlier poster, I had to have a .30-06 and then a one size does everything 7mm RM. I shot a bunch of deer and a few elk with that big 7, but then one cold opening day the recoil of that thing shooting an 8 pointer compressed my down parka such that my forehead was what stopped lots of that recoil. It took that jolt between the eyes to knock some sense into me to build up a 7mm-08 with a .300 Savage back up rifle for my deer hunting. I'd probably still use that RM for an elk or a moose, but it is sure not necessary for a WI. whitetail. In reality a deer shows up fast here and from anywhere and less gun with less recoil is an asset when you might need to shoot in a twisted around position. Then too we all talk about super long range accuracy, but the reality is that most guys will shoot MORE accurately with less recoil than they would with a big howling magnum.
