As bullets and rangefinder/scope technology has improved over the years, I’ve tended towards less powerful cartridges for hunting, not the other way around. I’ve seen plenty of game die via larger calibers and more powerful cartridges, but with moose, elk, and bear being the largest animals on my menu, I have zero need for anything larger than a 7RM, and even that gets a lot less hunting use than the 6.5 Creed/7-08/.308 class of cartridge these days. I shoot that SA class of cartridge a lot more than my 7 Mags, even in practice. Less powder consumption and recoil encourages more practice, which leads to increased shot placement precision and confidence, which usually provides much more benefit than increased caliber or speed. I saw a bull moose get absolutely pole-axed by a 6.5 Creedmoor and 127 LRX this year, with a non-CNS shot. A .300WM wouldn’t have added a single thing to the equation, except recoil.
