I live by this quote. "You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."
I’ve never seen where a larger cartridge made up for poor shooting. I once saw an elk badly hit with the 338 WM run off only to be collected by someone with a 270. I’ve seen far more animals lost due to poor shooting with large cartridges than the reverse.
This.
The argument that you don't feel recoil when shooting at game, doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Mental aversion to recoil is developed in practice at the range, not while hunting. If a person gets beat up by their rifle while zeroing and practicing, subconscious fear takes root and bad shooting while hunting can result.
