Exactly. I was born and raised and live in Montana, and haven't found the .257 lacking as a "utility" cartridge. My wife and I have taken some very big bucks, both whitetails and mule deer, with the .257, and used it considerably for 300+ yard shots, mostly on pronghorns but also some on deer. The longest was around 450 yards, in pre-LRF days, on one of my bigger pronghorns. While this isn't considered long range today, it was in those days. Eileen has also used the .257 on cow elk, with no problems, as have several other hunters I know.
I think what we're running into here, again, is older attitudes about what cartridges are "truly adequate" for certain game. As I have noted earlier, in this thread and others, after considerable hunting not just in North America but other parts of the world, I find less and less difference between the "killing powder" of various cartridges, within certain broad limits, as long as the bullet penetrates and expands sufficiently--whether it's a cup-and-core or controlled expansion.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
