. Phil Shoemaker has told us the .270 kills just as fast as any other cartridge with good shot placement. Screw up a shot with a .458 Win Mag..... you've got one hell of a mess. Perhaps the hunter will now be referred to as Claude Balls. If the hunter is ambushed by Mr. Brown Bear, who said he will have time to shoot regardless of the caliber of the weapon he is carrying?
It's not quite that simple.
Phil prefers to guide hunters who bring a .270 or .30-06 (or similarly chambered rifle) they can shoot well rather than a rifle chambered for a more powerful cartridge they can't shoot well. But he prefers larger cartridges to clean up the mess caused by poor shot placement--and while he knows the .30-06 can since he's used it a lot, prefers to carry rifles chambered for larger cartridges when backing up clients.
His favorite is the .458 Winchester Magnum, because even a less-than-perfect hit on a charging bear will usually stop the bear long enough to get another shot in. Lesser cartridges don't do that as reliably--and larger cartridges kick too hard for the shooter to recover from recoil and get another shot off quickly.
