I think it depends on the layout of your hunting grounds. Where I hunt, we typically get shots on hogs that are within 50 yards of fencelines and the adjacent property, and we like to recover them (we kinda keep score by recoveries). We take a lot of shots at running pigs, and while a good .224" bullet will kill them, we want them down on our side of the fences. Bigger bullets just do a better job. I love my .260s...I think the .260 easily does a better job than any .223 and also better than the 6mm ARs I used for a while.
Two of the three adjacent property owners allow us to shoot and recover on their wheatfields, but that accounts for a smaller percentage of what we kill. About 70% of the fenceline we hunt separates us from the property whose owner we have never even met. We just don't go over there.
I fully recognize that adequate is adequate, but bigger is better IMO.
I cannot agree over years of shooting and lots of it the AR game, that bigger is always better.
I can totally agree that bigger never hurts.
But I've shot lots of calibers etc..
The only rounds that sure seem to go above and beyond what I expect of them are the 10mm in a pistol. The 257 wtby in a rifle. And the 458 Win Mag in a rifle.
The rest are case by case. I think bullet choice in your caliber for what you are wanting to do, and shot placement trump it all. Guts is still guts no matter the round. Like I've said the 40vmax that never exits pigs, has resulted normal kills and quite a few that were more impressive than I expected.
Now some things matter. Like recoil and speed of shots. So if no houses around etc... all you have to worry is can you hit as many with a 308 semi as I can with a 223 semi basically.
I do get it about recovering pigs. Though I can't recall in a long time that any pig has made over 100 yards after being hit. With the 2 rounds I run the most. 223 and 6.5 Grendel.
The 50 beowulf makes a big hole but is not impressive at all. Doesn't seem to kill enough quicker than any other thing that we have used.
I suspect if I wanted DRT for whatever reason I would lean towards something that ran a really frangible bullet of around 120ish grains as fast as I could get it to run.
