With all due respect to those who have had good luck with Kimbers, I have not, and in any case the question is about calibers, not rifle makers.
Caliber depends upon what you value most in a traveling rifle. If it's factory ammo availability, you're pretty much limited to 243, 270, 308, and 30-06, especially outside of North America. Inside NA, you can add a few more rounds, including the 7mm-08, 300 Win Mag and WSM, and some others.
Excess hype about stock design can take you only so far - lightweight rifles and heavy bullets will push you around more than heavier ones. Consider how much practice you intend, as well as how many hunting shots - recoil effects are cumulative.
Check "Aussie Gun Writer's" comments recently on his "go-to" rifle - it's a 275 Rigby - "It knocks the crap out of everything except me," or words to that effect. Another mangled quote (from Dogzapper, maybe?): "It's holes that kill animals, not energy." There are others that will shoot flatter than the 7mm-08, but it's hard to believe they'd kill an animal any deader...
If ammo availability in travel isn't an issue, and Mule Deer has not seen it to be, then the choice is wide open.
I have one real suggestion, if you should buy a NULA. Explore options, sure, ask advice, but in the end buy what you want, not what you think you should buy. I bought a NULA 30-06, a cartridge I've never cared for, because of ammo availability and because it was "well-balanced," whatever that means. I liked the rifle but not the cartridge, and it's now sold and I'm back where I was two years ago. It's much cheaper in the long run to scratch the itch the first time than to have to buy another backscratcher.
Last edited by Jaywalker; 04/22/08. Reason: "lighter" to "heavier"
