I've killed a lot of stuff with different magnums. The only times I've gotten DRT has been CNS shots or high shoulder shots that broke the animal down. Now I'll admit I have way more experience shooting elk than deer, but the effects of bullets on them are not a lot different. The magnums, and the standard '06 and 270 with frangible bullets, would put an animal down pretty quick with boiler room shots if the damage was massive enough. Pretty quick means they didn't run too far. Problem with that massive damage was a messy animal... a lot of blood shot meat. I'm with CRS on this, I want to kill humanely, but not shoot hell out of the carcass, I want to eat what I kill. I have been very happy with my Barnes kills as animals went down quickly without shooting them to pieces. If I need something DRT for some reason I use the high shoulder shot, IF I'm using a bullet that won't ruin the entire front end of the animal. The killingest round I ever used was the .300 Jarrett shooting 200 gr bullets at just over 3000 fps. With Accubond bullets it produced massive damage without looking like a bomb went off in the animal... as long as boiler room shots were taken. Even then it messed them up some. From there I used a .358 STA with 250 gr Hornady Interlocks. At 2800 fps those bullets had serious energy and momentum, but didn't kill things any more spectacularly than the Jarrett, and maybe less so. What I found was that much gun simply wasn't necessary to kill the big game I shoot. My little .270's may be relatively unassuming, but they do the job efficiently and I can shoot them with the accuracy of a varmint rifle. IMO bullet selection and good shooting make a rifle more versatile than just raw horsepower.
