Colorado is mule deer. I use this in NE and KS...

In my opinion. .270 and .308 will pretty much take down most game in North America. we have LOTS of 300 winmag and the like sitting on the rack in the shop. But I will admit there has been an increasing trend of people getting into .338 and such lately.

My brother has a Winchester 300 mag bolt action rifle that is pretty sweet, walnut grip, checkered where you want it to be checkered. You could really reach out and touch something with that one. If you loaded your own it would be better, but I seem to recall that being a pricey gun to shoot. An automatic would absorb some of the recoil though, or I suspect it would.

I bet he could not shoot that gun since his motorcycle wreck.

Especially with today's "premium" bullets. They have markedly increased the effectiveness of the centerfire rifle.

I see that as well. I see a lot more flinching lately, too. That, and those huge sandbag contraptions meant to hold the rifle and absorb recoil. What I'm see is a lot of the really large case "ultra" mags, like the .300 RUM, .30-378 Weatherby, and other super high velocity stuff. As far as I'm concerned, they represent a good deal more recoil and muzzle report for a minimal gain in the field.

Even the fastest of these whiz kids doesn't really shoot much flatter than the same bullet from the old .30'06. With your ought-six zeroed at 200 yards with a 180 grain bullet, for example, it will drop about a foot (or less) at 300 yards. Same bullet from one of the big boomers drops maybe seven to nine inches. None of us even shoot well enough, or judge range well enough, to notice that difference.

To me, "magnum" has always meant bigger bullets, not more velocity. My favorite caliber (if I'm not using some antique black powder rig) for elk has always been the .375 H&H. That may seem excessive to some, but where I hunt elk in my home state, we have very thick woods and wide open meadows. Shots can be (and have been) anywhere from 30 feet to 300 yards. The old .375 shoots a tough enough bullet at low enough velocity that it doesn't blow the entire far side off the animal at close range, but it carries the bullet weight, caliber, and shoots flat enough to still be very effective at long range. A 300 grain boat tail at 2,500-ish fps gets the job done at either extreme.

It also works for those less than ideal shots. The "Texas heart shot" at close range will test any load to its limits, with most failing to make it forward far enough to put the animal down. Exit wounds are the norm for the .375 on this shot. Granted, we should probably have the restraint to not try this shot, but our seasons are so short these days and opportunity so limited, not many will pass it up.

I guess I'm not really recommending this for anyone, but it has certainly worked for me. You do have to lug around a bit bigger and heavier rifle, they do kick a bit, factory ammo is horribly expensive, but - boy does it hit hard and put them down.

I am not competent enough to shoot beyond the capabilities of a .270/.308/.30-06. I've shot more game inside 150 feet than beyond 150 yards by a huge measure. I do hunt Pennsylvania woods, and haven't experienced the long shots of out west, but for me to shoot beyond 300 yards would require plenty of practice on skills I haven't developed.