Ill go with bullet placement first, being able to put a shot where it needs to be, to be effective, large caliber rifles do not make up for bad shot placement. that said I like 30 cal mags. the 300 winny is a great caliber.small and fast. but I realy would like a marlin model 1895 in 45-70. big and slow. oh hell I guess i like them all.
Could not agree more.
One other note, what is the terrain where you plan on hunting??? Is it conducive to 3-400 yrd shots? Or is the brush so thick you need a D8 cat to make a trail to get through???
I shoot a Sako TRGS in .338 mag. 210 gr. Nosler partitions. I know it will keep them under a quarter at 200 yds. if I do my job. That load, according to the ballistics charts, shoots flatter than a 7 mag, and carries enough whallop to take anything that walks in North America, out to 400 yds. At that range, it still carries over 1800 lbs. of energy.
That said, my dad shot a Remington 760 (it has a 4 digit serial #) in .300 Savage. He killed more deer and elk than probably most of us will ever get a shot at. He never lost an animal that I am aware of.
Unless you are going after dangerous game ie... Grizzly or Brown bear, bullet selection, the shooter and his abilities are more important than caliber choice.
