I bought a 257 Wby for my wife to hunt with. I was planning on getting something different like a 25-06 or 6.5x55, but stumbled across a deal too good to pass up. It is light enough recook that she enjoys shooting it, yet it still has enough energy to kill an elk. I reload and found brass in sale, so shooting it isn't too expensive. I have found it is a finicky to find a good load, but once you do, it's a tack driver. It does a fair amount of damage for whitetail sized animals because of the velocity. That is my only real complaint. But that is the trade off for getting the higher velocity. Overall I think it's a decent choice for a lower recoil rifle that can take down deer and elk. If I was only going to hunt deer I may choose something different just due to the increased meat damage.