ORIGINAL: RedRiverHntr

Human nature says we all want to be validated......so here goes.........
Of course the .270/30-06 is enough gun for all big game and you are a good enough hunter to use it. You are not any less of a "man" for not wanting to shoot something bigger. There is no NEED for it! As long as you keep your shots to distances you are comfortable with, use good bullets, and hit where you aim, all is well. Weather conditions, animal presentation, and luck are something that all hunters face no matter the caliber of choice.
Go ....hunt .....enjoy!!!!

But please, offer me the same respect that I have afforded you? I am only in the Elk Mountains for a few days. I am not a great shot with any gun, even though I have been shooting my whole life and continue that pastime rigorously. I am able to handle recoil and shoot those guns with such just as well as any others. 12 ga with 3.5 inch shells, now those will wake you up. And yet I enjoy shooting them too.
I am spending my precious "kitchen pass" from my loving and understandable wife as well as my hard earned money on an elk hunt. I choose to take as many variables as is possible out of the equation. I practice with my .338 remington ultra mag.Mylimitations are mine. Not my choice of rifleor caliber. I willchoose not totake the shot because I am not comfortable based on me. Not because ofthe limitations of myweapon. Ido enough of that during Archery season. If that Bull walks out at 350 yards (I know because I just ranged him), and the wind is light, not much elevation change, I have a reasonable rest....I will take those variables and make my shot knowing that even at 500 yards, I have more energy in my bullet than a 30.06 does at 1/5 that distance. Doesn't mean I am belittling the 30.06, just means that I choose differently.
I know, based on tables, that it has around 47ft/lbs of recoil, which is about 3 times that of an 06. But it is okay. In choosing to do so, I am in no way suggesting that you are any less a hunter for using what you choose to hunt with. I just like having the knowledge that when given that moment of truth, I can put the crosshairs on his front shoulder, much like I would with a small whitetail, and squeeze. Break him down on the spot. Did I mention I am not one that likes to track or wants to haul out portions from a distance any further than I have to. And I am unlucky by nature, usually if I wound game, they run the opposite direction from where I will be packing them!!!

So let's just all make sure we hit where we aim....most of the time.....and then we'll all choose our weapon based on that? So that when someone asks for a comparison between a .270 and a .338, we give them that. Not just our personal preference for what we are capable of shooting. Everyone has limitations.

Now that being said....I also know this fact about accuracy and ability........
both take a hit the closer you get. Don't believe me, just ask a bow hunter what it was like and how steady he was the first time he got within 20 yards or less of a bull elk. I shot my first bull a couple years back and only shook a little from the cold/rain/sleet/wind. Was as natural and calm as shooting turtles on the river bank in the summer.Only got excited as I walked up on him after the shot, which blew out his left front shoulder and left a hole you could stick your arm in, though the distance was only 175 yards. But if he had turned and ran further than 20 yards, I would have been looking for him straight down a long, deep ravine. Ugly.
In total contrast,I found myself this year trying to put my first sight pin on a bull strutting in on me and my wimpy calling at 20 yards and closing! I could not have been shaking anymore if you had put me astride the north pole without a stitch of clothing and fed me a whole bowling ball and waited to watch me pass it!!!!