I think it depends more on the maximum range you will be needing to shoot. If you hunt in the really thick stuff where a 50 yard shot is long then the very old 30-30 is more power than you need. On the other hand if you will be hunting 600 - 700 yard bean fields then the extra flat trajectory will be useful. I fall more along the lines of matching the cartrige to the area you will be hunting. It also has alot to do with how well you can handle the recoil and how much you practice to be able to use the effective range of a 300 RUM. My uncle took a shot at a deer at about 400 yards with his 7mm mag and ended up hitting it in the hind leg. luckally it left a good blood trail and I had to track it in the dark and finish it off with my .444. He nevr shoots his gun in the off season to stay proficent with it so the extended range is obviously wasted. Very few people practice shooting enough to become proficent enough to use the extended range that a cartrige like the RUM offers. If you are one of the ones that do and you aren' t botherd by the recoil and you can actually see that far then go for it!