Noway,
Looks to me like you have answered your own question in the process of asking it. About the only variable left out is the individual shooters tolerance for recoil. It appears you lean toward the sensitive side so " standard" calibers as you call them are likely to be your cup of tea -- for sure on antelope and deer because you can knock them over with a fly swatter -- as you move up the scale to elk and beyond then the age old horsepower versus range versus your recoil sensitivity argument will crop up with all the related tradeoffs and only you can answer that one -- other peoples opinions won' t help -- that is unless you are looking for moral support.

Since, as you mentioned, you are framing this in " .....talking real world in the field accuracy not bench accuracy...." then I would have to mention that when hunting in the field for big game that I feel NO recoil and hear NO report -- not in the " normal sense" , I am aware something has happened alright but I am totally focused on the quarry -- therefore recoil becomes a non-issue. Target shooting, yes its an issue to be managed -- Big Game Hunting, no issue at all. My $.02

Good luck with your choices and good hunting.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM