Magnum haters?
Looking back, I got my first dozen deer with a Marlin 30-30. Then I moved up to the 30-06, and later a shotgun. Sometimes I used a .270, and I've taken deer and hogs with all these guns and various muzzleloaders and bows and never had a problem. I never saw myself as a "magnum guy". But one day shortly after enlisting in the service I found out my first duty station would be in South Dakota, so I pondered the idea of getting a new rifle specifically for elk hunting. I thought about a .280 but after talking to some people who hunted elk every year I bought a Browning A-Bolt in .300 win mag. Upon returning to my home at that time (Alabama) I was almost scared to shoot it. I was sure that everything I had heard about it was true and that it would knock me around and almost certainly cause hearing loss even with ear plugs and I would probably flinch at the sound of loud noises for years afterward... But it wasn't true at all.
I'm not a large guy, I stand 5'8" tall and about 135 pounds. Yet, the .300 seemed no different in recoil then my Model 70 in 30-06. The noise was also of no concern with ear plugs in either. And an even bigger shock to me was that even though the rifle was much longer than any other rifle I've shot before, the stock seemed to fit me perfect and was as comfortable to shoot as my old 30-30. So it's no surprize that the accuracy I obtained with it was better than with any other rifle I've owned. Right then and there Ipicked that Browning as my main rifle for everything bigger than a coyote and have since taken 14 big game animals with it ranging from hogs and antelope to elk and couldn't be happier.
The reason for telling this short story is because I know there are others out there like me. And my question is, why do people automatically think that because someone's main deer rifle is a magnum, that means they can't shoot worth a darn? That they use the extra power and flat trajectory as a substitute for talent? Why do people think that others shoot a magnum because they can't kill deer with anything less? I originally bought my magnum with the thought of elk in mind, but stayed with it because of the accuracy.
Why is it that people say that if you shoot a deer with a .300 win mag you're going to blow a deer in half or something to that effect? I've never experienced that, and the meat damage is not much different than shooting a 30-06.
In short, my .300 doesn't cause much more meat damage than a '06, is just as sweet to shoot, and is more accurate at longer ranges, why is this a bad thing?