The recoil of your dad's 300 Wby is going to be a good deal stiffer than a .30-06, unless the 300 Wby rifle is a lot heavier. If you spend any real time shooting from a bench, the 300 Wby will not be very comfortable to shoot. Shooting from field positions it will be better, but still not like a .30-06.

As for what you can hunt with a 300 Wby... well, just about anything you want. The 300 Wby is suitable for anything up to moose. For deer I'd be careful about shot placement, staying away from major muscle and bone, because it'll destroy a lot of meat. Hit them through the ribs and the 300 Wby will make a deer quite dead, and won't totally wreck the edible portions.

Mike