THERE hain't no such thing as "TOO DEAD"... dead is dead ... however there's alot of game running around out there every season that aren't dead enough !!! As far as meat damage, hain't none of us going to starve or overeat with any more or less damaged meat caused by high velocity bullets, no one without a doubt will loose any sleep over "TOO DEAD", I've never heard a person in 40+ years of hunting say they hit the animal too hard... but I know a few guys who tossed and turned a bit over not dead or hit hard enough... better too much than to little any day of the week.. a .338 with a heavily constructed bullet for the most part will not even mushroom and will pass through like a steel jacket on deer sized game.. I shot a whitetail a few years back with a 200 grain X-bullet that was DANZAC coated.. it went right through both shoulder blades and hardly mushroomed on a little 125 lb whitetail.. WHATEVERE your comfortable with, use it.. an accurate shot placed by to much gun will be ok. an inaccurate one will cause grief for both parties...