for mulies/elk/bear i like a 7mm rem mag. it has less recoil that the 30 calibers and plenty of knock down for anything you will run into in your neck of the woods. the 270 would also be a good choice but when you compare the ballistics if you shoot a 140 grain bullet out of the 270 and a 160 grain bullet out of a 7mm rem mag you actually get less drop from the bigger bullet.