Kidding aside, I think you're making a mistake. I urge you to ask around IN YOUR AREA and see what others are using. If I were there, I fill the pickup over and over with calibers like a .243, 6mm, .257Roberts, .260 & .270. I see no need to use calibers any larger.
if you took a survey around here in alabama, i would be willing to bet you any amount of money that the vast majority of hunters here hunt with 270 and up, a lot of 7mm mags, lots of 300 mags and WSM in same cals, a bunch still shoot 06's...myself i love the SA offerings based off of the 308, two of my favorites are the 7mm-08 and the .260, bought the wife one (260) and i liked it so much i bought myself one... but i have shot plenty of guns bigger than the 06 all day long will no ill effects or bruising, not sure what happend with your navy seal buddy but it sounds like she might need to tighten up..this is not a macho BS attitude cause like you mentioned and i agree you do not have to have the larger calibers to kill the deer here, but there is always the chance i could hunt outside my area, as i have many times, and for game much larger than a whitetail...for me the 7mm mag fits the bill.. very manageable and capable, if i'm hunting a big field where i could take a 4-500 yard shot i'm taking the 7 mag or the STW
Just because you like the 7mm, doesn't mean everyone else is going to.
and just because you don't like it, dosen't mean everyone else will share your feelings...its always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it
