Originally Posted by super_hunt54

I honestly wonder why people feel the need for Magnum cartridges for Elk and Moose. I've taken several of both with .30-06 and the little ole 30-30, .444, MLer, 7mm.08 (Elk not Moose, I aint stupid) and have never felt the need to have a magnum cartridge. Have I used them? Yep, .300 WM has taken a few for me but I really just didn't NEED the extra range it afforded. .30-06 will do the same job out to 400 yards that a .300 WM will and do it with less recoil and cost. Less recoil and cost= more range time to get really good with what you are shooting. THAT my friends is the most important thing there is. PLACEMENT. Cal, you could use just a .338-06 and have the same results out to 350 yards as that .338WM will. You don't shoot past that often if I recall correctly. And Brownies aren't bullet proof folks and they are just as easily downed as an Elk. Good bullet combined with good placement= dead Brownie. If you are carrying something for defense against a Brown and not hunting it, then a good 12 gauge with slug,00buck,slug,00buck,slug loaded up in the magazine is about as good a defense as one could have. I carry a 4 inch .500 S&W but I don't recommend that to most. I have vast amounts of practice with handguns and can hit that "bouncing tennis ball" sized target under pressure.

Magnum cartridges don't make up for poor target placement no matter what the manufacturers and "professionals" say. And they won't make up for range time to make you a long range shooter either.