mentally step back and ask yourself ,
its the last day of the season, the biggest deer or elk you've ever seen is about to run,
over a ridge hes currently standing on,and it getting dark rapidly,
your only option is a raking shot angle,
whats the longest range, worst shot angle, your likely to ever be faced with,
will the rifle you carry easily allow you to drop game under that set of conditions?
if your one shot will be the only chance you get to fill your tag with the largest deer or elk youll ever see...
would you rather have a different rifle in your hands?
now realistically thats very likely to be at a range under 300 yards.
you'll have less than 6-10 seconds to make that shot, from a hasty field position,
and you will not have an ideal angle,
you may need to bust a lot of bone or punch a raking angle shot,
through a few feet or rump & guts to destroy the vitals.
if your smart you select a rifle and cartridge thats up to tackling the shot ,
under the most adverse conditions, not the ideal conditions
a 7.5 barrel 357 mag revolver loaded with a 158 grain soft point, will kill any deer or elk at 30 yards in skilled hands
a 243 with a premium 100 grain bullet is certainly lethal in skilled hand under close to ideal conditions
but what do you want if your only chance is about to disappear off that ridge at 300 yards, and his rump is almost 3/4 facing you as hes walking off that ridge crest?
personally I want a 270 win or 308 win as a minimum, and would be far happier with a 35 whelen, or 338 win.
I was at the local outdoor range rather briefly to check the zero on one of my rifles,
when the guy on the next bench started a conversation.
he was very sure to announce that he had purchased one of the newer short case 7mm magnums
he almost immediately wanted to discuss what he considered to be the best possible rifle and cartridge combo ,...
he was not having much luck setting his rifle zero
now if you've read many of my previous posts,
I've used about everything from a 44 mag marlin and a 357 mag revolver to a 458 lott on deer,
and I've seen elk consistently killed with a 257 Roberts and a 45/70 and most of the cartridges between the two.
there are no really bad 7mm magnum cartridges so if he learns to shoot consistently well he will be well armed.
and in my opinion, its much more important that the guy operating the rifle , know the games anatomy,
and fully understand the particular rifle or handguns strengths and limitations than the head stamp on the brass.
so I ask him to point out both what he expected the rifle to do,too the game being hunted,
and the conditions and ranges he expected it to function under, and pointed out that his selection should be fully capable,
of working under less than ideal ranges, shot angles on game and be reasonably accurate to the longest range he was likely to see or hunt game.
now theres thousands of articles written about the "best deer rifle" or "best elk rifle" every year.
news flash, theres hundreds of fully functional cartridge and rifle combos and there have been some available for over 100 years,
(30/06, 375 H&H,30/40 krag 6.5 mm swed,, 7mm mauser, 7.62.54r 8×64mm Brenneke, 303 brit, 333 jeffery, 470 nitro,405 win, 8mm mauser, 45/70 come instantly to mind)
if you read all the articles you would be sure to think, that only the newest and fastest, and flattest trajectory firearm would be up to the task.
funny how a 30/40 krag was used to kill one of the largest elk ever taken
https://throughahunterseyes.com/the-...c-proportions/
yes the rifle and cartridge matters, but its the skill , experience and knowledge of the guy holding it that matters far more
theres hundreds of thousands of good rifles and cartridges combos, but theres fewer really skilled hunters.
learn to use what you selected very well , to place accurate shots from field positions, and your odds of success skyrocket