bigcountry,

BTW, my answer to some of those questions would be no, instead of yes; however, that is just me.

As to, "Why is it everyone thinks with a gun shooting a .308" bullet, they have to have 180gr min? ", I cannot speak for others nor have any interest in trying. For me personally, it has to do with personal experience relative to penetration and killing power (not just foot pounds eneregy).

The initial discussion centered on the suitablity of 150gr soft point 30-06 bullets with no mention of what game was being pursued. Since everyone automatically defaults to deer, I talked about something else (bigger). Again, my $.02 and as always on a forum, "do as you please" ultimately reigns supreme. My opine merely reflects what I have seen consistently "bring home the bacon" versus various tracking jobs I've had the misfortune to be involved with.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
EKM