I live in MD also, and I have to admit I LOVE both of my 7mm Rem mags, but I have to agree with USMC, when I enter the woods in late Nov. I am usually carrying my 25-06, around here with most deer being in the 100-150 lb range and shots no more than 100 yards, I find the smaller calibers are more than enough. The reason I switched was 3 years ago I shot a 6 pt at 70 yards with a 140 gr Nosler partiton and it just penciled him, tracked him for 200+ yrds, so I switched to ballistic tips, and found that I was blowing the HE$$ out of deer (i.e losing both shoulders and major trauma almost halfway back throught the rib cage.) My 117 gr Sierra gamekings dont do nearly the damage. BUT, I WILL NOT TRADE MY 7MM'S IN!!! My grandfather used to say "Guns are meant to be bought not sold".......alot of truth in that!!