KE is a very very small part of the total factors in regarding clean kills on big game.

Two things that are far more important are bullet construction, and shot placement. A 100 grain .25 caliber varmint style bullet at about 3200 fps vs. a 300 grain hard cast 44 caliber bullet fired at about 1100 fps. Which is the better hunting round? Even though the 25 caliber bullet has more energy at 400+ yards thant he 44 mag does at the muzzle the 44 mag is still a far superior hunting bullet than the light varmint style bullet in the 25-06.

With the right bullets and assuming that the bullet is going where it is suppose to go you only need a couple hundred foot pounds for deer size animals and for elk and moose that figure would only jump to 800 or so.

For big bears like brown and polar bears and connsidering that they can and will bite back I agree that I would want the biggest chunk of lead traveling it the bears direction. But Thousands of foot pounds are certainly not required here either.

It takes a heck of a lot less energy than most people think or want to admit. Heck if we all agreed that a couple hundred foot pounds is plenty effective on deer then we wouldn't need to use and of the lightning fast magnums that so many people like to use on 100 pound animals.[&:]

Bottom line is if you use the right bullet and put it where you are suppose to then KE is a non issue with big game rifles.