IMHO, the word "magnum" don't mean anything....
Any cartridge is simply a propellent container for launching a bullet of a given diameter and weight at a given speed....

Size up your game, decide on the weight of bullet and velocity you need/want that will get the job done with room for human/random error and go for it. If "it" has the word Magnum in it, then fine --- if it doesn't then fine.

One observation though,
With the exception of the folks dealing with injuries, it seems the ones that get the biggest knot in their panties about magnums are the ones that don't have any. Folks that have them as well as a cross section of other standard cartridges -- small, medium, and large -- and then go on to comment on the subject of "magnums" strike me as more objective than those who only have the "standard" calibers and harp on the so called "magnum" issue. Steven, you appear to be in the well-diversified group (gulp) and come across as fairly balanced in your discussion.

I'll be using a 416 Rigby on elk this year (just for entertainment value), I sure hope the fellas in camp that will be toting their magnums don't give me a bad time about using a non-magnum rifle --- might give me an inferiority complex. As a side note, we do have minimum cartridge standards for our elk camp and since implementing that rule, things have went, oh, so, so much better, though I must admit it sure does "weed out" a lot of prospective hunters --- almost as badly as the "weed out" factor from wives, employers, and "show time" issues. []

Generally, in my opine....
Little tools for little jobs,
Bigger tools for bigger jobs.

EKM