Well, I guess somebody has to be different so I guess I will. First of all, I hunt with a Rem 700 in 30-06. My father hunts with a 7MM mag as does my uncle. My dad got magnumitus about 5 years ago, and has purchased many magnums since, included a couple 7MM, a .300 mag ans a .338 mag. I love these guns. Is it overkill for a deer; yeah, but who cares. Do these guns kick like a mule; yeah, but nothing that you can't handle. If you know what you are doing and practice shooting the "magnum recoil and magnum muzzle blast induced flinch" will go away. Anybody who shoots pretty often knows that if you flinch the recoil is only worse. If you squeeze like you are supposed to and the gun suprises you when it goes off then the recoil is not that bad. We also have one 7MM mag that has a ported barrel, and the difference that it makes is unbelievable. It kicks like a .243 now. So these magnums can be shot very accurately.

I have also heard people mention expensive bullets having to be shot thru the guns. I personally always shot premium ammunition. I now shot 165 gr. Remington Sirocco Bonded bullets for my '06. I used to use standard Remington factory ammo, and when you go to the range the difference is huge. My groups go from about 4" at 100 yards to about 1". I don't shot these bullets because of bullet expansion issues, just accuracy issues.

Well, I also don't want everyone to think that my opinion is tht magnums are the only way to go. My brother still uses a .308, and a buddy of mine still uses a .35 Remington, and they kill deer just as effectively. I just don't see why so many people look at people who use magnums like they are ignorant.