jmfa1957

Both are fine cartridges, but I personally prefer the old tried and true .30-06. It has enough power for most anything you'd care to hunt in North America (except for maybe the ones that want to eat you.) The .30-06 recoil is tolerable, and good ammo it is available almost everywhere. Ammo for the .30-06 is usually a bit less expensive than 7mm mag. If you handload, you'll find that the 7mm mag cases don't last nearly as long as the .30-06 cases. The 7mm mag is also a little harder on barrels than the .30-06, so be careful if you're buying a usedf one so that you don't get one where the throat is so eroded that accuracy and velocity suffer. Still, ammo for the 7mm mag is common also, and it is a FINE cartridge.

Two other excellent calibers to consider are the .270 and the .280. I would prefer the .280 because I handload and there are a huge variety of 7mm bullets to choose from but loaded ammo is not nearly so common as for the .270. Both are hard hitting flat shooting claibers, and the .280 is only about 200 fps slower than the 7mm mag without the heavy recoil or short case life.

Whatever you decide, make sure that the rifle itself fits you comfortably, and practice until you can place your shots ewhere you want them. For most North American critters shot placement is more important than the differences in killing power from the cartidges we have discussed.