RE: 7mm mag vs deer
I don't think there is really such a thing as too big a gun for a deer. But there is too big a gun for a lot of hunters. Some people can shoot a 7mm or .300 Win. Mag. great. If you can, more power to you. But a lot of people can't sit down at a bench and shoot one very frequently without developing a flinch. So they are much better served by something smaller they can take to the range and get some use out of. Nearly everybody can learn to shoot a .243, .257, or even a .270 well. Take myself, for instance. I doubt I will ever kill anything bigger than a whitetail. 95% of my hunting is coyotes and smaller. So a 7mm is too much gun for me. My purposes are much better served by my .223 and 30-30. So when people say a gun is too big for deer, I think the consideration is more the hunter than the game.