I am fine with small bore like the .30 until bear & bison get in the picture. Then I would let size of the beast be my encouragement for a larger wound channel. I am quite sure that if bison & grizzly had their old range and numbers back, you would see a much bigger market for larger calibers! I know some like the 7mm Rem Mag for pretty much everything. And it has some really good bullets. Not my choice tho.

For bear or bison I would like a .458 or larger diameter bullet with a suitable SD. That is why I have a 45-70 and 500 S&W Handi Rifle, so I could go on a bison or big bear hunt.

Sounds like a great excuse to get a basic reloading setup going. 338 would use alot more powder than some others, but you could load it mild for practice and deer, and then up to the gills with heavy pills for bear (heck yeah, I rhymed)

.338 Factory ammo is also quite expensive, often in excess of 35$ a box. I just can't see paying that kinda money for a non- big bore.

I was speaking for myself on the recoil end, If one is not bothered by heavy recoil then there is no reason that the 338 or even bigger would be a bad choice for all around big game. I have a very bad shooting shoulder and pay the price for days not hours from heavy recoil. I consider anything much past the 06 to have heavy recoil.

That said, If I were doing it over, I would take it easy on that shoulder and not subject it to heavy recoil for what I used to consider fun. Things wear out soon enough the way it is.

300WM

It can be reloaded with 200 gr bullets and max powder to equal the energy of the 338WM and can shoot flatter than the 30-06. I have both a 30-06 and 300WM. The better recoil pad on the 300WM makes the recoil feel the same regardless of which gun I am shooting. Ballistically speaking, the 300WM with an 180 gr Accubond or TSX bullet is one of the flattest shooting combos out there and carries 1900 ft lbs of energy to 500 yds. Federal has a great interactive ballistics program that allows comparisons that are very interesting.

Best all around would be the 300 win mag. But if I'm going after a Kodiak Brown Bear I'd want at least a 338 mag. On the other hand I'd hate to know my only rifle for an antelope hunt was a 338 magnum.

Not to sound smarmy but I have never understood the concept of trying to get one caliber to do everything. Do you just buy one type eating utensil foreverything? Or do you use a spoon for soup and a fork for salad? Anybody that can afford to hunt everything North America has to offer from small antelope to Kodiak Brown bear can surely afford at least two rifles to do it with.Byexpanding the battery to just two rifles the whole spectrum of North American game can be covered much more adequately. Then you won't ever find yourself facing a Grizzley charge with a caliber insufficiant to stop a charge or hunting antelope with a 155mm howitzer that vaporizes the front half of the animal like a Star Trek phaser. A 270 and a 338 would cover it all pretty nicely.

so the 300 has just a little more recoil but how much more power? im sort of deciding between those two as well. i will mostly deer hunt but once a year we will be going to canada to bear hunt.

how would the 7MM WSM recoil compared to the .300 and the 30 06?

For anything but Grizzly/Kodiaks/Polars, I'd pick the .30-06. I'm a bit recoil averse, and really don't even like shooting my 06. I've switched to a .243 for deer hunting...

If I was going for big bears, I'd take a close look at the new .338 Federal rather than the magnums you listed.