Tom I live out west. I hunt here in Idaho. I have seen what a 7mm does to deer.,It literally blood shots a lot of meat. I would deffinatly go with the 30-06... You can purchase a 130 grain for Deer....150 grain for Elk or ....240 grain for Alaska Grizzly Bear. I think it is the best choice on a all round rifle. I have a 30-30,,,,30-40 Craig,,,,,,270,,,, and I am now purchasing a good 30-06 so I can use it on anything. Whatever you decide it will be your choice and hope you make the right one and good luck to you on hunting out West...

You can' t go wrong with either one. I think the 7mm has a little more flat shooting but the ' 06 has more bullet choices and a higher sec. density usually. If you never plan to shoot past 200 yards ( that is a long shot no matter what anyone says or writes in a magazine) the 30-06 might be better. However, out West, where I hunt and live, there is a lot of open sage-brush country with Elk (like where I shot mine last fall) and the 7mm would be better for longer ranges.

I would shop on finding a gun you like first then see if they have it in both calibers and go from there. BTW, I use a 7mm and have never felt using a 30-06 would have been any better on any of the game I' ve shot.

Actually when using the same weight bullets the 7mm has higher sectional density and higher ballistic co-efficient(for the same style bullets in both calibers)

I' m gonna have to go with the 30-06 on this one.

7mm mag.

I got to say the 7mm mag its what i shoot

but i never shot a 30-06 one of my buddys shoots one and loves it but he a few cards short of a full deck any ways

I' d have to go against the grain here and say that since you already have a .308 you should go bigger than 30-06 or 7mm mag and get a .338!