A 30/06 won't kill anything anymore. How all those animals died in the past must've been magic. For deer, a 7mm Rem Mag is the absolute MINIMUM and it must have a premium type bullet these days. For elk, man they really have gotten tough in the last 20 years, so you'll need at least a 338 RUM with a 250gr bullet and need to limit your shots to under 300 yards or else the bullet will just bounce off.

The problem with posts asking which gun to buy or whch caliber is best, what the poster gets is a littiney of everyone favorite gun and or caliber. In the end, they are left with chosing from a long list which puts them exactly where they were before they asked the question. These are questions best ask of one or two people you know and trust or someone you know who is an expert who can ask you questions and based on them give you an answer that is best for you rather than push their favorite firearm and or caliber.

This post illustrates the "grain of salt" that I think has to accompany some of the advice that Ridge offers on here (and a few other users). This isn't at all a statement of criticism, but moreso one of jealousy/respect/admiration - guys like Ridge have VERY DIFFERENT demands for their rifles, so the advice they give is often skewed in that light.

Most of us average hunters will never become so capable behind a rifle to be so demanding that we can make assertions like Ridge's above. If all you do behind the wheel of a car is drive a few blocks uptown to the grocery store, then the horsepower difference between a V8 Mustang, a 4banger Honda Civic, and a 690hp Lamborghini Aventador, except the cost we pay at the pump. I ride a motorcycle that will do occasionally 160mph in a straightline with 140hp - incredibly fast and powerful for a guy that just toodles around the countryside, but it's NOTHING compared to the MotoGP guys running tracks over 200mph.

I'd never say a person shouldn't use a 300 eargenshplitezen loudenboomer magnum for hunting whitetails at 200yrds or less, any more than I'd say a person shouldn't drive a lambo or ride a Hayabusa to the grocery store - but a guy doesn't really need that much power to do such a simple job. For most of us, the 300win mag just costs more powder or ammo cost, and more recoil - but the deer/elk/bear at 200yrds or less on the other end isn't any more dead.

Equally, the 30-06 will kill anything in the world if well placed at the right ranges. The 300win mag has advantages for guys like Ridge or Jeep or a few others here that can weigh and measure the 30-06 and find it wanting. These same guys will have a short trip from the max of a 30-06 to reach the max of a 300win mag, but it's still further along the spectrum than they were before.

That said, I have a couple 30-06's and 300WM's in my safes. If I had to pick only one, it'd be a long barreled, big scoped 300win mag, simply because I'm working on learning to shoot like guys like Ridge and Jeep (and a few others).

Well said, Nomercy. A well placed 30 06 or 270 will handle any situation. Unless long shots are the norm, an ubermagnum dinosaursmashemflatten is moot. The shooter must contend with higher cost for ammunition and get their lights knocked out every time that they pull the trigger. I sold all of my super mags as they are fun too shoot, but they don't kill any better than a properly placed, in my case, .277 bullet. I see so many at the range sighting in their super magnums, and they are terrified of them. They flinch and cringe anticipating the recoil of them. A flinch is a very hard habit to break once it starts happening. If I was still hunting in grizzly kitchen all of the time, then, yes, I would still be packing the 340 and the 375 H&H, but that is not the case now, as walking is a real problem. With the 270 Weatherby, I am more than capable of making extreme range kills, and not have to wipe the snot off my face each time that I drop the hammer. Bigger isn't always better. I see people hunting my areas for whitetail and mules with 338 378 Weatherby magnums regularly. Yes, the deer fall down, but that is waaaaay too much for a deer. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. I have shot them with 458 Winchester magnums, but that just isn't needed, as there are no elephants on this continent.

maybe its just me, but the reason I say they are a different animal built heavy and set up for extended range is twofold actualy, before I get started I apologise to the OP for the hijack.
I have 2 large 7mm's, the first is a 7mmstw, rem. 700 action which has been trued and accurised, 28" lilja 9 twist #5 contour barrel, 6.5x20 leupold vari-x III. runs a 160 accubond at 3340 fps. my main hunting load is a nosler 140 BT at 3550 fps, averages 3/8" at 100 yards. It tips the scales at 8 lbs. 2 oz. I have taken 20 some deer and a couple bear from 40 to 600'ish yards.
the second is the 7mm Allen Mag, 700 trued action, 30" 9 twist lilja #8 contour, 6.5x20 leupy mark 4 M1 TMR, runs a 160 at 3575 fps averages 1/4" at 100 yards weighs in at 14#
the allen will group 3-4 inches consistently at 750 yards, the stw will not break 7" at that distance.
However the games reaction to a solid hit at 200-400 yards from the stw can't even be compared to my 7mm-08, or my 7mm RM, its just totally different, only 2 animals have taken a step after being hit, the rest just melted to the ground to never even twitch.
I often wish I would just rebarrel the stw to the same chambering with a 30" #7 contour, add a stock that would get the weight up to around 12#, and load it up with a 200 gr wildcat with a BC of .84 running right at 3K and see how it will compare to the allen, but long as it kills like the hammer of Thor to 500 yards, think I'll leave it alone.
RR

Sheesh, next thing you know, RR is gonna be out there hunting whitetail with guided missiles

You have no idea how close I came to ordering a Tac-50, was writing the check when the thought "35 rounds to the pound" hit me and I chickened out, If I would have known about WC872 at the time I would own one today!
RR

Oh don't get me twisted, I like Big Bore bad boys, I just like them big and slow. I have quite a few rifles that I have to go in search of my damn shoulder after shooting. 500NE double comes to mind. Monster to shoot, but lordy does it deliver the "hammer Of Thor" as you put it on a hog! Had a Barrett .50 for a while. Nothing slow about that thing except recovery. Sold it to an old Military friend since I just had it for plinking at 1500m One of those "Mines bigger than yours" moments ya know. Wife made me sell it. Dang wimmin

But like Mercy and I both kind of put it, not everyone has the ability to shoot out to where a .300WM performs better than an .06. Actually, few people possess that ability. They may have the WILL to do it, but that doesn't mean they SHOULD be trying it. Just seen too many gut shot or leg shot critters in my years from people thinking they had a "magic magnum" so they could reach out to 700 yards.

that's what I don't get, I have taken 60 some deer beyond 400 yards, 27 of which were beyond 700, 11 were beyond 1000, and 3 broke 1200, and never lost 1, and had several bad hits, they do not run at those distances, they just bed up, and you finish them or let them expire, I've had harder times finding those I saw fall DRT in the scope.
don't get me wrong, not saying they never run, but every deer I have shot or saw shot at long range that ran was on a lung shot death dash.
RR

Again, not everyone has that ability RR. What you and I would call a pi$$ poor shot at 700 are what many folks DREAM of hitting at long range. Lung shot death dashes create a really nice blood trail. Gut shots don't. I personally wont take a shot past 400 just simply for the reason that no matter how well you can read a critter, critters move at the LEAST opportune times. Like right when you break the trigger. In my youth (yeah I know they hadn't even invented gunpowder yet) I took those shots every now and again but hiking 6 miles up and down 2 mountains trying to get up on a leg shot bull elk cured me of that crap quick and easy. I didn't calculate down angle correctly on a 725 yard shot. Like a previous poster stated, you would be friggin surprised how far a 3 legged Elk can go! Had I been less "lazy" I could have easily gotten within 150 yards.