another vote for the 30-06 with the managed-recoil rounds from remington. my 83 year old unlce used them this past deer season and did quite well.

remington's website advises that the managed-recoil round has the recoil of the .243 round. it uses a 125 grain bullet, pleanty of grain for whitetail and BLACK bear.

06

'06....no brainer. Been around for over 100 years....will be here forever....great north american cartridge....the best.

i am one for the 06 as well, thats all i use, i hunt deer and moose, allthough havent got a deer yet, but have got a moose three years in a row. the last moose i got i shot with my 06 and it was 350 yrds away. the 06 IMO is one of the best calibers made!!

I like the .270WSM or the old .270 Win. It has plenty of knock down power for deer and bear with a more managable recoil. Its all in what you like. The .30 is a great cal also.

.270 win no doub about it.

06 sounds good, it's hard to beat.

the 06 is a great all around caliber, it'll do you a fine job. the 300 is better, but some people think that it is a kicker, it never bothered me.

thndrchicken - the 300mag does alot that the 06 wont. Its just like the 308/30-06. everything looks the same until you start useing heavier bullets. w/ 150 grain bullets the 300 is still a couple hundred ft faster. and thats the best case when compareing the two. the 300 mag will put the heavy bullets out there much better than the 06. the light ones for the 300 are the heavier ones for the 06. Dont get me wrong, the 06 is a great caliber, adequate for any north american game,but ... to say its the equal of the 300 just isnt true.

Didn't say it was the equal, I said the 300 won't do anything the 06 can't. I also said it'll will only do a few hundred fps faster. Is there enough of a difference between the 7 mm mag, 30-06 or 300 winmag to say you have to buy this. Last I checked w/t's weren't that tough. We all know that the numbers that ammo manufacturers and load manuals publish is skewed at best and often not even chronographed but measured in a pressure barrel. My suggestion is based on several factors, factory load selection, price of ammo, recoil and the game he plans to hunt. Not to mention that the 06 will shoot plenty flat enough at respectable ranges for it to be a non-factor compared to the 300. A quick check of my Nosler fifth, 180's 30-06 re22 max load of 61.0 = 2872, 300 winmag 75.5 = 3118 difference 246 fps, 200's, 58.0 = 2688, 72.5 = 2960 difference 272 fps. I agree the 300 has the edge on heavier bullets but where's the big difference? I also stated that depending on the situation I would opt for the 35 over the 06 but would not feel undergunned with it. It don't mean anything if the recoil and muzzle blast is going affect the shot by inducing flinching and anticipation.

Tchicken - Well put in your second post. From your first post I took it to say that the 06 was the 300's equal. from your second post you clearly see the difference and your right, on white tail there wont be any difference, you'll be useing 150grain bullets and down either way. The 300 really shines out west where long shots on big animals are the norm.