I think it depends more on the maximum range you will be needing to shoot. If you hunt in the really thick stuff where a 50 yard shot is long then the very old 30-30 is more power than you need. On the other hand if you will be hunting 600 - 700 yard bean fields then the extra flat trajectory will be useful. I fall more along the lines of matching the cartrige to the area you will be hunting. It also has alot to do with how well you can handle the recoil and how much you practice to be able to use the effective range of a 300 RUM. My uncle took a shot at a deer at about 400 yards with his 7mm mag and ended up hitting it in the hind leg. luckally it left a good blood trail and I had to track it in the dark and finish it off with my .444. He nevr shoots his gun in the off season to stay proficent with it so the extended range is obviously wasted. Very few people practice shooting enough to become proficent enough to use the extended range that a cartrige like the RUM offers. If you are one of the ones that do and you aren' t botherd by the recoil and you can actually see that far then go for it!

if you are hunting more than 400yards then it is not a bad choice but if you are in the think of it is a lot more than you need like bigbulls said. of course if the recoil is too much and you can shoot it accurately enough then it is too much

IF: You are not affected too much by recoil. IF: You practice enough to take advantage of the extended range that a 300 magnum calibur will give you. IF: You don' t care about the extra meat damage. IF: You also plan to hunt Elk, Moose, or Brown Bear. Then by all means shoot as big a cannon as you like.
Me personally, I have gravitated more and more towards less gun not more. I hunt mostly in thick woods. A 200 yard shot is rare. I only hunt whitetails. I also love to target shoot at a gravel pit on my families land. I have shot a 300 magnum and a 300 WSM owned by friends and I own a 7mm mag that I bought years ago. I can shoot them reasonably well but not like I can shoot my 30-06 or my 243. I just don' t like the recoil of the big magnums. In fact I have mostly used my 243 over the last few years. If I buy another rifle in the near future it will probably be one that falls somewhere in between the 243 and the 30-06 like a 260 rem or a 7mm-08.

Bottom line: The .300 RUM is way too much gun for deer. I base this on the fact that nobody can shoot one from the most accurate position, which is prone, without the scope absolutely destroying the flesh and bone above the eye. And if you can' t shoot the gun from the most accurate position, it isn' t the most accurate gun. Period. More than half of the 29 big game animals I' ve killed were shot from the prone position, but those I' ve killed with both the .300 Wby and the .338 Win Mags could not be taken from that position. Therefore, the 7mm-08 has more effective range than either.

seattlesetters,
I shoot my .300 win mag and .338 mag all the time from the prone position and have never been busted in the eye with the scope.
If you are having trouble shooting those calibers from prone you might want to look into getting a scope with more eye relief or setting your scope further forward so you can get you eye away from the scope.
Not doubting your experience just trying to help out.