You just gotta decide how big of a hole you want thru your deer. I find that my .308 makes a big enough hole to suit me.

I don't do the magnum thing....

If you hit them right...ain't an issue

To me all a magnum will do is push a BIGGER bullet faster. I would have to look at the ballistics, but I would imagine a 150 grian 30-06 is running close to a 180 grain .300 mag. Like a 130 grain .270 would be close to a 150 grain .7mm.

I, like Furflyin aint got nothing against them, but I feel like I can hang neck and neck out to 300+ yards with my .270 or .243 as any magnum. Just whatever someone wants. If I did get a magnum it would be 7mm or .300 WM. Just because of shell variaty and affordabilty, when it comes to magnum calibers.

looks like a ballistic tip entrance hole.....

I'm not saying it takes a magnum caliber to kill a deer. That's obvious. I'm just saying I like having one. Again, it's all in the opinion of the owner! However when I go moose hunting, glad I don't have to buy a new rifle, I'd rather take one with a bow though. But if that doesn't work, my 7mm should. But that moose hunt is a loooong time away! I think the whole caliber thing is nothing different than the ammo debates. A lot of people but the ballistic tips, silver tips etc. but my regular soft point in 7mm rem mag have always been amazing, makes a smaller hole than Poorcountrypreachers picture. So I guess I save a little more meat with a overall more useful caliber.

Here's something to chew on. My 338 RUM has 4555 pounds of energy at the muzzle and still has 2785 at 400 yds. Yes accuracy is very important but at longer distances the more shock the more blood vessels ruptured and a bigger blood trail assuming there is an exit wound. That is unless a perfect head or neck shot can be made. I'm not bashing a 308 because I've got 2 of them and still hunt with them. But at shorter distances I use a 45-70 and the 45-70 can kill any game in north america. However it isn't ideal for long shots because it is a slow moving round. The bottom line is shoot what you want, drive what you want, eat what you want.its personal preference.

180 grain premium bullet out of an ought 6 will kill any bull moose that walks the face of the earth deader than a hammer.

There is no doubt about that with the advances in todays premium bullets. With the popularity of .30 cal. it probably has a bigger selection of quality bullets than any other. But when I started using a 7mm Rem the people I knew living in Alaska swore by that cal. When we tested bullets back then it consisted of stacking up Sears and Roebuck catalogs and shooting into them. Then you could see what penetrated best and weigh the bullets for weight retention. I think things have changed a little. The .284 bullets changed also so there was no need for me to get another cal.

Bullet selection and confidence/accuracy in your rifle has much more to do with it than caliber size. Put the "right" bullet in the "right" place, and magnum/non-magnum doesn't matter. I've probably helped trail just as many deer shot with magnums as I have non-magnums...possibly because the folks with magnums were willing to take more marginal shots due to thinking that the "magnum" delivered greater killing power. Here's a good article for all to read....

http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_bullet_killing_power.htm

whats the biggest moose you have killed in Alabama and did you weight it on accurate scales??

Yea it's hard to find accurate scales for those alabama Moose!

I think you two are inadvertently making a case against magnums in Alabama. No Moose, no magnum.

I killed a 990 lb heifer with a broke leg, does that count? Put one in her gourd.

How far of a shot was it!? Lol

I like magnums because of human error. The biggest buck I have ever taken I gut shot because of human error. He ran about 200 yds before dieing. If I would have been shooting a non magnum I believe he would have made it to the river and I would have lost him. But I am shooting a 270wsm now instead of my 300rum.

A lot of hunters feel that a magnum makes up for human error, nothing could be farther from the truth IMHO. This type of thinking tends to lead to poor shots being made by the hunter thinking that the larger caliber will compensate.

In my experience magnum rounds leads to increased human error. This is only based on my first hand knowledge. That said, I do carry a 7mm win mag to Colorado.

You are correct, Sir. I used to hunt with a guy that toted a .300 mag. in the Jackson Co. mountains. He always said he could shoot them anywhere and kill em. Most times he either wounded them or clean missed. He rarely killed one with a well placed shot in the "kill zone". He could talk a mean game though.

That's a big Negative Ghostrider. IMHO