If you want a big magnum and shoot it well then no harm, no foul. But here are just a few random observations from my experiences with some people I've known who use them. Your mileage may vary.

1. I have never understood the line of thinking that goes, "well I got a 300 ultra mag because one day I might go on an elk hunt and I can use it for that too". Me, I pick a caliber for what I'm going to do with it all the time not what I might do with it once 15 years from now. I also find it hard to believe that there are very many people in Alabama that can afford to go out west on a elk hunt yet can't afford at least two rifles, one for deer and one for elk. That's a pretty narrow financial category right there.

2. I have listened to many friends, family and acquaintances talk to me about how little the bullet from their new uber mag drops at 400 yards and the amount of kinetic energy it still has at 400 yards. And all the while I'm listening to them talk I'm thinking (because I know first hand) you have never even taken a single practice shot at 400 yards in your life. So what good is all that stuff going to do you?

3. I have seen people have bullet performance issues on our small southern deer from one end of the spectrum to the other with big stomper magnums. Many of the premium bullets designed tougher for magnum velocities and big game like elk or moose just strip through the rib cages of 150 pound whitetails without much expansion. On the other hand at close range were the velocity of these magnum bullets is still very high a standard cup and core lead bullet can over expand and fragment terribly. I've seen deer shot broadside behind the shoulder at 70 yards have fragments of the bullet perforate the stomach and bowels. Also seen standard soft lead bullets or ballistic tips out of these magnums destroy half the edible meat on an angled shot as well.

4. There was a time when there were not many bullet options out there. If you wanted to do more harm or get deeper penetration all you could do was use a bigger bullet; push it faster; or both. But with the wide variety of bullet options available out there today I can take a 7mm-08, 270, 308 or 30-06 and make any kind of wound channel through a deer that you desire.

5. I have gone to the family gravel pit to shoot with people who had such a wicked recoil induced flinch it was comical. Seen some that were jerking their whole head out from behind the scope for fear of getting eye gouged. They would have been so much better off with a milder recoiling rifle. But noooo, a 7mm-08 is a woman's rifle. They wanted a manly gun. They did a lot of manly missing and gut shooting too.

6. To me big magnums are good for one thing. To hurl really heavy big bullets faster than standard calibers can in order to kill really big animals or shoot things at extreme ranges. For deer, out to 300 yards, I just don't see the need.