For me and my style of Alabama hunting, Caliber doesn't matter too much. I would say 243 to 300 win. My rifle choice limits caliber more. I want something light enough to drag up and down hills and hollers. It needs to be fast handling with a good woods scope and capable of accuracy out to about 200 yards. That's all I need in Alabama. I've killed a lot more deer moving at 50-75 yards than standing at over 100.
I think this would describe most everyone's hunting in Alabama. But people buy guns more suited for long distance shooting with high magnification scopes and 50mm + objective lenses, none of which are needed for typical Alabama hunting. I know a guy who went to Africa with one of these type set ups and when he came back he told me how difficult it was to find game in the thick brush with a 15x scope.
The Swarovski sales rep has told me that Alabama is an anomaly in their sales. They can't sell their scopes which have objective lenses under 50mm here, but those scopes are their top sellers in other areas. Folks in this state have bought in to the myth of the magical 50mm objectives.
