Now this discussion has gone into .44 Mag cartridges in rifles and cast bullets, .416's and Emer keith etc......
I feel I must make a very simple, practical comment here.
*Where* I hunt is BC.
In BC, we are not limitied to any particular terrain or distance when shooting at game. We got it all, form tight, thick cover that woud make an Eastern whitetail hunter feel claustrophobic, to wide open mountains and plains that woudl make a prairie hunter feel at home on long shots- and everyhting in between.
The most interestign aspect of this is that we in BC can encounter all these different situatins in the same day, even within the same 2-3 hours of hiking!!!!
How is the BC hunter to deal with the different situaions he may find himself in during the day? The soution is simple, unless he has a different agenda (SOme guys like to challenge themselves with a lever action and irons or use a bow or a muzzleloader etc)
If he is a guy that has no real preference, he equipts himself with a rife in the 270-300 class, with a mid range variable scope, and uses good bullets.
I truly believe that a guy that has a 30-06, a 7RM a 300 or similar, using good bulets- can do prety much ANYTHING that needs to be done in BC.
Clearly, if you are
targeting bison or grizzly bears, you may want to err on the side of caution and use a bigger cartridge. But it's not necessarily neccesary.
As one very experienced BC hunter,( who has kiled about 30 moose, 30 elk and at least a few other critters) said- "I had a .375 H&H but sold it. It didn't do anything that my .300 didn't do -all the animlas went down with good bullet placement, regardless of cartridge. And the .375 was heavier and more $$ to feed."
I will say that if your usual moose/elk hunitng technique is to jump them in the timbers and give them a Texas heart shot, you *may* want to use a bigger caliber. Athough it seems that 30 cal TSX bullets seem to do that fine, too...
Bottom line is that I want a cartrige/bulet combo that can do it all, and a 7mm or a 300 with good bullets will do it. If you are losing game because you shot a moose with a .300 and good bullets, then it means you aren't hittign them where it counts.