The question really depends on what you're going to hunt most often. When I bought my first (and only) centrefire a couple years back I knew I'd need something that could handle it all. But I don't hunt moose and elk every year, while I do hunt sheep and deer every year. So, the one ideal gun was a fairly light .270 wsm. Enough punch for moose, elk and bear with good bullets, enough reach for sheep, and just fine for whitetail. If I was going to hunt elk every year, that ideal gun would have been a 30-06 or another fast .30, but I think it's a little misguided - when you can only afford one rifle - to buy a gun based on what you might one day need instead of what you need every year. I can make the short mag work for moose every 4 years, so in this case, while the wsm isn't exactly the ideal for every species on the continent, it is the ideal for my specific situation.
