WL........once upon a time I held the same view as you, if I couldn't use my rifle and load, I wasn't too interested in hunting......HOWEVER.......this has changed over the years from several factors. I voiced this view to a very successful old hunter, to which he replied "A good hunter and shooter can hunt with any rifle and be successful" I thought about this a lot. I had a guy tell me the same thing about shooting pool, he said a good shooter will still win with a club............There is something to be said about this attitude. You will find that most very experienced hunters have at one time or another have had to use a rifle or load not belonging to them, it really doesn't detract from the hunt and does prove that a good hunter and shooter can use any gun and succeed.
I hunted my elephant with a rented camp 416 and factory ammo because the time frame and travel itinerary just would not allow the necessary arrangements to be made to use my own. This was a pick-up hunt due to cancellation and was put together on short order and using my own rifle just wasn't in the cards...........still made a perfect 1 shot frontal brain shot for an instant kill, proving that I could make this shot with a POS, which the Blaser was, that they had for me to use. Someone had left it as a tip and had stuck a recoil pad on top of the original LOP, the gun was a good inch to inch and half too long for me and fast follow up shots would have been difficult. However fast follow up shots were not needed and my PH was impressed with my shooting.
I would never have turned down this opportunity, at the price it was offered to me, just because I couldn't take my own rifle. After a while WL, the details like this just aren't that critical, being out and hunting something you have never hunted before, is far more important than what you hunt it with. I have also taken caribou with my son's 300 RUM, and 2 bears this spring with his 350 RM and I still wouldn't have turned down any of these hunts, even locally, because I didn't have a rifle of my own here to hunt with.
Like I said WL, a good hunter can hunt with anything, including a bow and still succeed. I don't think anyone on this forum would think any less of your skills as a hunter or you as a person because the circumstances of your hunt prevented you from using your own rifle. If they do then they are very inexperienced and their opinion really don't count for sh!t anyway!!!!!!!!!!
My vote is fly at 'er and have fun and don't sweat the small stuff, like what rifle is in your hands, because it is a very insignificant detail in the big hunting picture.
Douglas