Bullet placement is a lot more important that size or velocity. There were thousands of moose, deer and buffalo killed with the anemic 44-40, and even the 32-20 and 25-20. Hit a moose in the hoof with a 368 WhizBang UltraMag, and he ain't stoppin'. Hit him in the proper spot with a 30-30, an he's steak. My wife shot a 7-year old cow moose at 220 paces with 3 shots in the lungs, using a Polish AK, and it really tasted good. On the other hand, I've helped track down (and never found) quite a few hit by 7mm Mags and 300 Win's.
I think the big difference is, my wife, and a lot of guys on this forum, as well as the old timers, did a lot of shooting. Too many of the guys with 412 UltraBooms fire 3 shots at a target, figure if they hit, it's good enough, and now they can go out and shoot at 6 miles, with no hold-over, allowance for wind, etc. Then they fire, at most, 2 shells a year. A box of shells lasts around 20 years.