senecaap,

In a very real sense, you and I and others are really saying the same basic thing. Lousy hunters that are lousy shots are the problem, not the rifle used.

Perhaps the main reason so many hunters shoot so badly with 30-06 and especially with magnums in 7mm, 30 or 338 is that they are afraid of the recoil of these generally unneeded calibers. They also may not be very good shooters to start with.

Many years ago I hunted some with an outfitter in Montana. I brought along a "puny" little 7X51 loaded with 175 grain Noslers to about original 7X57 muzzle velocities. My elks always dropped with one shot at ranges up to 150+ yards. Total penetration broadside and similar shots and from stem to belly on frontal shots. After first elk, outfitter started telling me how his Grandfather and Grandmother shot 100s of elk with a 30-30, typically one-shot kills. These folks were typical of Montana ranchers in early 1900s -- a box of 30-30 or 32 Special ammo (20 rounds) was expected to bag at least 15 deer + elk and now and then black bears and occasionally a grizzly. 30-40 Krags and 6,5X55 military surplus rifles were common and equally effective. After WW2 30-06 turnbolts became common, as guys returned from the war. He also had lots of stories about clients with big magnums that only wounded elk with poorly placed shots.

To state it differently, "There are hunters and then there are dudes with fancy rifles."

Niklas