If I had to pick, it would definitely be the .300 Win Mag. The 7mm just doesn't have the knock down power of a .30 cal and up.

It's a different world where you guys are and up here and large bear protection is always a consideration.

That being said, a .243 and .270 are where it's at for hunting deer, IMO. We moose hunted almost exclusively with those as a kid growing up out in the boonies and with proper placement, they always dropped like they were poleaxed.

I'm surprised to hear that people are deer hunting with a .338 - that's a lot of weapon for a mid size animal and you'll destroy half of the harvest with a bad placement.

My buddy shot a porcupine across the river with his .338 once (all we had handy at the moment) and he nailed it. The cone of quills on the far side of it was impressive. They sprayed out about 75' and there wasn't much left of the porky. We had to thin them out because the little bastards like the salt in the glue in T-111 siding at the cabin and were literally eating our cabin.

war-were-declared-33289056.jpg