The 30-06 with a 180 gr bullet using Hornady LM numbers gives recoil velocity of 13.4 f/s and energy of 22.3 ftlbs...considered Vigorous, which according to conventional wisdom is right at the edge of the average hunters recoil acceptance...yours may be different...
The 45-70 using Hornady's 325 gr bullet gives 15.9 f/s and 31.4 and is considered Heavy...near what a 300 mag, 200+ gr bullet gives at max loads if you haven't fired off a heavy cal before...again you may be able to handle it or not... and if you have to ask....
Recoil is so subjective as to be meaningless when it comes to describing it in post...every one has differing levels of sensitivity. I'm 5-10, weigh 250lbs and recoil doesn't seem to bother me all that much...although a range session with recoil levels of 50-80 ftlbs will leave me vibrating like a tuning fork...and more than a little twitchy. My 416 and 45-70 cals using 400 to 525 gr bullets at 1800 to 2400 f/s doesn't bother me all that much, but you have to determine your own levels of pain enjoyment.
The best way to determine if you"want" to consider any of the large cal shooters is to find someone who has a rifle in the cal you are considering, forget what they say about "how much it slaps you around" and shoot 10 rounds or so, several times, the same way you expect to shoot it hunting.
Personally I find the 444 to be an almost perfect woods gun...not a lot of slap, plenty of killing energy, plenty of bullet choices...you don't need a lot of choice anyway for large caliber slugs. These rifles are not designed for "all around shooting", they were more specific in their designed uses, and not necessarily just for hunting 4 legged animals.
The 444 and 45-70 can be loaded up and down in a wide range of bullet weights and velocities from duplicating the 44 mag to near 458 Lott with the longer barreled shooters. There is nothing that says you have to load either up to seam splitting, gut busting numbers.
If you are considering a 22" NEF, then consider it will "kick" much harder a 5 lbs than a 1895 Marlin at 8 lbs and I hear enough whining about how much that levergun hurts. I have the NEF BC with added weight and think it's the cats meow.
While the 45-70 will kill anything in the world, the problem is with the rainbow trajectory and very few taking the time to work the numbers...thus the 150-200 yd range reference. It doesn't take but a few minutes with the drop tables and I'm not nit picking here, the average hunters abilities are nearer the questionable end than the knowledgeable end of that spectrum. I shoot squirrels out past 400 yds regularly with my BC, but without a laser range finder and my drop tables for the particular load I'm using, my percentage of hits would be even more dismal than it is. I don't know anyone with a bionic eye that can determine even 25 yd differences in range to 100 yds much less the same at 400 plus, and at those ranges were talking 1" or more drop per 25 yds. I might be able to crater the little buggers and claim a hit way out yonder just because the bullet is so big in relation to the size of the victim, besides I don't rely on "by guess and by golly" when it comes to killing, I think is it a hunters duty to kill as quickly and a humanely as possible so I limit my ranges to specific distances with different calibers. Just because it can kill...I'm talking any caliber or cartridge and any distance...doesn't mean it should be used.
Hey...as been said several times...pick your poison, forget the rhetoric, shoot it and have fun.
'Njoy
