Some of this is getting off the deep end.
A little?
The OP didn't claim any to offer any definitive be-all declarations he offered an opinion. It might be worth it to g back and read his hypothesis.
For "most hunting environments and terrains" it doesn't matter if your rifle is a .260 Remington or a .458 Winchester Magnum for deer hunting as long as you choose an appropriate bullet and put it in a vital area.
The considerable majority of deer taken anywhere in the US or Canada are taken at less than 100 yards and numerous surveys by magazines, governmental agencies etc have repeatedly come to that same conclusion for decades. In the Eastern US that number drops to 65 yards.
Since the original hypothesis was about "most hunting environments and terrains" the issue of what happens at long range is somewhat moot for the majority of us. Pole vault over mouse turds all you want but deer are pretty fragile as big game goes and just don't need all that much killing. Besides, I dare anyone to prove that a few more pounds of energy or a few feet per second ever makes all that much difference in the long run.
After all, have you ever heard someone who after muffing a shot at the deer of a lifetime claimed something like "Gee, if I'd just had 37 more FPS on the bullet I'd have had him!" or how about "Dag-nab it! If I'd had 63 more pounds or energy in that bullet that buck would be on the wall!" or maybe "Geez, if my trajectory had been 3/4" flatter at 150 yards I'd have made that 230 yard shot!"
Most of us shoot better with less recoil. The 7mm-08 is one of several cartridges that offer the significant majority of us all the energy and other attributes we'll ever need when deer hunting and they do it in what are usually more compact and lighter rifles than a 30-06, 270 or 7mm Magnum.
As for rifle weight, most short action rifles weigh a half pound or less under the weight of the similar make and model of long action rifle. When taking a half pound of weight difference and using typical power charges for the original loads cited there is still a 20% or so recoil reduction when going from the -06 to the -08 so if all other things remain equal the recoil reduction is still worth considering. For what it is worth, despite catalog weights a bigger drop in bore diameter to say, .243, wipes out a good chunk of the weight drop since the barrel blank is the same size but it now has a considerably smaller hole in it and the result is a heavier barrel. Try putting similar long action rifle and short action one on a scale and you might be surprised how little weight difference there is and the closer the weights are the more the 7mm-08 offers in recoil reduction.
Felt recoil is a whole different critter and is usually pretty dependent on stock shape, facial shape, neck length etc. What I feel at 6'4" and 235 pounds with a long neck and wide face is going to be different from a person with a different body shape even with the same load and gun. My block head does not like high combs in heavy recoil guns much since it often means that I get slap in the cheekbone. I also prefer the feel of a wide butt over a skinny butt since I perceive it as being more comfortable. While some folks like the feel of a slender stock and wrist I have big ol' mitts and like a fairly full wrist and forearm. To me stock shape and profile have more to do with felt recoil than the actual amount or velocity of the recoil.
One thing is for sure. Each of us is responsible for choosing a cartridge and bullet combination that will be effective for the purpose and we are responsible to put that bullet in the right place. There are a lot of combinations that will get that done and since it is an individual choice none of us is qualified to make blanket declarations of suitability but only to give opinions-like the OP did.
Lance
