Essential Calibers

[mcwoodduck]

My Five for the US are:
22LR  - Small game and varmints
223 Rem - Varmints, target, and medium game 
308 Win - Big game, target,  and varmint - preditor
338 Win mag - Extra large game
12 ga - from small game to water fowel to big game getter.
I think these five are easy to find in most gun shops, multiple loading are made for each caliber with a wide variety of bullet/ projectile designs and the diversity of  rifles and shotguns made for them allows you multiple hunting situations.
I think with three  22LR rifles, three 223 rifles, and two or three 308 rifles and two 338 rilfes you can meet any shooting or hunting situation.
 
With that said, I am glad I have.177 pellet, 17HMR, 22 Mag, .22 Hornet, 6.5X55, 7X57,30 Carbine, 30-30, 30-06, 7.62x39, 303 Brit, 8X57, 357 mag, 375 H&H, 44 Mag, 45-70 and almost all the shotgun guages as calibers in my stable for hunting and many have multiple rifles in that caliber to meet or exceed every hunting siutuation you can think of.  Ok I want to add another 223 an other 308 Win, a 300 H&H, another 375H&H and a 470NE to my stable. 
You tell me we are headed here to hunt this and I am ready to go.

[Drilling Man]

Mannyrock, you are right.  If the editor is talking about 99.95% of all game in North America, the list stops at .30-06, but if you are talking about the big Alaskan Bear you better buy that .338 Win Mag or bigger.  I am not sure about moose, but I think that with the right bullet the .30-06 has proven effective on everything up to and including elk.

  WHY???  There isn't a big bear alive that i can't easily take with a PROPERLY loaded 30-06.   And YES i have hunted/shot more than a few big bears, and seen shot even more.
 
  A properly loaded 7mm Rem. Mag. is BIG medicine against big bears too...
 
  DM

The answer to "why" is that it is convention wisdom that a hunter should never deal with a big bear upclose with anything less than the biggest baddest rifle available.  There is nothing about conventional wisdom that can't be trumped with actual experience.     

  I lived in Alaska and hunted big bears for 25 years, i consider that some pretty good "actual experience".  I think "fear" and lack of experience is the reason most recommend cannons for big bears.
 
  Here's what one of the most respected big bear guides has to say about this,
 

 
  My experience falls right in with Phils.
 
  DM