I figure it's more important to tune your rifle choice to where you are hunting as much as what.
Friends of mine consistently hunt down elk at 200 + yards here in Colorado. So when I made my first choice for a rifle, I chose a 7mag because that's what they use, and I figured I'd be making those shots too. When I learned that eye don't have the mutant eye-balls that my friend's son does, I realized I don't need to reach out that far since I can't see anything out there anyway.
Now I've got a .45-70 in the wall locker. It's not a long range rifle for me, but it'll hit what I point at under 200 yards, and I can load it nice and easy for whatever I want to take.
Of course, I still practice with my 7mag, but I've got a long ways to go before I ever shoot something live at long range.
~Robert
Denver, CO
