I've hunted with my .338 for blacktails in Alaska for about 20 years. You can put deer down with smaller calibers, but it's not overkill. When bruno could show up at any minute, it's the smallest bear rifle I care to carry in the coastal brush these deer habitate.
I've pretty much used 250 gr Nosler Partitions exclusively. The trick to not ruining a lot of meat is to keep the impact velocity below 2,700-2,800 fps. I'll be tempted to load the 200 gr accubond for my CO 2nd rifle hunt this fall.
One year I tried a reduced load using the .33 cal 200 gr Hornady flat point. I was shooting this at 2,200 fps. It worked quite well, but flat points don't feed too well from bolt action magazine. It was pretty much a first round in the chamber, with heavy stuff to follow. Problem was that the POI wasn't the same.
For a Lower-48'er, I see the .338 being a perfect elk/deer combo rifle. When I was hunting elk last fall is Utah (son drew a Stwd youth tag) a local asked what caliber my 14 year old was shooting. It was my .338. They guy couldn't believe it!