Good post. I'd say the rifle with the least amount of recoil that still has enough energy to put a deer down. 25 06, 270, 243, 257 WB, and my personal favorite the 6.5x284. Anything that don't rattle your teeth. Another good one that will cover you for any north american big game would be a 300 wm and the 7mm.Ultra mags are over kill IMHO. I may take a thrashing for that, but oh well!