If I was going to commission a custom I'd go with the .338 /06 but since you already have the Whelen, good on yer! There is much to be said for bullet weight and frontal area in a game cartridge. O'Connor won the writing awards but Keith is more my choice in cartridges. Anything bigger than a deer, IMO, ought to have a caliber bigger than .270. Light cartridges (and I have a few) are splendid for open country and across canyons but here in the forested PNW mediums are my choice. And I remember reading that the USFWS discovered that over 90% of big game animals in N. America are shot at less than 125 yards, anyway. Put that in your bean field rifle and smoke it!
If I was going to commission a custom I'd go with the .338 /06 but since you already have the Whelen, good on yer! There is much to be said for bullet weight and frontal area in a game cartridge. O'Connor won the writing awards but Keith is more my choice in cartridges. Anything bigger than a deer, IMO, ought to have a caliber bigger than .270. Light cartridges (and I have a few) are splendid for open country and across canyons but here in the forested PNW mediums are my choice. And I remember reading that the USFWS discovered that over 90% of big game animals in N. America are shot at less than 125 yards, anyway. Put that in your bean field rifle and smoke it!