[Socrates]

As long as people hunt for trophies, and not food, you end up with the scenario's I described, and, you do need the edge of a big bore rifle, though I'm not convinced a less then 375 H&H magnum is worth much, in a mag caliber. Big bears, deer, elk, don't get that way by being stupid, or, allowing humans to get close to them, or, allowing a human to have a good shot at them.

If you were REALLY hungry, the same scenarios would apply, as well. Don't care if that texas heart shot on that big hog is all I've got, I'm hungry, and, I'm eating today, so I'm shooting now...

If you can't get it done with a 30-06, in the lower 48, what magnum is going to make any difference?
.375 RUM comes to mind, and, a 458 Lott works for me;-)

I guess the next question would be: If you shoot a pig, bison, buffalo, with a 450 Nitro Express 2, 500 grain bullet, at 2200 fps, a fairly consistent game reaction is the game goes down. It may get right back up, but, the whack is enough to cause enough shock for the animal to go off it's feet. During this time, you can focus, and finish the animal. Rifles that do this on a consistent basis, usually start with 416 Rigby, 458 Win mag, Lott, Ackley, and go up. Would such impact be useful for hunting deer, pigs, etc. and, would the knock down effect be enough to allow a second shot?

Since my 375 H&H is marginal for this sort of effect on game, I have a very hard time believing any of the lesser magnums would have such effect.

Am I way off here?

S