What caliber should I buy?

[Outdoor Writer]

13 minutes ago, UggRedBilly said:

Freaking awesome! Nice buck!

You've received a lot of excellent input in this thread. Nearly every cartridge that has been suggested will get the job done -- as long as the bullet hits where it needs to for a kill. The only other thing is to think ahead; while AZ hunting is now your norm, it might not be in 10 years as you choose to branch out, so to speak. That said, if North American game will be your only quarry, most of the suggested cartridges will kill all of them. The only one where  I would lean toward the more 'powerful' is the grizzly. Although I never got to see a boar when I hunted them many years ago, I carried a Browning A-Bolt in .338 WM. 

The buck is from the North Kaibab, and the rifle is the M70 .264 WM I mentioned earlier. That deer was the first critter it had let the air out of.  

On the wall....

[UggRedBilly]

Beautiful! I am getting that same pose for my mule deer I got a few weeks ago!

[Outdoor Writer]

2 minutes ago, UggRedBilly said:

Beautiful! I am getting that same pose for my mule deer I got a few weeks ago!

Yup. Sneak pose is nice. Be sure to post a pic when you get it back. 

[HorseHunter]

Can you tell we all love talking about this stuff?

After reading through the tread here are a few more thoughts from when I was looking for my 1 North American Hunting rife

For your flinching install a Limbsaver recoil pad.  https://limbsaver.com/products/classic-precision-fit-recoil-pad
these are great! Cost $42

and a good trigger with a 3.5 -ish Pound trigger should take up most of the trigger creep (sometimes longer trigger travel gets you anticipating what comes next.) Cost $70 at a gun smith.

and when you shoot off of a table have a trusted friend load one round at a time (While you are not looking) and leave you a random dry fire to check your flinch response. 
 

My fist “one gun” I purchased was a Winchester Model 70 300 win mag equipped with the BOSS system muzzle break (that also helps recoil).

in the early 90’s guys were winning 1000 yard competitions with them but they were not doing that with a $300 3x9 scope. 
 
I remember zero-ing it in at Ben Avery in 1994 and I shot 15 rounds off a bench before any of the above mentioned mods and it kicked like a mule. I seemed to have tamed that because my boys love shooting it.

I like shooting commonly used cartridges Incase you get in a pinch and need to buy a box at a local hardware store in any small town USA 

Now start saving for your scope! 

[Outdoor Writer]

On 12/5/2020 at 9:18 AM, HorseHunter said:

I remember zero-ing it in at Ben Avery in 1994 and I shot 15 rounds off a bench before any of the above mentioned mods and it kicked like a mule. I seemed to have tamed that because my boys love shooting it.

I like shooting commonly used cartridges Incase you get in a pinch and need to buy a box at a local hardware store in any small town USA 

My son & I drew elk tags one year, and the only rifle he owned was a Ruger M77 .270.  I wanted him to have a bit more gun, so I borrowed a .300 Weatherby mag from Corky Richardson's dad and off we went to Ben Avery. His first shot from the bench produced his first case of "quarter-moon eye," and blood began gushing forth. A severe headache ended his shooting for that day. He did eventually use it to kill his bull, however. 

The 'small town' comment is dead on, too. That's one reason the 30-06 is always mentioned. 

[bojangles]

I was recently in the same position, and considered the .338 lapua, .28 nosler, and .300 win mag.  
the 28 nosler had my attention big time, but went with the 300 solely on price of ammo.

[Saguaro]

I was taught growing up that you should have at least the following guns-

a nice 22lr bolt action

a nice 22lr pistol, revolver and semi

a shotgun

a varmint rifle

a deer rifle.

Those were the basics.  We had more like a few lever actions, semi auto 22lr rifles and tons of pistols.  

the cartridges were always up to debate.  Usually the common cartridges came up like the .270 and 30-06 for the deer rounds.  For the varmints, it was usually the 243, or the 223.  Later in life I think having a Magnum is nice.  I started with a 300 RUM and had it built into a 300 WBY and have been very happy with that decision.  Now I find I’m buying more of the novelty type of guns like the 6.5 Creedmoor, 22K Hornet, 280 AI, 22 WMR and planning on a 221 fireball and 338-06 Ackley Improved in the next 3 years.  The 30-06 Ackley is starting to look good to me too.