Of course at the time I was only hunting deer and hogs and in my opinion full power .30-06 is borderline overpowered for whitetail, I definitely didn't need more horsepower. Now that I've started chasing elk, my thoughts on the medium bores hasn't really changed. The two I've knocked over were with a .270 and a 6.5 CM, I think this year I'll use my heavy rifle, a .30-06, but I really don't see a need for much over that unless you are after bigger or tougher game like DM~ said. Even then, if I'm dealing with more recoil I'd prefer something like a 300 WM to a Whelen.