Wow, I thought I was the only one who used a .280
I've been hunting for several years now but have yet to take an animal. I keep running into deer durring elk season, and elk durring deer season. Except my last hunt, ran into a herd of antelope and a bunch of does for deer season, but never did find any bucks...
Anyway, my favorite rifle/caliber combo depends on where I'm hunting. In open areas I like bolt action rifle with a scope in .280 Remignton. In dense areas with lots of brush I like lever action, open-sighted rifle in .30-30 winchester.
I've also got a .30-40 Krag, haven't decided if I'm going to hunt with it or not, but I think it might be a good black bear gun with 220gr bullets. I've only gone bear hunting once, and took the .280, but thought that a heavy bullet might be nice.
And although I haven't shot one before, I think the .257 Roberts would be a good choice as well (for deer and smaller, not elk or bear). If I ever have $$$ to burn I might pick one up and try it out...