This post has motivated me express a belief that I have held for a long-time regarding hunting. I grew up in a financially humble family but never felt deprived. I had a "hand me down" shot gun from by grandfather for small game hunting and a hand me down 22 rimfire Mossberg rifle from my uncle, a WWII Marine Vet that taught me how to shoot. My Dad taught me how to hunt but he was not a recreational shooter.
I think it was my junior year in high school (1965) that my father brought me my first centerfire rifle, a 243 Win, Model 70 Winchester. He equipped it with a 3 x 9 Redfield scope. The 243 Win was selected because I wanted a dual-purpose caliber, deer and varmints/predators (foxes in those days). I learn to shoot this rifle and hunted all year around with it taking a lot of groundhogs / crows, a bunch of foxes, and a few deer. After learning the fundamentals of marksmanship, it was the familiarity and confidence in this rifle that made me a successful hunter and field shooter.
This is not intended to be a "pro-243" post but rather to make the point that all this noise over "which caliber is best" is just that, noise. If you select a caliber that is appropriate for your needs, learn how to shoot, become familiar with your rifle, and learn how to hunt you will be successful.
Great calibers like the 257 Roberts fell out favor in my opinion due to marketing ploys by manufactures to sell rifles. Their worst enemy was the "hand me down" rifle which resulted in no sales. Therefore, aided by gun writer "experts" they marketed new calibers and misguided beliefs that it would make a poor shooter / hunter successful by the mere acquisition of this new "hot rod".
