My generation started with the 30-06 because it was what we could afford and it was the easy button because it was a MIL design. At the time, that meant you could get decent brass for cheap.
I have hunted with folks who take a decade to empty one box of ammo, and folks who burn up a barrel as fast as I need tires on my truck. When I started with 30-06, it was ubiquitous and relatively cheap since it was a surplus military cartridge. It just made sense.
You cannot ignore the adoption by MIL or LEO, it is a factor when it comes to cost and availability. Adoption isn't the only factor, but it was a big one in terms of affordability.
As time and years passed, and all the modernization rolled forward, many of us tried the more efficient designs and even the inefficient magnum designs. Some were bigger and some were smaller. Some of us even splurged on the Weatherby designs and other rare and expensive custom wildcats.
If you live long enough, you will see cycles and trends with firearms. Some trends and designs will make sense, and some will not. Every generation grows up with their own backdrop of what was the military cartridge surplus and that has an effect on what is easy to get and cheap to learn.
By now, 30-06 and the WW2 surplus is not like it was 20 years ago. Even the situation with the administration's attitude toward Lake City material being in civilian hands has changed and not for the better. The CMP is about out of HXP and has never been fat with 308 or 5.56. As the 308 gave way to 5.56, the availability of cheap surplus has not lasted as long as the 30-06 did in it's time.
Some of the time, youth will get hormonal and poke at you for what you are using. Sometimes they can back up their bravado, but the majority of the time they can't and it has nothing to do with the caliber they selected. It usually has to do with how much they practice, and that is often driven by what they can afford.
What is important in my own opinion, is to know thyself... not the caliber someone else is using...
When it comes time for killing, bring what you can shoot well and bring enough gun. I will be the last one to tell you what to bring or that my choice is better than yours. All I ask is that we don't spend the rest of the night tracking some gut shot animal over the fences because you didn't practice.
It isn't that some of the new offerings like 7 PRC will out perform the 30-06 in many ways, but when I can reach for anything under the sun when it turns mule deer or elk season, I find myself reaching for the 30-06 without regret. I have shot it enough and know it with my eyes closed. I can shoot it fast if I need to because I have shot it a lot. I can shoot magnums pretty well when I need to, but I would rather not.
I have sat with many hunters/LEOS/soldiers over four decades. They bring all sorts of rigs and their experience and marksmanship can range from high to low. These complete strangers may open a conversation and ask me why I am carrying the 30-06 when they know I can carry anything else? I just smile and divert the conversation and watch them shoot when their time comes. If they put a good bullet at the right place with enough energy, we can talk. If they don't, there is nothing I can say to comfort them.
YMMV
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