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.280 gets my vote. I've taken several Elk, Bear, Mulies, Antelope, many Whitetails, exotics and just returned from Africa. 10 of my 16 animals were taken with the .280/160gr Nosler Accubonds. All but a Black Wildebeast were taken with one shot, and he was hit with 3 fatal shots: shoulder; heart and both lungs. They are as tough as it comes for a large animal. Granted, my longest shot in Africa with the .280 was 297 yards, but I have taken one Elk, one Bear and several speed goats (Pronghorn Antelope) at over 500 yards, including a Whitetail at 600 yards. PJgunner put it very well, and like reality is: sometimes your best or only chance is farther than we'd like. It took me a number of years to develop my shooting skills at longer ranges. My fault. I could have shortened my learning curve by going to the range often. I didn't. I practice 3-4 times a year and learned by taking longer and longer shots over time. Taking only shots that I was comfortable with. Do I miss? Hell yeah. But usually they are mid range shots where the animal moves at the moment of trigger pull or I just plain miss. If I hit everything I aimed at, no one would believe me; I'd be touted a liar, game would fear me and run off the moment they heard me pull out of my driveway and I'd eventually get bored with hunting...something I hope never to do. Kidding aside, there are a number of good cartridges available, but pick one you like for your own reasons. Keep in mind that if you go too light on bullet weight, all the velocity in the world can change performance at 500 yards. Do you want to kick the door down, or just knock? I love bullets in the 160 weight class. They may be a little slow at 300-500 yards in non mag calibers, but I've had them break shoulders and exit the far side at over 500 yards on Elk and Bear. Here's a pic of a Speer Grand Slam, 160 grain in .280 caliber. Cartridge was once offered by Speer in their Nitrex ammo. They are no longer available (dammit). I put 3 of these through both lungs at 500 yards (rangefinder) with complete pass through. At a guessed range of 575 yards, I stopped him with a shoulder shot. This bullet broke his left shoulder (bone included in pic), exited his right shoulder muscle (no bone) and due to the loss of velocity, snagged elastic membrane and snapped back into the wound channel where I recovered it. Many folks overlook the .280, but it has been my favorite cartridge since 1981. Good hunting, grayghost
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