30/06 never went out of style. Marketing drives the hunting and shooting market. Bud you really need a ----- Magnum to hunt ------ effectively. They should just call it a 7.62 Springfield Magnum and all the hipster hunters, TV gurus, steel punchers and keyboard warriors will proclaim it king, for this marketing cycle.
Is the 30/06 ideal? Maybe, that depends on what your definition of ideal is. Hype, marketing, and pundits aside, the .30/06 has manageable recoil in light weapons, is easy to reload, brass, bullets, cases are easy to get and fairly priced. A guy can afford to put in the time and effort it takes to really get to know what it can do, and more importantly what it shouldn't or plain won't do. Several varieties of loaded ammunition are available at every walmart and hardware store in nearly small town around for when the airline loses your luggage, or you just forget your ammo. Try that with a 300 Norma, or 30/378 Wetherby...
I have the privilege of owning several multiples of rifles that cover the spectrum of what is legal to own. They all occupy and accomplish a certain role, even a few ----magnums, and they all do it well. Or they don't have a spot in my collection. That being said, when I'm hunting seriously to put meat in the freezer I reach for my custom Model 70 in .30/06 and send a 230 Berger OTM. It just does the job every time. Cleanly, accurately and ethically from 30 yards out to 800 yards. That's MY hunting limit with my rifle. I shoot steel out to 1,400 several times a year with that same rifle. .30/06 will hang, it always has.
