Shot placement or enough gun?

Many years ago I sat through a lecture by a celebrated deer hunter who advocated a minimum calibre for sambar to be .458 Win Mag. This is a calibre renowned for killing at both ends that would frighten most potential hunters out of participating in one of the world’s greatest forms of recreation.

New hunters enter the sport with little perception of what rifle calibre combination is relevant to the hunting they intend to pursue. They are totally reliant on information gleaned from the people introducing them to hunting. These can be folk who often know only marginally more than our novice. They can be subjective in their opinions, believing because of their experiences with a such and such calibre, it should be the choice for our greenhorn. They give no thought to shooting technique or physical attributes of the neophyte.

If our new shooter is built like a Greek God, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be able to absorb recoil. Similarly,