Mike,

One time I ran into a guy in the woods who had just killed an elk with a .378 wby (Mark V). It had a brake. He let me shoot it and it nearly deafened me. But the brake was effective because the recoil was on the level of a .270 Win.

.223 is popular here for prarie dogs and coyotes. Serious coyote hunters upgrade to .243, 6mm or 25-06 for better wind bucking ability for long shots.

The most popular deer rounds in my area are .270 Win, 30-06 and 7mm mag. Most guys use the same thing for elk, but the sserious elk hunters usually go with something more powerful. The .338 win mag is quite popular for elk.

Then there are the guys who like black guns. They primarily just blast tin cans at the shooting range, and use ARs, AKs, SKSs etc. A few guys are serious about it and participate in some type of competititve urban combat shooting. Or High Power shooting.