For those of you who have actually hunted whitetail with it… is a 300 Win Mag too much?

I shot a .300 wsm for deer. The only time I’ve really ruined meat was on a high shot. Knocked out over a foot of backstrap.

Its not to much but if you aren't shooting long range it really isnt necessary. If you are hunting big ag fields or powerlines its a great round. Just shoot them behind the shoulder and not through the shoulder and you wont ruin much meat.

The short answer is yes, it’s a massive amount of recoil relative to what’s necessary and more than a lot of people can shoot accurately if they’re honest, but the “ruining meat” argument also doesn’t carry much water. I’ve never tried deer lung nor would I if it were intact. Bad shot placement, usually due to jerking the trigger while flinching from too much recoil, ruins more meat than the “power” behind it.

Anything from a 22 mag to a 338 lapua will kill a deer. Caliber selection has more words wasted on it than any other subject in hunting. Shoot a gun you can hit the spot you’re aiming for, with a bullet made to do what you want it to.

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Is it a bad idea?

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It’s not a bad idea, but as others have said, it’s not necessary either. Something with less recoil would be better for whitetail.

Recoil is the main issue. Meat damage is going to depend on shot placement and bullet selection.

Not me, but my uncle used a BAR 300WM for at least 40 years and killed hundreds of deer with it. He would always aim just behind the shoulders for the lungs to not mess up meat. They would run a little bit usually but, in his words, "they leave a blood trail Stevie Wonder could follow"

I killed two with my Tikka 300 Win Mag last year.

Two people were hunting with me and were using my 308 hunting rifles, so I used the big one. I don't think there's any recoil issues at all. The only downside is if you're trapsing around in brush and thickets.

Weight is an issue also, its going to be heavier and should be. Also, ammo will be more expensive. No one else will want to shoot it....ha.

You can't kill anything too dead though, if you have say some elk hunts on your mind and just want one gun then I don't think its a terrible idea. But if you are new and its your first gun I'd probably get something smaller

I use a 300WSM for everything from whitetail to nilgai. IMO I don’t really get a ton of meat off the front shoulders and Hate tracking deer. So I aim for shoulders and never have anything run more than 20ft. I shoot 180gr nosler Accubonds with a suppressor and don’t find it kicks anymore than my 30.06.
Here’s a pic of the damage it did to the front shoulders of a doe.

I have shot deer with .308, 30-06, 30-30 and 300 WSM. No noticeable difference in damage but definitely advantage is long range accuracy with 300 wsm.

If you load your own you could load it down to 30-06 or 308 levels.