Cut my teeth on a Remington 1903A3 built in 1943. It still has the butt number on it!! Still have it and shoot it on occasions. I then owned a Sako AIII in .30-06 SPR and had my longest shot with it, 1200 m, as well as an antelope and a few mule deer out in Colorado. I sold that and got a Tikka T3 Stainless Steel Light in .30-06 SPR that I have loaded up for 125 gr to 240 gr and everything in between. I have a bunch of other different caliber rifles that I pick to hunt with in different areas, but will ALWAYS have a .30-06 SPR of some type in the safe!!! Yes, I believe that if you were to "get by" with one rifle caliber, the .30-06 would be it.