Yep. That was figured out over a century ago, almost 2 centuries ago. Not just hunting but fighting. No point in pushing a round ball over 1800 fps except to say you did it. Not necessarily a bigger caliber, 45 cal. is big enough. These days even the 50 cal. shoot 45 cal. bullets in sabots. For smaller game .32 or .36 caliber is plenty big enough.
Tim