There are lots of fine choices here. I rather side with the .270 Win and .338 Win Mag crowd, for the simple reason that they have quite similar trajectories. I think it's good to limit the amount of thinking I have to do in a stressful situation - and if sighting on a trophy doesn't get your heart pumping, why go?

Im going to say a 30-06 for 98% of the work and a 358 Norma for the heavy lifting.

The beauty of the 06 is that advances in bullet and powder technologies just keep making it even more legitimate than ever, up and down both sides of its incredible bullet selection. The Norma? 35's were "the Alaskans" before 338's even existed. And like the 06, they work even better now than they did 60 years ago.

I'll stick with my 30.06
I'm lovin the 180 AccuBond!!!

I'll take the 270 for everytging under elk and my 30-06 for everything else.

.270 Win and .338 Win Mag are a great pair and that's what I had intially planned for medium and larger game.

What I kinda fell into is a pairing of a 7x57mm Mauser in a 20" carbine for woods & close in hunting with a .300 Weatherby Mag for open country hunting.

I could hunt North America or even the world with just 2 centerfire cartridges. Give me a .270 and a .416 Rem. I like the .270 because it shoots sweet, is deadly accurate, and is low in recoil. The .416 would handle anything the .270 wouldn't. My only qualifier on these choices would be that I would have to use my own handloads. I don't do factory ammunition. Not saying it is wrong, just saying it isn't for me.

"...The two I have are the 300 ultra and the 375 ultra..."

I see that great minds think alike

I have used the following for my big game hunting:

243 Winchester
25-05 Remington
270 Winchester
270 Ackley
7.21 Lazzeroni Firehawk
30/404
338 Lazzeroni
375 H&H
375/404
416 Weatherby
416 Rigby Improved

And finally, settled on just the 30/404 and the 375/404 for all my hunts.

300 Weatherby and my 416 Rigby ( only becasue I don't own a 416 Remington which if I did would be in a Model 70 of course jorge

30-06 and 375 H&H. Arguably the two most versatile cartridges on earth. Neither is a specialty round. One or the other can be used in a pinch for anything from squirrels to olifants. Better choices out there for special jobs. None better for covering lots of bases with just two guns. Good hunting. "D"

D: As Saeed said, great minds think alike. I think your basic model (.30 cal. and .375 cal.) follows a basic variation on a theme here: RMiller's: .300 and .375 RUM, Saeed's .30-404 and .375-404, your good .30-06 and .375 H&H (a top 3 scoring combination for use in Africa in Boddington's Safari Rifles (P.386), and my .300 and .378 Wbys. I probably left choices out that fit this model... All the same calibers and all great and lethal cartridges.

R

Another vote for the .270win /.338win combo. I use this myself.

Come to think of it a while back I had a similar combo too.
A 308 win and a 375H-H. Used the 308 in Alaska for black bear, dall sheep and moose then took the 375 to clorado and shot an elk with it.

How about my 7mag bolt action for open country, and my 358 BLR for woods hunting? FWIW, Dutch.

Put me down as selecting the 270 Winchester and 375 H&H magnum. I have them both, and believe this duo will cover any big game hunting requirement in North America.

IF, I were restricted to hunting North America with only two rifles, I would pick one of my two pair of Pre-64 Mod. 70s in .338 Win. Mag., shooting 250 Nosler PTs. @ 2700+ fps-mv.

IF, I had to use two cartridges, I would pick one of my .338s and my Merkel in 9.3x74r, shooting 286 Nosler PTs @ 2375 fps-mv. This combo is what I usually pack on average hunting trips with my vehicle, the paired .338s are for horse hunting in isolated areas.

I would happily(maybe not) use these three plus one of my light rifles in .270, etc.-for tree stand Deer hunting and so forth----NO, on second thought, I actually need the 33 rifles I currently have and am planning on buying a Husqvarna 1950 F.N. "donnor rifle" tomorrow as well as a Browning Mod. 71-.348 Win. I have found that I suffer from stress-induced insomnia and depression if I do not have a lot of rifles to keep me company.............

Only two? God forbid!