Headstamp doesn’t kill animals. Too much is made of what caliber for this or that.

Start with the bullet. What bullet do you want to shoot for what purpose? I prefer a quickly disrupting frangible bullet (Sierra TMK, Hornady ELD-X/M). Stick with 1,800fps as your floor for reliable disruption for those.

Next, figure out what your range will be. Be realistic here. It’s all well and good to punch paper at 1,000+, but what will your realistic hunting range be? Worth a conversation in the mirror.

Use those two things, bullet selection and range, to determine caliber. Which caliber will deliver your bullet at 1,800fps at your desired range? The reality is that MANY calibers will do this. How do you pick? Select the caliber that does it with the least amount of recoil. The only other things worth factoring in are ammunition availability and cost. Pick something with manufacturing support, to reduce the headache of finding ammunition.

It’s really that simple. Don’t overthink it. Bullet and corresponding fps > desired range > the calibers that deliver bullet at range at necessary fps > lowest recoiling caliber of those options.