Besides choosing the right bullet for the job, and being capable of the accuracy needed to put the bullet where it will make the quickest most ethical kill... the math that I use to determine the optimal cartridge for the job is a combination of velocity, energy, and bullet shape. I believe this quantifies as many of the physical bullet and flight characteristics as possible.
What it comes down to is the range you intend to hunt a particular species at...
a 308 winchester with a 180gr bullet will have roughly the same mass and velocity at 300 yards that a 30 06 has at 400 yards with the same bullet... that the 300 win mag has at 500 yards with the same bullet... that the 300 rum has at 600 yards with the same bullet. Certainly they will all get the job done at 200 yards, but a cartridge pushing that 180gr bullet faster at the muzzle will have greater retained energy and velocity (and killing power) by the time it reaches targets further out.
For me, I use the following rules of thumb:
For deer sized animals, when the bullet reaches its target at my max range, I want it to still have at least;
1) 2000 feet per second of velocity
2) 1200 foot pounds of energy
3) a "25" rank on the KPS (killing power score)
For elk sized Critters; on target I want;
1) min 2000 feet per second retained velocity
2) min 1500 foot pounds of energy on target
3) a "35" rank on the KPS scale
KPS is calculated as;
Energy at a given yardage x bullet sectional density x bullet frontal area.
This allows me to compare otherwise dissimilar bullet/cartridge options in an apples to apples way.
Spoiler alert, at least by my math, if I'm hunting elk or bigger, I want to be in 300win/300wsm/7rem/28nos territory beyond 600 yards. That's not to say a 6.5cm with the right bullet placement couldn't get the job done... but for me I like a bullet/cartridge combo that packs enough of a wallop that even if a young shooter behind one of my rifles misjudged the wind a tad, or made some other error, that even a slightly less than perfect shot will still get the job done quickly and humanely. For me, it's about a margin of error to account for real world hunting conditions.