7-08 for elk

[Double K]

In 2005 we had snowstorm that dumped 43" of snow a couple of days before the opening deer season in the last week of October. Most of the roads closed so we weren't able to go until the following Thursday.
I didn't have buck tag but my wife did, we saw bucks we'd never seen before at my place, mid-morning my wife shot a buck three times with her 7-08 and when he finally made it to fence and looked like he might jump it I gave one with my 7 short mag and dropped him. Her 7-08 is a remington model 7 with a 20" barrel that chronographs 2600 with 140's, the deer was less than 200yds on every shot. That is not typical of what happens when you shoot deer with a 7-08 but the deer was significantly larger than the 250lb bucks we normally kill. He would have died but it would been a pia if he ran on to the neighbors property.
The deer was 386lbs on the scale, about what a cow elk weighs.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by langenc

Elmer would say the 7-08 is good for ground hogs/coyotes.

I think a lot like Elmer Keith.

[ligonierbill]

Elmer also said "a 30-06 is no elk rifle".

[Scorch]

When I moved to Idaho in 1986, I was all ready to hunt elk with my 8mm Rem Mag or 375 H&H. I was pretty disappointed when I found out most elk were shot with 270s, 30-06s, 308s, 243s, 30-30s, 7mm Mags, and 300 mags. pretty much in that order. Maybe that's changed, maybe not. There are a lot more people shooting magnums these days.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by ligonierbill

Elmer also said "a 30-06 is no elk rifle".

He was right when he said it.

[big al hunter]

I killed an elk last year with my 30-06. He walked about 80 yards and payed down. Pretty easy tracking, since I saw him lay down. Father in law took his about 4 minutes later with a 308 win. What matters is how far away they are and how fast your bullet is going. Followed closely by the quality of the bullet.

That said, what part of Idaho makes my choice change. I grew up in central Idaho. If your brother is hunting the southern part of the state it is more open, and harder to get close. But not impossible. If he is in the north end it is mountains and timber. Up north the 7-08 would be magical. In the southern part I would lean towards 30-06 or one of the magnums. But if you took the 7-08 I wouldn't say you were any more or less likely to kill an elk than the next guy.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by DoubkeK

And I can see why Randy Newberg believes the 7-08 is a great elk cartridge, virtually every hunt he goes on is guided on private land hunting elk

Obviously you don't know a thing about Randy Newberg.

I choose to hunt wilderness areas because of lack of hunters in this you're correct. I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just saying it's your opinion. My opinion doesn't line up with yours, and it never has. I've killed the majority of my elk with a little old .270 and .30-06. I've never had them go very far with either of those cartridges, all of them have been public land elk except two cows where I party hunted a Ranching for Wildlife area.

Originally Posted by DoubleK

mid-morning my wife shot a buck three times with her 7-08 

I'm sure you'll disagree, but IME that had nothing to do with the cartridge, rifle, bullet, or energy. It had everything to do with shot placement being less than ideal.

[Double K]

We could go around and around on this to the point of nausea, I've seen his television show, I don't believe for one second that he doesn't have a guide, it would be like believing that American Pickers is real or any of those reality tv shows are real.
You artfully changed the narrative from a 7-08 to 270 and 30-06, 270 shoots a 140 around 3000fps and most folks use 180's in a 30-06 which has a good deal more energy than any 7-08 load.
And finally the first two shots my wife put into that buck were in his lungs, the third was to far back. The finisher was a quartering away with a 140 accubond that must have went 30" before exiting out the front between his front shoulders.
I shot cow elk with a 7-08 140 accubond not to long after that bullet came out, she ran about 400yds and layed down, after 20 minutes I decided to get close and administer a coup de grace, she was able to get back up and I put two more in her before she went down.
They were all good hits, that extra 3-400fps of a magnum with the same bullet makes a big difference.
What I don't understand is why some people insist on using smaller cartridges for hunting big game, is it because they can't take the recoil? You can get short action magnums so the weight and length of the guns are the same, the ammunition isn't significantly more expensive. If it's a nostalgia thing using a gun your grandpappy gave them that's one thing. If a 7-08 is the only gun you have and can't afford something bigger that's legitimate. The only thing I can think of is it's some sort of ego booster. Along the lines of the Goliath being slayed with a slingshot and David being the hero.
I'm no fan of recoil myself consequently I use a suppressor with a brake on most of my guns.
My 7 short mag with a Silencerco Harvester on it, not a good scrub oak gun but a 2" brake on the end will also stop a good bit of the recoil.

[Tallest]

To the OP: It seems like you know your limits and the limits of your gun. Within those limits, I can't think of any issues using your 7mm-08. Mine is my go-to for all continental US game (I don't hunt bear or moose, and if I decide to, I will get a 280 Ackley). I agree that it would be advisable to know landscape where you are hunting to you don't arrive only to be disappointed that 80-90% of your opportunities will be in conflict with your limits.

TO EVERYONE: There will always be anecdotal evidence that one of this out-performs that in one situation or another. I could provide strong arguments and evidence on both sides of this debate. Our experiences develop our opinion. But God Bless America! (No. I'm not being flippant. Capitalistic freedom of choice is a HUGE blessing!) I am so glad I am not at the mercy of others' opinions. Otherwise I would have to spend way too much money shooting guns and cartridges I don't like to somehow stay accountable to other folks' experiences. End of rant

[old roper]

NHSHOOTER, I moved to Co 1977 and haven't missed rifle elk season. I shot my first bull with 7mag and got my biggest with 300mag. I hunt pretty high 10K/11K and I have nothing against 7-08 but it's not something I would hunt bull elk with.

I'm pretty picky on what I have build for elk rifle. Nothing wrong with 7-08. When Rem came out with Matte 700 heavy barrel 7-08 I purchased one for factory match. My load was 40gr/IMR4064/168gr HPBT@ 2563fps.

[Double K]

Originally Posted by old roper

NHSHOOTER, I moved to Co 1977 and haven't missed rifle elk season. I shot my first bull with 7mag and got my biggest with 300mag. I hunt pretty high 10K/11K and I have nothing against 7-08 but it's not something I would hunt bull elk with.

I'm pretty picky on what I have build for elk rifle. Nothing wrong with 7-08. When Rem came out with Matte 700 heavy barrel 7-08 I purchased one for factory match. My load was 40gr/IMR4064/168gr HPBT@ 2563fps.

I had the wood stocked HB and mine grouped in the low .3's with 38.0 of 4064 and the 168 mk, I used it for hunter br competition. All I did was re-crown it, pillar bed the action and adjust the trigger. I shot a couple of groups with it that were in the mid .2's, after 1500rds it didn't group well enough for hunter br so I shot it in the standard rifle class silhouette. It really went south at about 6k rounds so I had it re-barreled to 7 ihmsa.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

You artfully changed the narrative from a 7-08 to 270 and 30-06, 270 shoots a 140 around 3000fps and most folks use 180's in a 30-06 which has a good deal more energy than any 7-08 load.

I didn't change the narrative, I simply stated that I used those two cartridges to kill most of my elk. I've used mainly 130 grain and some 150 in the .270 and 165 grain in the .30-06. I did however kill my first elk at about 25-30 yards with the 06 and 180 grain bullets.

If you want to compare numbers there isn't a whole lot of difference between the 7-08 and the .270 especially looking at factory fodder. They shoot within 2-3" of drop and a couple hundred ft-lbs of energy out to 500 yards. There's no ego booster using what you're most familiar with, ego is when a guy tries to hunt with what he can't shoot.

[Ricklin]

There are some seriously large Elk on the N. Oregon coast. In central Oregon they can walk across highway 97 and they magically change subspecies and are then Rocky Mountain Elk.
Should they double back they change back to being a Roosevelts.

Most likely to be seen in the hands of a local hunter? Win 94 in 30.30 caliber.

I suppose a long shot is possible, darned unlikely tho. Tough country to hunt.

[Double K]

There's a pretty big variation in size of elk around here, the ones from up around Craig are definitely smaller than the ones in the southern part of the state.
Years ago a hunting buddy and I got a cow elk up in south park that rivaled most bulls I've seen on the ground, we estimated her at 700lbs. We winched her into the back of my Ranger after field dressing, drove about 10 miles and ruined one rear tire then the other shortly afterwords, new Wrangler M/S and the sidewalls gave out. That was a long night, my brother rescued us in his F-250.
I've seen pictures of New Mexico elk that looked like they would go 800lbs on a scale maybe more.
Most of us will never see elk that size but you would feel foolish standing there with pea shooter looking at one standing across the canyon at 400yds wishing you had a bigger gun if it ever did happen.

[tedthorn]

It sounds like your wife made some bad shots bud

[Ricklin]

Google is our friend. average weight of a Bull Roosevelts Elk, 875 Lbs.

They can hit 1100, best bring the 3/4 ton pickup. Big frickin animals....

And don't forget your rain gear. Also bring an extra helping of stamina, it's very tough country to hunt.
They don't have the great racks like Rocky Mountain Elk. The horns are massive but lots fewer "points" can't hardly get your finger and thumb all the way around the base of the horns.
My younger brother took that years state record years ago, that hunt was quite the story. He crawled in to a blowdown pile to find his Elk quite alive.....and that was the next morning. Brother hunts with a bow.

[Double K]

Not sure what elk they have in Idaho, there are basically 3 sizes, when in doubt use a bigger gun than you think you'll need is my mantra.
No such thing as to dead, I've never heard an elk hunter say he was overgunned. Years ago I worked with a guy who used a 8mm Remington magnum, seen him drop one in his tracks at about 200yds with it, impressive cartridge.

[Double K]

Originally Posted by tedthorn

It sounds like your wife made some bad shots bud

My wife's a AA rifle silhouette shooter, she doesn't make bad shots.

[old roper]

Double K. Since you live Co we have good game law, You can't kill someone game. It's felony for killing someone else's game and it's called Party Hunting.

Great hunter you arre.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by tedthorn

It sounds like your wife made some bad shots bud

I shot a whitetail doe with 7-08. 140 gr bullet. 275 yds. I double lunged her. Tracked her over 250 yards. She barely bled. I found her. Double lung with exit. The same bullet, same shot from 7 Rem mag yields drastically different results.
My son shoots 110 Barnes in his 7-08. Heart shotsare DRT. Lung shots require the dog to find. The exit wounds are so small you have to look hard to find them. Same bullet in my 7 WSM leaves a silver dollar sized exit on double lung. Velocity does matter. How much it matters is debatable.
A double lung is not a bad shot.

[44 AMP]

Countless Elephants fell to the 7 Mauser.......

Countless too are the elephant hunters who became elephant toe-jam because they thought they could do what Bell could do, and couldn't.

Some years ago I met a fellow who had just taken his 6th (sixth) elk with....a .243 Winchester! He thought it the perfect elk rifle. Light, carried easily, hit where he aimed and didn't hardly kick at all. He still had half the box of ammo he bought for it, too!

He hunted thick timber country, and took only neck shots at 80-90 yards or less. It was, for him, a good choice.

Elk are not armor plated. They're big, and tough from living in the wild, but anything that will kill a deer will kill an elk. You might need to work harder to get into range and make a precise shot with a "light rifle", but it can be done, and has been done as long as people have been hunting elk with rifles.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Countless too are the elephant hunters who became elephant toe-jam because they thought they could do what Bell could do, and couldn't.

Some years ago I met a fellow who had just taken his 6th (sixth) elk with....a .243 Winchester! He thought it the perfect elk rifle. Light, carried easily, hit where he aimed and didn't hardly kick at all. He still had half the box of ammo he bought for it, too!

He hunted thick timber country, and took only neck shots at 80-90 yards or less. It was, for him, a good choice.

Elk are not armor plated. They're big, and tough from living in the wild, but anything that will kill a deer will kill an elk. You might need to work harder to get into range and make a precise shot with a "light rifle", but it can be done, and has been done as long as people have been hunting elk with rifles.

Agree, but the argument carried far enough ends up at a pea shooter.
As a buddy if mine one said "If a 30-778 will do it, a 300 Rum will do it. If the Rum will do it, the .300 Wby will do it. If the Wby will do it, the 300 Winchester will do it. If the .300 Win will do it, the 300 wsm will do it. If the Wsm will do it, the 300 RSAUM will do it. If the RSAUM will do it, the 300 Ackleu will do it. If the Ackley eill do it, the .30-06 will do it. If the .30-06 will do it, the .308 Win will do it. If the .308 will do it, the. 30 tc will di it. If the tc will do it, the .30-30 will do it. if the .30-30 will fo it, the .300 Whisper will do it, and we all know the .300 Whisper will not do what the .30-378 Wby will do.

[Double K]

Originally Posted by old roper

Double K. Since you live Co we have good game law, You can't kill someone game. It's felony for killing someone else's game and it's called Party Hunting.

Great hunter you arre.

I had what's called a like license, perfectly legal to kill an already mortally wounded animal to prevent loss.
And I appreciate your compliment, I am a great hunter and shot, got wall of trophies{plaque's and heads} to prove it. Somewhere just south of 200 head of big game and a couple of state championships.

[Double K]

Originally Posted by reynolds357

I shot a whitetail doe with 7-08. 140 gr bullet. 275 yds. I double lunged her. Tracked her over 250 yards. She barely bled. I found her. Double lung with exit. The same bullet, same shot from 7 Rem mag yields drastically different results.
My son shoots 110 Barnes in his 7-08. Heart shotsare DRT. Lung shots require the dog to find. The exit wounds are so small you have to look hard to find them. Same bullet in my 7 WSM leaves a silver dollar sized exit on double lung. Velocity does matter. How much it matters is debatable.
A double lung is not a bad shot.

Use 140 Nosler ballistic tips in a 7-08, it's a fast expanding bullet that puts them down quickly.
This is typically what they do to a deer.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by Double K

I didn't have buck tag but my wife did, we saw bucks we'd never seen before at my place, mid-morning my wife shot a buck three times with her 7-08 and when he finally made it to fence and looked like he might jump it I gave one with my 7 short mag and dropped him. 

How is "I didn't have a buck tag" a like license? The only way you could have a like license is to have a buck tag for the exact same GMU. You would also have to claim that buck you shot as your deer with the carcass tag.

Originally Posted by Double K

I had what's called a like license, perfectly legal to kill an already mortally wounded animal to prevent loss

And I get accused of "changing the narrative"!