Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7mm08 and Elk

Shooting 140 Gr Nosler Accubond at 2850 fps
Have plenty of other rifles and calibers but I am a sucker for this particular rifle and load these days. Going on an elk hunt and wonder how far I can cleanly take an elk with this load. I can shoot straight past 800 with this rifle.

thanks
toa

It depends. There are always going to be uncontrollable variables shooting at game animals in the field. If the critter is angling a little, then the vitals require more penetration to reach, simple trigonometry.

Would you shoot an elk deliberately with a full metal jacket? Nosler says the 140 grain Accubond will expand down to 1800 fps. Anything less than that amounts to using an FMJ. So look at their chart and see how far you hold at least 1800 fps with a 2850 fps muzzle velocity. That's your absolute limit, doesn't matter how accurate you are, that's as far away as your bullet can possibly perform as designed when it hits meat.

What sort of accuracy can you actually deliver 100% of the time in the field? Depending on terrain, you may be forced to shoot from a position where your limit is 50 yards (offhand wobbly rifle in one hand the other holding onto a tree), or 200 yards (kneeling?) or 350 yards (prone with no rest, just elbows) ... still keeping in mind the limits of the bullet's velocity and how well it will or won't penetrate depending on angle and position the elk is standing.

See how it gets to be pretty hard to say, arbitrarily, what will or won't work? I can't write you any guarantees. I'm sure regardless of what happens at the rifle range, my limit with that setup is probably not over 300 yards and I'd be way more comfortable at 175.

Tom

Figure out the distance out to which you can hit a larger paper plate on the first shot 90% of the time, from field positions. I'll bet that distance is a lot closer to 300 than 800 yards. And no, shooting off a bench at a gong you are dialed in for does not count. I'll also bet the min velocity threshold will not become a factor at that distance.

velocity drops off below 1800 at 700 yards. I am hoping for a shot under 200 but I can make a fast shot with a backpack rest at 400 without much trouble. If my only option is a 500 yard shot and i have time to set up and study the land i can make the shot. Same at 600 with a little more time.
Do i want to shoot it long range? no. but if it is my only shot, that accubond will hit the elk at 600 with 1100 ft lbs.
Do I have enough gun?
Broadside. only talking broadside.
And talking theory while daydreaming about heading out to my elk hunt in too many months.
toa

Your gun and bullet choice are fine. Quit fretting and go climb some stairs.

What kind of rifle.

7-08 will bounce right off an Elk

cooper
love it. feels good, shoots good, looks good, smells good. Sounds good?

Hmmm ... I won't tell you it won't. I don't want to stand out there while you test on me. However, that's not the same as "approval." There are a lot of parts of it I wouldn't do, but that's just me. Distance. Choice of bullet weight. There's what worked for someone once, then there's what you can count on. Not always the same. I tend towards the conservative side, even "overkill", 'cause tracking down "underkill" and packing it back up out of a canyon sucks.

Tom

I see nothing wrong with it.
You have confidence in it and seem to have the general experience to know what you can and can't do at a particular time and place.
Both of which count for more than the caliber.
Go forth and kill an elk.

140 AB out of a 7/08 is going to kill elk pretty far out there.

That distance is ultimately a variable determined by wind, terrain, time of day, critter movement, etc... And hopefully good common sense.

krp has made something of a career taking elk and guiding people to good bulls that were killed cleanly, all with a 7mm-08. If you're really worried, PM him.

This is sage advice.

Worry about your conditioning and finding elk. The weapon is perfectly capable.

Your rifle and bullet will work just fine. Myself and I'm sure many others have killed lots of elk with a 7x57 and cup and core bullets. When I still had a 7x57 I shot 145 speers, killed elk real dead.

Enjoy your hunt.

How far can you dump one in the brain will answer your question.

I'd try to stay inside 400 yds myself, but it will kill as far as you can destroy vitals...

I've shot a bunch of elk with a 270 and 150 gr bullets. The bullet wt and velocity are very similar to what you're using. My longest shot with it was about 300 yds and I got complete penetration except for the hide on the far side (which will stop a LOT of rounds). On one at about 300, my bullet went through the chest and broke the shoulder on the far side. The bullet on that one was also under the hide.
I wouldn't be afraid to use it at 400 as long as I could laser it first.

Under good conditions your caliber and bullet choice will work. Under questionable conditions you are pushing it. If the animal is quartering or the range is pushing it you could end up with a wounded elk and a long track or lost elk. Bigger caliber and heaver bullet. My brother guides elk hunters out of Cody, he uses a 35 Whalen with a 250 gr. nosler part. That is his choice of an elk gun. Until you have wounded an elk and not retrieved it in time to salvage the meat you can't understand how important it is to hunt with the best combination of caliber and bullet weight. I made this mistake.

Hard to imagine a shot where you could kill a elk with a 35 Whelen and couldn't kill it with a 7/08-

Last I heard, a few years ago, my friend John Haviland's sons had killed over 30 elk with the 7mm-08, using various bullets in the 140-grain class, at ranges out to 400 yards. They've never had a problem, and the elk include everything from cows to mature bulls.

Debating the use of the 7mm-08 on elk is a lot like debating the use of the .270. Somebody I know who's killed a similar number of elk (including some big bulls) with the .270 once said: "If you can shoot, the .270 is an elk rifle. If you can't, it isn't."

The same applies to the 7mm-08.

My son used a 7-08 and 140 gr. Accubond on his first big game hunt and killed this elk at just shy of 300yards. Yep, my son was rattled with about 75 elk getting the heck out of Dodge, but he stayed on this cow and dropped her for good on his 3rd shot. Of the 3 rounds, only one was recovered and was right at 65% weight retention if memory serves me right. Oh, and that is a BIG friggin cow!



Might also add that the load is mild, only 2750 at the muzzle...