Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7mm08 and Elk

I had a good friend tell me the 6.5 X 55 has most likely killed more moose than any other caliber due to the amount of moose taken in Europe. So as long as you get Moose range shots the 7mm 08 should shine. Smokepole.....you are a nasty, nasty troll. IMHO

Well then.

Was it JB who said the 7-08 is a women and children's round?

Because women and children seem to kill stuff with it just fine, but many men need something bigger?

Thank you for the advice Moosemike, well noted and appreciated. Now with all of my new wisdom from my flogging here, I'm going to jump over the the Alaska forum and tell them that the 7-08 is now the go-to "minimum" caliber for Brown bear!

Seems like were beatin' a dead elk...or was it horse?

Good idea. But its probably the maximum. The .223 AI is probably the minimum.

Considering that Phil Shoemaker stated that anything above and including the 270 Win with 150gr Partitions is sufficient, you might not get the laughter you are anticipating. Similarly, post it after the story and pics of the brown bear taken with a 25-06 and 80gr TTSXs...

I saw that thread on the 25-06 and 80g TTSX's. That bear looked pretty dead to me. Amazing, proves the point about shot placement. Not sure I'd walk the bear woods with a 25-06, but that's just me. That little jet river boat is way cool!

I hear tell that some joker even went so far as to shoot an AK grizzly with a 260...and IIRC, was over 300 yards.

I'd hunt brown bears with a 7-08 all day long.

Funny that sticking elk with a sharp stick is more than enough, but shooting one with a 7-08 is a stunt.

I'd like to hear the circumstances involving a real elk kill with a 338, that I couldn't have killed with a 708... and to be upfront on real world experience... my 338 killed four elk the first year I had it late 90s, as it was the new 'flavor' in my arsenal. It's killed some since and my nephew killed one last year with it because that's the gun he used when he was 12 on his first.

There is no issue with shooting an elk with a 708 or shooting a coues with a 338... I've been involved/witnessed both.

Dead is dead...

Kent

I have one instance, out of 56 elk I've shot, where I'm 80% sure the 338 killed an elk when a 7-08 likely wouldnt have.

Thought I could squeeze a shot between some trees and hit the tree an elk was standing about 10 feet behind.

The .338 250 grain partition went through the lodgepole, busted a shoulder and exited. Dumped the elk right there.

Buzz, a Barnes TTSX obviously would've been better for that application.

Seriously though, I know for a fact that you wouldn't have gotten that elk with a .30-30 and a 150 Core-lokt. Don't ask me how I know that though.

Cool story, Buzz. An exception, not the "norm" story. Cool picks.

Thanks for sharing! Truly a "brush busting" or better yet a Paul Buynan shot!

I'm thinking a 140 or 160 TTSX or a 175 PT from a 7-08 would have done the job just fine.

Very cool! Not your average shot but not totally unnormal in the timber. Great pictures and story.

Killed a bull one day in Eastern Oregon, he was following along behind a group of cows. Broad side 150 yards standing above me looking at me as I was crossing the draw. One shot and he slid down the hill to great me. While dressing him I noticed the Three (3, fresh 6mm caliber bullets in his rear quarters. They would have killed him but he was already far away, from where he would have been recovered.I have made that same shot with my 300 Win mag,with the 180 PT, a few times. All were dead within a hundred yards or so.

While I was sitting in a patch of Lodgepole on the boundary of Harriman State Park (NE Idaho) one opening morning. Heard shooting off in the distance, and later two young bulls, came walking by. One was obviously injured so I shot him. He was also hit in the rear but the bullet had angled out. Again my WM, would have stopped that animal much closer.

Near Fort Rock Oregon, back in the day, my dad shot a very, very nice mule deer buck standing 100 yards or so away looking at us over his rear end. Dad popped him with an 06 stuffed with 180 Gr. PT's right in the rear end and he went down. While skinning him we found (3) 6 mm caliber bullets just inches from his spine. He had gotten away from that hunter.

I think these instances will help make my point. I have a couple of more but one involving a 7 X 57, and a 300 B. But I don't want to beat a dead horse. Like Buzz, I have been around a lot of dead elk, and also a lot of hunters. Do your self a favor, use as much gun that you can shoot accurately. Not every shot will be perfect and a little extra insurance is always good.