7mm-08 elk load

[Shrek]

South Georgia was quite different then. There was pot in most cornfields and deer coming out the ears. Nobody cared if you jack lighted all night , it was a public service.

 

[cuerro viejo]

How many freezers did you own then? Man, that's a lot of meat.

6 went to ranch hands/familes we took 6 and donated the rest to hunters for the hungry.

Most the bigger ranches down here have walk in coolers also, so makes it easy

 

[cuerro viejo]

Texans42 , some of the farms I was shooting were dealing with deer densities of over 100 per square mile. If you've done it you know that on the first couple nights you can shoot a bunch and stack the deer up but by the end of summer they were gone at the first crack or any noise for that matter. The 10 doe limit , shooter permits all summer , and coyotes have cut the population drastically but in the early nineties it was crazy the numbers of deer in South Central Georgia.

That's only 1 deer per 6.4 acres, I've seen worse. Its nothing for me to set on an 20 acre oat feild in the hill country and see 100deer.

 

[cuerro viejo]

For those of you troubled or confused by high numbers you have to realize our deer don't migrate.

Also the healthier the herd, higher your fawn recruitment numbers. So even once you're are at CC, you have a double fawn crop via twins most years.
Only way to combat that is keeping older doe numbers in check

 

[MuleyFever]

Dont mean to hijack but speaking of 7-08 elk loads my wife shoots one and will hunt elk this fall. I do not reload and the local store has the Federal Fusion in 140gr I think. Any good?

 

[Shrek]

Without a doubt the fusion ammo I shot was the poorest performing bullets I have ever shot. I had two disintegrate on deer that led to two long tracking jobs. Bonded my arse ! More like frangible

Edit : both bullets were out of the same box so the lot may have been bad. I have no Iidea what is available in commercially loaded ammo but if federal or nosler load a partition you can shoot it with confidence.

 

[Manosteel]

My brother has used 130 grain and 150 grain Federal Fusion with his 270 on moose for years. He is not a trophy hunter, more of a put meat on the table hunter, but moose are moose - big, and he has never complained about them or had trouble finding his animal after the shot.

Wife bought me a 7-08 for x-mass this past year when it looked iffy for me to continue bowhunting, tore rotator cuff last summer, and have been using the Hornady 139 gr SST and TSX with good accuracy results. I wouldn't hesitate to use either on elk or moose around here and that will be the rifle my younger boy uses when he gets old enough to hunt and shoot with me.

 

[Shrek]

A quick look found nosler 140 accubonds at midsouth shooter supply.

 

[Unoboats]

Try Speer 130g BT Spitzers. With IMR3031 I'm getting 2909 fps out of a 20" bbl on a Md 7 KS. My go to deer rifle now and thinking about using it in place of my Custom 280 on a Idaho wilderness hunt this fall.

 

[crumy]

Out of the 7mm-08 we have used 140 barnes for the past 3 years. great bullet and has dropped everything it hit... 3 antelope, two bull elk and a deer.

 

[KHNC]

Really, hundreds......even if you take the minimum to be hundreds, thats 200 deer. That means you have shot over 13 deer a year for the last 15 years with just a 7-08.

Hell, Ive killed over 100 deer with just my bow. Granted that was a lot of different bows, but its not that far fetched with a gun. Im sure im closing in on 275 plus deer total. Lost count actually, I don't shoot near as many each year now as im MUCH more selective.

 

[bizyrok]

A quick look found nosler 140 accubonds at midsouth shooter supply.

Now you're on the right path. I've been in on two VLD cow kills and the meat damage to the off shoulder was excessive and wasteful. I want an elk bullet to pass thru - two blood sources are better than one, trust me. Its hard to get much of a blood trail on elk as it is, so I want to maximize the opportunity. Also a rifle that likes Partitions is a valuable tool. Good luck.