7-08 Elk wannabe?

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ironworkerwill

ironworkerwill

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I was reading some guys blog, Dennis Carroll, he stated that the 7mm-08 Rem was fired into a bull Elk numerous times before killing the animal. Actually said the caped hide had 14 holes in it and the shooter done her job and it was the fault of the cartridge. Btw under 100 yds.

Any thoughts?
 
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I have seen 1000 lb + cows killed with .22 shorts turned off like a switch and people that couldn't kill a hog with a 50 BMG.

My thought would be you must be in politics to call it "doing your job" and you can't kill an elk at 100 yds with 13 shots from a 7-08.
 
Sounds like poor shot placement or poor bullet selection.I prefer a .338 because I hunt mostly public land and want to drop the animal before he runs by another hunter who may try to claim him.On private or land without other hunters I would not hesitate to use a 7-08 with good bullets.
 
I have read the same blog post and I call bull.

Why a "experienced" elk hunter would let some shoot at an elk 14 times is, in my mind, disgusting. He claims in his story, that the elk made no movements or even acted like it got shot. Bull.

No animal could take 14 shots with no reaction. People use the 7mm-08 all the time with great results, especially when loaded with premium bullets
 
ironworkerwill - you are right. Thousands of elk have been taken with a 30-30. Wouldn't recommend it myself today, but it will still work... and that blog is BS
 
708 is great, I would guess bullet selection and shot placement. I shot an elk with an encore pistol in 708 with an sst bullet, and it broke up on some ribs. My fault for using that bullet on elk, but it got the job done.
 
Shot placement and even any of the standard lead tipped 140gr cup and core factory loads would have easily done the job with much less tadoo. You have to put them where they need to go first though.

If in fact the animal was shot 14 times, I am among the others who claim BS at it taking them and not moving.

It might have taken one and stood there a moment contemplating what had just happened, but the second one would have left no doubt it was time to move out.
 
If in fact the animal was shot 14 times, I am among the others who claim BS at it taking them and not moving.

It might have taken one and stood there a moment contemplating what had just happened, but the second one would have left no doubt it was time to move out.
Click to expand...

I once took 3 shots at an old whitetail cull buck. 186 yards with Remington 150 g SP bullets in a 308. They made a 3-4" group around the shoulder. The first one he didn't budge, the second he wiggled his left hind leg like he was shaking a fly off, the third he took off running about half of a 10 yard circle. 3 is also a long way from 14.
 
Sometimes it is possible to have all of the facts and still reach the wrong conclusion. I believe it is possible that this happened, but the 7-08 is perfectly acceptable as an elk round. Something else going on here.

How many of the 14 holes were entrance holes and how many exit holes? Sometimes animals hit with fatal wounds don't immediately drop. If the shooter had time to fire that many shots the elk certainly didn't travel very far and was likely dead on its feet and several more unnecessary shots were fired into the animal quickly.
 
Sometimes an animal will surprise you at their will to live. Couple that with the type of bullet used and the skill of the hunter involved and you have such a situation. I have myself witnessed a similar scenario involving a whitetail that took nine rounds from a 30-06. The young fellow got excited didn't place the rounds well and didn't give the animal time to expire. To add to that he was using a 220 grain bullet that appeared not to have expanded in the animal.
 
I hunted with Dennis for several years and heard that story a long time ago. I was thinking it was a 257 Roberts, but I can't remember what I did yesterday anymore.
 
I'm usually a guy who errs on the side of caution when selecting a cartridge to take hunting. For instance, I deer hunt with a .30-06, which you could legitimately say is overkill for whitetails. I'm not a big fan of using small, light cartridges on elk, moose and bear.

That being said, this story is BS. You don't put 14 7mm bullets in an animal before it dies, not if the shooter "did her job" as the article says. Doing her job would entail putting them in the heart/lung area of the animal. In which case that animal is going to be dead in fairly short order, even with a 7-08.
 
A 7-08 has about the same energy @ 100 yards that a 7 mag has at slightly over 200 yards. If a 7 mag is an adequate elk gun, and it is, then the 7-08 is at slightly closer range. Barrel length not an issue here. it might make a difference at 500 yards. At 100 yards the caliber is not the problem.
 
Like I said, I know Dennis and hunted with him several times. He was a quite capable outfitter. Hunted with Art who had the camp before Dennis when Dennis was a packer. I was told this story in person by Dennis probably the year it happened, maybe 1999 or 2000, and it hasn't changed significantly. He had no other odd stories to tell, or much to say at all usually.
 
I went on a cow elk hunt this year. The guides told use that sometimes when elk are shot they can stand in the same place for 10 minutes dead on there feet before they fall. I wonder if that is what happened. Flinched on the first shot double lung then fell backward on second shot same place. I didn't try to see if it would last 10 minutes, second shot was on its way as soon as I could chamber after firing the first.

It would have been good info to say what they found when gutting the elk. Did the bullets hit high, low expand?
 
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I've lost count of the number of elk I've killed but it's a pretty good number. I've seen many elk killed. I've killed them with a variety of calibers I've seen them killed with a variety of calibers. I've never seen an elk stand dead on its feet.....Pop an elk in the lungs and they fall over dead some sooner than others but when they die they fall over! Pop an elk through the heart and they fall over quicker. Hit them in a leg or the guts and you've got major problems. Elk are tough but if they can't breath and supply blood to their brains they fall over dead!

A couple of years ago a buddy shot a large bodied bull with a .243 using an 85 gr hollow point. Not my choice or recommendation for an elk round or bullet. He hit the bull perfectly at about 80 yards right behind the shoulder destroying the lungs. The bull ran about 100 yards and tumbled over dead as a door nail. A 7-08 in the goods will produce similar results.
 
My hunting partner has killed two elk with his 7-08, both with one shot each. I have killed elk with my .280 Remington, one shot, and meat in the freezer. I know a couple other hunters here who use the 7-08, and have absolutely no problem killing elk and deer with their rifles.

That story sounds bogus to me.

L.W.
 
what elk stands around getting shot 13 times? hell what 7mm-08 is fast enough to reload atleast 3 times that the elk wont get away?
 
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