It's a long range hammer on deer and up to elk. I took a mulie out in New Mexico at right at 350 yards across a canyon with mine, longest shot I've made. It packs the goods at that range. I'm not a long range guy, though, but the gun with the right bullets can shoot a lot farther. I ain't in to portable ballistics computers, though.
When I bought mine, a Savage 110, I was just wanting a larger caliber rifle than my only deer rifle, my old .257 Roberts. I thought I might get to hunt elk some day, which never happened, likely never will. So, I hunted mulies and west Texas whitetail with it.
At the time I was thinkin' about getting another rifle, I was really enamored with the .280 Remington. I had an old 7x57 Spanish Mauser that was less than fantastic. I liked 7mm BCs and down range ballistics. But, I thought to myself, why get a .280 when I can have a 7 mag and if I decide it's too much, I can always download it to .280 or even 7x57 ballistics? I've yet to do that since I now have a .308 I acquired, but the option is still there. I don't hunt open country much, but if and when I get to, I still have the 7. My .308 gets most of my hunting duties now days, though, for game of deer and hog size.
I like the big 7, no worse recoil than your average .30-06 with better down range energy numbers doe to better BCs. It does have some muzzle blast, though. When I first got it, I set up my chronograph at it's normal 25 feet and sat down with some test loads to shoot at 100 yards. First shot blew the chrony over on the tripod. I had to back it off another 15 feet and still had to straighten out the little cardboard screens that chronies had back then every few shots. LOL! Yeah, it's a bit of a cannon for 100 yards and in in the thick woods I hunt now days. I usually use my .50 caliber front stuffer anymore. It's a cannon, too, but you can eat right up to the hole. One sub 100 yard doe I shot with that 7, I ruined both shoulders. The off side was hanging by threads. Mostly, that's the 150 Game King I was usiing. The gun likes 1160 partitions and they're not as explosive. Still, it's not the gun for up close hunting. My .308 or my .257 Roberts or my CVA Wolf do a better job there. But, I wouldn't be lost if it were all I had. I'd just load it down to 2600-2800 fps with that 150 Game King and call it a 7x57.
Just my $.02