are 7mm-08 rifles too powerful for whitetail?

[bigwig531]

This was my first year hitting my target. i sat in a corn field watching a pond for nearly 4 hours in the blistering kentucky cold... 7mm-08 under long range scope in head and tuned to my perfection..
i desided "if i dont see a deer in about 15 minutes im heading home" time passes, i hear some moving in the brush, big tom turkey pops out and i start watching him at this point a very nice 10 pointer was less then 50 yards away coming around the hill in plain site. i catch him in the corner of my eye, sling my head around and almost poop. i expected a doe or a fawn my first ever deer not a 200 pound 10 pointer, i raise my gun and place it on my knee looking down the scope waiting for the perfect moment to squeeze the trigger.. he walks within 40yards and turns broadside to me, i count the points over and over in my mind telling myself this was an amazing deer please dont mess up.
ipull the trigger, and watch he jerks stops looks at me and runs away, dead shot i saw blood fly on impact it was a great like up shot with remington coreloct ammo.

i wait, and wait, and wait. i go looking for this animal that i just knew was 10 yards into the wood line piled up waiting to be found. it was a clean shot in one side out the other, found ALOT of blood, a peice of bone almost 3 inches long and lung mass, searched for the deer untill 3 am and gave up due to weather, as i came in and told my story i had a search party for thenext morning, we found the deer the nextmorning he was laying at the bottom of a bluff and ran off when he spotted us. there was a ton of blood where he was laying but when he ran he jumped a log, never found another spot of blood within 100 yards, everyone covering every inch.

maybe it was a horrible shot?
i was told 7mm-08 was to high caliber for thin skined animals, any truth to this?

[223reload]

The 7mm/08 aint too much gun ,but your ammo might not be matched to the animal your hunting ,My son shoots a 7/08 and I handload his ammo using 140grSierra boattail softpoints,and 120gr speers. both perform well on mulies at modest ranges,Isuspect the range was so close that the bullet didnt expend its energy into the deer ,and the shot must have been off ,but if there was definitely lung tissue,it must be super buck. good luck recovering him .I bet youll find him piled up in the morning.

[kat in the hat]

Not too much gun. Better for long range, but I don't believe in too big or too small, just proper ammo choice for the conditions, and game. They said .300 mag was too big. I found it perfect for where I hunt, and damage to the deer I killed with it was very minimal. I just used Super-X soft point 150 grain bullets. Tiny intrance wound, and tiny exit wound, but massive damage inside the chest cavity. Everything but the heart was liquid, and the heart was no longer attatched to anything...just floating in bloody goo. I've never shot a 7mm-08, but I think it's just a matter of shot placement, and propper ammo. He's dead somewhere...go find that rack. Get some dogs or something. Good luck.

[catfishrus]

i have to agree with the other guys here. the gun is not too big. sounds like a leg shot deer to me according to the bone you found. i have never seen a 3" bone from a lung shot. beings the deer was still alive the next morning also indicates this to me. they are a tuff animal and he may run for miles if it was a leg shot.

[blackwaterkatz]

My grandson has one, and in my opinion, it's almost a perfect whitetail gun, at least in our area. Great ballistics, light recoil, and those Hornady 139 gr. light magnums will drop 'em dead.

[777]

Kevin, welcome to the BOC/SOC:cool2:. I agree with everyone else it is not to much gun for whitetails. It was definately not a lung hit and as said above sounds more like a low leg/shoulder hit. Might be lucky to find him.

[bigwig531]

Yeah the deer was HUGE, i was excited and everything was going perfect. from my experience tracking deer with my father lung shot deers dont go to far, that is why i was thinking he was right inside the woods.

i may never find em but at the same time i saw and hit so im happy.

what i use are remington coreloct 139 gr. and W-chester powerpoints 140 gr.


maybe better luck next year, atleast i hope so.

[223reload]

you said it all in your last post buddy,you just had a case of buck fever an made a bad shot,if you are able try to find the deer ,if you dont ,chalk it up to experience.Also I would spend considerable time this summer shooting your rifle at diff. distances in real hunting situations. so you and your gun become one. oh dont feel too bad about the buck fever ,it happens to most of us ,I once shot one antler off a huge milie when I was 18 ,aint never seen a buck even close to it ever since either.
also welcome to theBOC

[bigwig531]

i got a great deal on it is the reason i went with 7mm-08, i was looking for a 30-30 or 30-06 i stoped at the local pawn shop and i knew the lady pretty well so i asked if she had any decently priced 30-30's and she went in the "gun room" in the back and came out with the 7mm-08, she said she would take 250 for it it was 265 tax and all, plus it had a long range Konus scope and box of ammo. at the time i knew my g/f shot 7mm-08 and her father paid around 500 for her's so i went ahead adn got it on impulse, kinda wish i would have went with somthing different, its practically a new gun..

the first shot the shell expanded so big it wouldnt come back out of the chamber so i took it to a gunsmith and he found a bur on it took a little drill-ma-jiger and got it out for 5 bucks and have had no trouble since.

thanks for the post guys.

[catfishbills]

The 7mm-08 is a "deadly" round.................308 necked down to .287 caliber. That caliber was a "wildcat" for years before becoming a "standard" caliber. Very good accuracy from the round itself ( could be other variables w/different rifles, but overall the round itself is considered Accurate)! The 140 gr (139 also) class bullets in this caliber are considered ideal for deer size game. From what you said...it sounds like a leg hit, but what I dont understand is the "lung tissie"? If you didnt push the deer too hard, he should have been piled up (even with a single lung hit) within a couple hundred yards. What did the blood look like from where he bedded over night? Make sure for deer that you use good qaulity expandable bullets that arent too heavy of construction, example...In winchester a cxp2 rating not cxp3 (heavy boned animals such as elk) The remmington cor-lokt bullets usually expand good on deer sized game, even on broadside shots. Some "bonded bullets tend to over penetrate. Example Trophy Bonded bullets or Nosler Partitions. Hope this helps some, but dont give up looking untill your sure the buck is not "dead".

[rednecksportsman511]

i know plenty of people who'll swear by the 7mm-08 for whitetail. im with everyone else, it doesnt matter so much what caliber you're shooting, be it a .243 or a 300mag, it's shot placement that counts most. proper load size and bullet is key as well.

i use hornady ballistic tips. 7x57 Mauser. nearly microscopic entrance wound. i haven't been able to find where my shot went in on the skin, i have to gut it to find the entrance. the exit is small, but big enough to leave a good blood trail. and it jellifies everything in between.

just my 2 cents

[xringer3]

You've got one of the "premier" white tail rounds! It doesn't matter though what you're shooting. If you don't hit the right spot, you'll have tracking problems. I've seen several deer shot in the shoulder with rounds that exploded on impact but wouldn't penetrate. The guys found the same signs you did, but no deer. I shot two deer this year with a 140 grn 7mm mag, and neither exited the deer. They both opened up dramatically on impact! If I had hit the shoulder, then I never would have hit the vitals.

Most people I know that use a 7mm use the 150 grain bullets for better penetration. In the 7mm-08, probably the best deer killer is the 150 grain ballistic tip from nosler. One of the guys I've hunted with for years uses this round and has shot countless deer and all have dropped with one shot.

[flathead willie]

Like these guys said, it's a good gun for deer but the bullet makes a world of difference. Shot placement is the next most important thing. Sorry you lost him.

[GMC FishHauler]

i used my uncles 7-08 this year to kill my first deer in several years, I lung shot a "freak" buck at 150yrds. I used a hand load 120 grain balistic tip. The deer was piled up within 30 yrds. I was suprised at how little damage was done on the lungs and how little bloodshot meat there was on my deer. The entrance hole was normal and small but the exit was only 3-4 times as big. I thought my bullet would expand more and fracture up on impact but it did not.

[Mark J]

Ammo is everything.
Its like ballistic tip bullets. They are junk inside of a 100 yards. Once that bullet starts slowing down a tad they strike like lightening.
Its why alot of folks dont like them. They hunted them to close with the round.

[Pennsylvaniacatchaser]

I have a Remington Model 7 in the 7mm .08 caliber and it is my prefered deer rifle. :cool2:

[223reload]

i used my uncles 7-08 this year to kill my first deer in several years, I lung shot a "freak" buck at 150yrds. I used a hand load 120 grain balistic tip. The deer was piled up within 30 yrds. I was suprised at how little damage was done on the lungs and how little bloodshot meat there was on my deer. The entrance hole was normal and small but the exit was only 3-4 times as big. I thought my bullet would expand more and fracture up on impact but it did not.

If your exit hole was that much bigger ,The bullet did what it was intended to do ,It expanded and expended its energy into the deer.

[porboy]

I have one in a Remington 788 and it is deadly and is carried most days in my pickup. I do reload for it and I have no problem with any animal shot with it running away. Try another bullet and I think you will not have any problem with it.

[David Knotts]

My wife had a 7mm-08, never had to track a deer, they fell right there. It's all in the ammo.

[Plowboy411]

Never use target ammo for hunting.it doesn't expand properly,at short range or long range.imha

[GMC FishHauler]

If your exit hole was that much bigger ,The bullet did what it was intended to do ,It expanded and expended its energy into the deer.
i understand that there was some expansion, but i am use to a 22-250 and 243, so the vitals were not nearly as messy as i thought they should be.

[big corey]

not to much gun at alland amo didnot have anything to do with it either
ive got a 270win. which is very equal to your 7m08 and ever deer ecept
one of the 16 deer i shot with it have dropped in there tracks next
time you shoot a deer get a high shoulder shot on him and they will
be no need for tracking

[223reload]

i understand that there was some expansion, but i am use to a 22-250 and 243, so the vitals were not nearly as messy as i thought they should be.

James,The bullets normally used in the 22-250 and 243 will expand more violently than a hunting bullet from a 7mm-08,mainly due to the construction of the bullet as well as being driven at a much greater velocity. This would explain why you thought it should have been more devestating.

[brinley45cal]

A wise man once told me"Son you dont need a hammer to drive a nail."lol. words to live boys:wink:

[Mark J]

i used my uncles 7-08 this year to kill my first deer in several years, I lung shot a "freak" buck at 150yrds. I used a hand load 120 grain balistic tip. The deer was piled up within 30 yrds. I was suprised at how little damage was done on the lungs and how little bloodshot meat there was on my deer. The entrance hole was normal and small but the exit was only 3-4 times as big. I thought my bullet would expand more and fracture up on impact but it did not.

Bullet velocity is going to effect damage too.
I predominately use 168 grain ballistic tips in the .308.
I dont like ballistic tips at all within 100 yards because the bullet is moving too fast for the ballistic tip to work to its potential.
If you stretch her on out some and get that bullet whoa'd down a little she'll get right to work.
You can see the difference target practicing on hard targets at different distances with a ballistic tip. You can see the difference shooting deer at different ranges too. At 250 yards you would think that 168 grain boat tail was a bolt of lightening when it hit compared to shooting a deer at 30 yards with the same bullet.

That 7-08 still has alot steam at 150 yards. She's moving at a pretty fast clip.

Another example of this I saw in a test on American shooter one time when they were disproving the "brush" guns.
We've all heard the 30-30 deemed a brush gun. Its only a brush gun because its a carbine if anything. Its easier to carry going through brush. Short and compact.

They built wood boxes with no top and bottom and crisscrossed dowel rods through in layers representing limbs and twigs.
The heavy slow calibers like the 30-30 deflected real bad off the dowels and widely missed the targets set up behind the boxes.
The light smoking rounds like the .22-250 went through them and hit the target set up behind the boxes.

I had a cousin shooting some light grain bullets from a 30-06 deer hunting.
They came from a handloader (thats another story) that swore by his bullets.
He couldnt knock a deer down for nothing with them. He was taking 30-50 yard shots. In and out. Little hole in little hole out.
The bullets were way too fast.
He went back to the 150 grain standard field load and started pummeling them with the tissue and bone damage he was used to seeing.
Keep in mind this was way before all of the "specialty" bullets offered today.
These were just standard soft points in both loads.

[Cathooker]

I have taken somewhere in the nighborhood of forty deer with a 7mm/08 using 139 Hornandy light magnum ballistic tip bullets. I can testify that if the shot is in the kill zone the 7mm/08 is as good of a deer cartidge as any ever made. You were thinking too much about the horns and not enough about the shot placement. 99% of all deer hunters have experienced the same thing.

[huskercatman]

7mm/08 is what i use .... always drops them in there tracks:smile2:

[chambers bd]

Hi Folks,
I dont own a 7mm-08 however my fatherinlaw and a couple of friends do, I told them about a neat bullet hornady light mag interbond.
They are about 200 to 300 fps faster and hit really hard. You may want to try it sure works down in the woods of georgia.:big_smile: