Darn my ears should have been ringing.Whats your wife shooting now? My wife is 5'0" 105lbs and has no problem shooting her .260 which is just one step below a 7mm08. Now granted with near max loads there is going to be more recoil, but I think if the put a good recoil pad on it she would tolerate the recoil quite well. When I was working an elk load for my 7mm-08, one of the things I was worried about was penetration,I settled on BarnesXLCs after I had shot a a good sized whitetail that was quatering toward me, the bullet blewn thru the near side shoulder and then traveled length wise thru the paunch and they smashed the femor high up near the hip, before stopping under the hide. The bullet was a perfect mushroom shape with 100 percent weight retention. After doing all the energy caluations, I had a limit of 400 yards for shots with a 7mm08. The energy was down to 1552 FPE.and the only way I would have taken a shot at that range would have been with a super solid rest and a totally broadside animal.