I just started playing around with the 7mm-08 a couple of months ago. My 12 year old started elk hunting, and the recoil is pretty managable. Looking at the performance issues, the 7-08 launches a 150 grain bullet to the same velocity and trajectory as a 30-06 does with a 180 grain bullet. I'm betting that, with premium bullets, the 7-08 will kill as well as 30-06 will with regular (Remington Core Lokt) bullets. We'll see . . . .