ORIGINAL: Roskoe
Just exactly how many elk have you personallyshot with the 7MM-08? Or with any caliber for that matter. All these charts and tables you pour over will tell that the 7MM-08 hits at 250 yards about the same as the .280 does at 300 yards, or the 7 Rem Mag does at 350 yards - or the 7MM Ultra Mag does at 400 yards. Impact velocity, bullet construction, and shot placement are what matter here.
I don't know who this is directed to but I'll answer anyway.
I haven't shot elk with a 7mm-08. I have shot many elk with several other calibers including 280, 300 win mag, 308 and 270. but I don't need to list my qualifications for the likes of you. Personal experience isn't worth a whole lot. If everyone just shot what they saw work then we would all be shooting .30-'06s and wouldn't bother trying to develop anything else.
Also, individual kill shots on animals vary widely. A deer shot with a 300 win mag can run 100 yards where as one with a .243 can drop in it's tracks. This incredible variablility causes us to search for an objective way to compare cartridge performance hence these tables. It's not practical to buy and test every cartridge out there.
Of course we are assuming perfect shot placement that shouldn't even be in the discussion. If you can't shoot then caliber choice matters little.
Bullet construction on deer-sized game is also of less importance. Deer aren't thick skinned nor particularly tough. Any 7mm or 308 bullet will probably perform fine on deer assuming you aren't trying to punch through a shoulder blade. But of course if you have a better bullet available to you, say a 165 gr. SST or MRXvs. a 165 gr. ballistic tip then you would want to go with the premium bullet in most cases.
I just use the best performing load regardless of bullet construction. Just about any current production bullet designed for big game is going to perform well if the shot is placed properly.