Originally Posted by
homers brother
Okay, this "trailing" thing. In over 30 years now, hunting pronghorn, deer, elk, caribou, and moose with .243s, .30-60, .300 Wby and .375 H&H - I've but once had to rely on a blood trail to find an animal that I'd hit. That animal was a grizzled old 5x5 bull elk who took a 300 gr .375 GK from an H&H through the boiler room. That bullet was so heavy that it went out at the same diameter it went in. Yeah, it left a blood trail, but I would have much preferred it take a couple steps and collapse, rather than run 100 more yards into the thick timber.
As far as versatility goes, your 7RM will do it all. Jumping up to a heavier caliber doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be more effective, particularly if you find yourself having to trail animals often - which suggests to me that they're not being hit particularly well or that your bullets are not performing well.
You may want to consider the distances you're shooting at? I've not hunted in Maine, but I've always been led to believe that it's not the open steppes like we have here out west? I've become very conscious that it's possible to drive a bullet at such high velocity that it doesn't perform well at SHORT ranges (100 yards or less). I've seen that with standards like the .30-06 and .270, so I'm certain there's potential for the 7RM to do the same. That your brother "easily took down a moose" with a .308 supports that argument, while also fueling the concept that bigger (or faster) is not necessarily better. In spite of lots of marketing fluff and opinions, the .308 remains a fine deer/elk/moose cartridge out to 300 yards.
Again, your 7RM can handle every game animal on this continent. It's particularly well-suited for long range hunting. If you find that your hunting isn't "long range", rather than the .338, I suggest you look at something based on the .308 case (.308, 7mm-08, .260, or .243) - all of which will handle deer-sized game easily. Save your RM for the moose or the long-range work. OR - drop to something even smaller (.223, etc.) and hone your shooting skills and/or do some predator work.
IMO HB is spot on.I don't get this trailing thing either,I was always under the assumtion that a bullet was more effective if it DIDN'T exit,disspursing all it's engery inside the animal.
I also believe that a fast bullet might not expand to it's fullest potenial at close ranges. I've heard some folks say that one of the reason for the 150g bullet in the 270 was for the easten whitetail hunter,slower velocity gave the bullet better preformance at shorter distances.
As far as hunting in ME. i never hunted there either. I had a friend that lived there,her and her family did quite a bit of moose and whitetail hunting.She told me they ALL carried marlin 336 in 30-30. And they got their share of moose and deer!!