NO offense intended...........but I need a certified instructor showing/telling me how to shoot like I need a another wife!!! Load, look, shoot. I am sorry if I make it sound trivial or simple.........but it is. Now my buddy that reloads for me.....he has the harder task. The shooting is the fun part.

I have already shot the gun in question and found the kick/recoil to be a lot less than advertised. My '06 with no pad, just the factory plastic butt plate, kicked harder to me. Never shot a gun of this caliber or bigger, but all the talk had me thinking it must really be something. Based on this experience, I will no longer listen to what "others" say about guns and their kicking/recoil/etc. The gun did not hurt me. The gun did not make me flinch. I did not run home to mommy and ask for a booboo pad! The gun was loud. (has a muzzle brake that I will see about removing). Please don't let somone else "tell" you what you will feel/not feel.

I grew up shooting my grandpaw's 12 guage reloads. The man never had any instruction in the field, so as long as your gun stock didn't split you were okay. In fact, his gun was missing a chunck of the stock for this very reason. I have never understood so many hunters total aversion to the recoil of a gun. It all takes place "after" you pull the trigger!!! I focus on the target, right or wrong. I am not thinking about the fact that my 12 gauge is still another inch or two from my shoulder when I pull the trigger on a Dove or Quail!!! The bruise afterward tells me......but I still do it!

If the gun being shot interferes with your ability to shoot it because it is too heavy/loud/long/ etc., the I understand the problem. I just like to shoot and hunt.
I am no great shooter. But the gun shot and felt good. Personally, I want to feel the gun buck!!! Did she buck???? I have .22 calibers for plinking and loaning those that don't want a "kicker". The feedback I got from this gun told me that I was on the right track.

BTW....my grandmother (god rest her soul) could have shot this gun and smiled. But she was a rare one, another story for another time!

Thanks for the feedback all. Elk might be the biggest thing I ever shoot at so maybe this gun will do! If not, then gosh, gee wiz, guess i would have to get another one!!! Darn the luck!

I hear what you are saying and have read all the rhetoric on these posts about "gun recoil" and such...............but why are some so adamant against using a larger caliber? Do these same guys think that I should be driving a compact pickup instead of 3/4 ton just because "they" do or "think" I should??? I do not understand.
As stated previously, I am not a great shot and need every advantage I can muster. Especially in a country where they won't let me bring my feeders and deer corn!!!!

Between you and me EKM......my experience, and I am just going on me personally, I experience a lot more "shot anticipation" shooting my bow than I do with a rifle. A bullet always tells the truth! That dang arrow is a lieing SOB sometimes!! heeheee