My distaste for the the 243 came from tracking 2 deer that were wounded with the 243 ,1 was a shot square on the shoulder joint broke the shoulder but failed to penerate worng bullet ? maybe
The othe was a texas heart shot that failed to penerate to the lungs .
Your problem was poor choice of bullets,not an inadequate cartridge.If a 243 does not have enough energy for deer,the 7mm-08 certainly does not have enough energy for a moose weighing four times as much.