I have owned 7mm-08 for 27 years. I have not shot an elk with it, but using Barnes X bullets in 140 or 150 gr. It should do the job out to300 yards. Ihave harvested Mule deer & Whitetails using Barnes X bullets & its always smacked them so i can pack them. I have never recovered a bullet, they pass through & angle of bullet path did not matter. Busted bones like toothpicks.