A Ruger compact chambered in .260 Rem. Using 140 grain bullets for elk, and 120s for deer it just naturally recoils less than the 7mm whicn needs 140 grain bullets for deer and 160 grain bullets for elk. Or the .30-06 which uses 150 grain deer bullets and 180 grainers for elk. The penetration is about the same for each of the named deer or elk bullets.

Melissa, it concerns me that you are worried about being seen as a "whimp." In my circle, women who hunt deer and elk are seldom thought of as "whimps," for one thing. For another, the physical damage done to human tissues has absolutely nothing to do with one's physical prowess, "toughness" machismo, courage or willingness to take punishment while pursuing a goal. It has EVERYTHING to do with the limitations of soft tissue against cumulative physical trauma. Think of recoil as a meat tenderizer. That'
s what it does over time. If there is some guy out there who has made you self conscious about recoil, SMACK the sonovagun upside his head, cuz the varmint deserves it!

Having said all that, if you can shoot your .30-06 well, you have no reason to want to introduce more variables into your huntig by having to get used to a new rifle.

HOWEVER... ANY excuse to buy a new toy is a good one, and the 7m-08 is a fine round. The recoil will be less because of physics. The weight of the bullet and the amount of gunpowder generally increase felt recoil (every action has an equal and opposite reaction.) Felt recoil will be influenced by many other factors, though. A heavy gun absorbs some of that felt recoil, so a very heavy .30-06 shooting light bullets may feel like it kicks more than a very lightweight 7mm-08 shooting heavy loads. As other posters have mentioned, the fit of the rifle to your body will help you with recoil as well as with accuracy.

Melissa I agree completely with jmfa1957. Every shooter has different tolerances for recoil....take me for example...I am 6'5 around 220 pounds and I absolutely dont shoot anything over a 30-06...I just dont like recoil. Can I stand it?? Yes..bu whats the point? Everyone has a different threshold they are comfy with...mines lower than most. Being a female I'd say you are doing pretty well shooting that 06...but I think truth be known it would make most shoulders black and blue after a day at the range. That being said if ya really like the gun...just get a good recoil pad such as a sims for it and maybe try the shoulder pad they have talked about.


Eventually if you keep takign the beating that gun is giving you the way it is now...you will start to flinch...and trust me as I know from experience..its a hard thing to get rid of after you start. If the recoil pad doesnt do it I would look into a 7mm-08 or some of the other calibers mentioned here. The thing to make sure of is that its a caliber and gun that you look forward to shooting rather than dreading it thinking "oh boy here goes my shoulder again"


As for anyone thats called ya a wimp...go ahead and smack the taste out of their mouth. I wish there were more female shooters and hunters.

For all you fans of the 7mm-08, Conley Precision has a variety of loads up to 175.

http://www.cpcartridge.com/7mm-08P.htm

Lots of good advice so far, but I didn't see anyone mention the action. A semi-auto will use up some of that energy to work the action, thereby reducing felt recoil.

Wimp? My hat's off to any female in the field.

If you're buying new, let me know when you find the rifle you want. I might be able to save you some money.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Chopper69, those are definetly some excelent, long awaited rounds to make the 7mm-08 a very excelent bigger game cartridge.

Thanks fo the link.

Wow, Started looking at some of their other cartridges they load for and I like these guys. Some 165 grain loadings for the 300WSM. Pretty decent prices too.

Thanks for all your guy's help. Do you think a Winchester Featherlight Model 70 would be good? I like the 7mm-08, but some say that its hard to kill elk.

Thanks again,
Melissa

I just purchased a Browning A-Bolt Micro Hunter 7mm-08 yesterday at Gamder Mt. I havent shot it yet but I like the way the gun "fits" me. I have read alot on this site and others regarding this caliber and the 7-08 gets high marks in many categries. I will let you know how it shoots when I get it sighted in this next weekend.

The Kimber M 85 was also a very nice gun but it was quite a bit more money.

MIKE

Should you take a 500 or 600 yard shot on an elk like you could with a 338 ultra mag? No of course not. However with the premium bullets available at the link posted and the two from Winchester and Federeal it will take any elk out there to 300 yards or so.

Bottom line is that no matter what all the super magnum guys tell you about insurance for bad shots or having to take a "less than desirable shot" shooting from butt hole to heart, and all the other "stuff" it is shot placement that kills animals. If you can't put a bullet into the lungs with a 7mm-08 then you can't do it with the latest magnum either. A bad shot is a bad shot no matter what gun you have in your hands, my honest opinion.

A 7mm-08 is perfectly capeable of cleanly killing any elk.

Any of these listed would be excelent elk medicine out of the 7mm-08. My vote would go to the ones in bold type.


140 Gr. Barnes XBT 2850 $29.73
140 Gr. Barnes TSX 2890 $32.44
140 Gr. Nosler AccuBond 2880 $27.75
140 Gr. Swift A-Frame 2850 $39.22
150 Gr. Nosler Partition 2800 $28.86
150 Gr. Swift Scirocco 2820 $41.71
150 Gr. Barnes X 2750 $29.73
154 Gr. Hornady InterBond 2740 $29.39
160 Gr. Nosler Partition 2750 $28.86
160 Gr. Nosler AccuBond 2750 $27.75
160 Gr. Barnes X 2600 $29.42
160 Gr. Barnes TSX 2650 $32.44
160 Gr. Speer Grand Slam 2650 $31.83
160 Gr. Swift A-Frame 2650 $39.22

The five elk I shot were all in the black timber, and none of them were even 100 yards away. I think after the season opens and the activity gets hot most elk herds are found in dense timber, with lots of blowdowns. [8D]