Deer, pigs and bears have fallen to our 708. Awesome round.

7mm 08 is about all I use anymore during deer season. I use either the Federal premium with barnes 140 TSX, or 140 fusions in mine. Always have pass thru's with the Barnes. In the GF's we use Barnes Vortrx 120 ttsx. They have worked just as well.

Hogs I learned my lesson on and always head shoot now so never lost one of them. Have not lost deer to a 7mm08.

Great input - I appreciate all the info y’all have shared. Below are a couple of pics of the two deer I’ve killed with the 7-08. That was one of my better days hunting!

Many years ago, Outdoor Life wrote and article calling the 7-08 the best deer caliber ever. Not that I follow that statement completely ( I believe there are several) but it is an amazing whitetail round. My oldest son got one for his 8th birthday and killed his first deer that year. We have always used 140 grain Hornady SST loads. Put that in a short action like a steyr or Ruger Hawkeye compact and you are golden.

The 7-08 is a fine cartridge for deer hunting in Alabama. Load a 140 grain Nosler partition or accubond and you will have no worries about bullet performance on any shot you may have.

I have never used a 7-08, but have used a 7x57 since the mid 80s, which is the ballistic twin of a 7-08. I've killed a few dozen deer with that gun, mostly with 139 gr Hornady and 140 gr partitions.

I also started with a 7x57 in a Model 70 Featherweight and shot that a couple years then, and I was still a young buck.... picked up a 7-08 only a few years after Remington introduced the Model 7 compact. It is still killing deer my wife hunts with it. Shoot 140's and you've got one of the best whitetail rounds ever cambered.

Great for deer. Accurate, low recoil, and wide variety of factory loads to choose from. Good all around hunting round.

Never shot a hog but every deer has dropped n there tracks and that’s with the cheap American whitetail rounds I bought when I first got it and the federal premium vital shock, zero complaints with it. Got the gun for something my wife or daughter could use and after trying it out I doubt I ever take my 300 win mag in the woods again.

With sub 3,000 fps rounds like the 708 the cheaper bullets like the Core Lok's , Fusion's. and the old Winchester Silvertip's do a number on deer.

The 7-308 does pretty good for a low recoil silhouette round. The 120 HP by remington is overlooked and should't be.

Nosler made the jacket on the 7mm 120 gr ballistic tip thicker for silhouette shooting. The side benefit is that it makes it a great deer bullet even when loaded to 3050 FPS in a 7-08. It doesn't come apart at high velocities like some of the it he ballistic tip bullets are prone to do.

I bought a compact 7mm08 for my young son for his first deer rifle. He has shot and recovered 3 deer with it so far.

The first deer was shot with a Hornady 120gr "reduced recoil round". He hit it in the crease and the deer fell straight down. I will say, I could never find an exit and only found the entrance after hauling the deer to the processor and seeing a tiny drop of blood where he hit it. Almost like there was barely any entrance wound either. When the deer was gutted at the processor the entire inside was liquid.

The last two he shot were with Federal Fusion 120gr. He hit one broadside in the crease and it ran 15 yards. Moderate blood after 5 yards but no spectacular exit for sure. The other deer he hit in the "right spot" in the crease but it was quartered away harder than he thought. Got a pretty decent exit in the gut, but the deer ran like 120 yards or so. After 5 yards got fair blood but we had to track very carefully as it petered out into small droplets after 40 yards or so.


So, all that being said, the 120gr seems to do the job and kills the deer relatively quickly if hit solidly but I don't count on great blood trails. I allow him to shoot it still because the recoil is DRASTICALLY lower than the 140gr rounds I've tried. That is the one thing that really stands out with the 120g/7mm08 combo to me. I have never noticed that drastic of a difference between bullet weights in other rounds. Using the 120 gr really makes this gun a pea shooter, even with a light compact stock. (of course it's just as loud … I make absolutely sure he has double hearing protection at the range, and in the field he wears electronic muffs). I feel his shot placement as a result of the light recoil outweighs the benefit of a 140gr round. At least for right now.

Barnes Vortx 120 TTSX and problem solved.

Yep; that's the ticket

I shot two bucks last season that weighed over 200lbs with the 140 grain fusions and they only took a few steps. Seems like I shot a hog or two with it but I can't remember.

I want to say I tried that bullet (120 ttsx) in his gun and it wouldn’t pattern well. But based on your recommendation I’ll try again. Did you find that bullet did sufficient damage to put the deer/pig down quickly or did it just give a reliable exit wound? (Or both)

Thanks for the input

First deer I ever lost was a good hit with the 7-08 and made me reevaluate the acclaimed SD and velocity, the bullet zipped through with little expansion. I personally feel the 120gr makes a better deer round.

7-08 is a good caliber but one should consider bullet choice.

I only use flat based fast expanding bullets these days, most of my shots are under 100 yards, very few at 200 plus.

Both. The only Barnes I have recovered was in a hog quartering too me. Shot in front shoulder and ended up in the off hip just under skin. I like good exits and blood trails is why I gave the Barnes a try.
Fusions on broad side shots have given exits on everything under 100 yards. Have not shot any over 100 yards with them.

Of my pics above; the top 175lb boar was a 75yd running shot and the pig rolled up in a pile. The second boar was behind a tree and stuck his head out, neck shot dropped him.
The buck came in behind my ladder stand grunting at a doe at about 80 yds, I decided to take the shot but as I began to squeeze it off; he dropped his head and wheeled away from me to follow the doe. Was afraid I had missed as he trotted away. If you look close at the pic you will see entry wound high behind last rib. It exited his neck. He stop after 40 yds and tipped over.
Also, shot my best buck with same gun. Buck trailing doe and vitals at 50 yds; ran 40yds like a quarterhorse, ran head on in to a pine tree, dropped and never twitched.
The 120TTSX patterns well in that rifle.

To follow up, I chose the 7-08 over the .243 based on many conversations and articles comparing the two. After my research I came to the conclusion that the 7-08 was a little more forgiving if the shot placement was not perfect. When considering a caliber for a new, young hunter, that was the information that tipped the scale in favor of the 7-08. I also bought a Browning 7-08 last year for Janet. Unfortunately, she didn't get to dent a primer on a deer with it but hopefully that will change this season.

Dr. B