7-08 for moose
 

Hello fellas
I'm coming from Florida for a moose hunt the first week in Oct. I plan on using my favorite rifle, which is a Montana chambered for 7-08. I have very accurate loads using 139 Interlocks at 2850 fps and 120 TTSXs at 3190fps. Also working on a promising load for 140 Accubonds at close to 2900.
I don't shoot game past 300 yds., and I feel comfortable shooting this rifle/round combo. I know they are a bit different, but I have had good results on elk with both, the Interlocks and TTSXs. I'd like to know the thoughts and opinions of the locals who hunt these moose regularly.
Also, a bit off topic, my apologies. Ill be hunting out of the Faher area. Can anyone suggest a meat processor and freight company to that could get my meat back to Florida, should I be lucky enough to punch a tag? Thanks all.

Very few hunt moose regularly with rifle in Alberta these days, since for the most part moose are on draw, and it takes multiple years to draw a tag.

With that aside, there’s very little wrong with a 7-08 for moose, all three loads you mention will get the job done, I’d personally lean towards the 140 Accubond load in your situation.

I can’t offer even a hint on meat handling and transport for your situation.

Do you mean Falher?
Your outfitter should be able to give you some recommendations on getting your meat back.
Cat

I like that TTSX load but they’ll all work as mentioned. If it’ll take an elk, it’ll take a moose!! Good luck

There is a fellow posting in the hunting section, also from Florida, who is coming up same time as you and hunting just north of you by Manning. He is bringing a truck and lowbed, you may want to talk to him about bringing your meat back for you. The excess baggage charges to fly it back with you is quite large but that is what most hunters have done till now. Outside of that, finding someone to haul 3 or 400 pounds of frozen meat is going to take some work, unless your outfitter already has that setup for his other American Hunters.

I used a 280 Rem with 120 TTSX first time this year for Moose it died in it's tracks at 150 Yds. I was more than impressed, 7mm-08 the is the same thing it will work well.

An aquaintance hunter i know paid $2700 to have his moose meat shipped from Edmonton to Idaho last year....cant imagine the cost to Florida

WOW!!! At that price, it would have been cheaper to pay the excess baggage fees, by a lot.

Pulling a trailer with a freezer plugged into a small genny would be cheaper

Yes. Debone it and it would fit in a small freezer. Walmart in Peace River would have a freezer and simple generator. Way cheaper than shipping. Buy it on the way home if you need it.

And if you find it too much, simply drop off the meat at my place in Falher......lol. Too easy!!!

hire a couple of college kids to run it down in a rented car..shout them a day or 2 at disneyworld or something and a flight home

7-08 for moose
 

Should have mentioned I'll be flying. My buddy and his wife are driving and should have room for one, and possibly two, of my coolers. I can fit 40-50 lbs in my pack in the overhead bin. The rest I might have to donate.

@catinthehat
Yes, I meant Falher. Damn fat thumbs...😉

Depending on who you are flying with check baggage is charged but useable. 1st checked free, second 60 bucks then about 100 per after that a bag. This is air Canada link, check your airline they all publish this.

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...ervices.html#/

I've used my 7mm08 on a couple of moose, 140 gr TSX and 140 gr Partitions. Both under 150 yards, both one and done. You'll be fine with any of those loads you mentioned, just put it in the boiler room, don't try and break shoulders. I'm actually about due for my moose draw again, fingers crossed. Upsized to a .338 Federal now just for the fun of it. Enjoy your hunt.

TTSX without question. There’s three problems with moose:
they run towards water when spooked - miserable tracking, you really want both lungs down.
they can and will fight back - I’ve been charged twice - much better penetration with TTSX on a frontal shot
they live where the big bears do, and those bears aren’t hunted anymore, so they are more dangerous.

7-08 w/TTSX will certainly put moose down within your 300yd limit, just use a monometal or bonded bullet.
For me, even though its a 10 day round trip in a vehicle, I'd be driving a van, sleep in it, and make a holiday out of it, probably a month's worth, maybe do some bird hunting, maybe some fishing, hog hunting down south, along the way. Buy a used freezer, genset and a small utility trailer up here, for the way back and sell it when I got back.

I watched a friend put down a large cow moose with a .308 and 150 grain interlock from about 150 yards. Took a few steps and piled up. 7mm-08 is more then adequate with proper shot placement.

7-08 for moose
 

I've thought often of doing something similar on my yearly hunts to Wyoming. And I would, if I could only get one of my buddies to commit. I already have the freezer and generator, but that's just too many hours of windshield time to be doing it solo over the course of 3-5 days.Then be fresh enough for the hunt, and then to do it all over again to get home.

I run solo up to NY and PA 2-3 times a year, straight through,
which is 18-19 hrs. At 68y/o, 33-35 hrs solo, is just too daunting.

Sure would be nice though to stop on the way home and chase some pheasants in SD, or a buck in Kansas....maybe some partying in Nashville or New Orleans...

The 7-08 is a great cartridge but for moose , I honestly , think a bit light . You're coming all the way from Florida on a guided hunt and want to use a marginal cartridge ? The small cartridge fans will be all over this but the truth of the matter is the 7-08 is not ideal for moose...
Had to say

Is there a more optimum cartridge, I suppose but there are no flies on 7-08 he said it’s his favourite rifle, no brainer shoot what you know and are comfortable with. My 06 with 150’s won’t do much more. Dead is dead. This coming from a guy that shot 338, and 300 win for years. Cow last year with the 06, a Bull 4 yrs prior with wait for it……..7-08 with a 120 TTSX at 3150 out of a Kimber Montana. The bull took two steps backwards and piled up. The cow went 60yds and tipped over.

My bet is you would consider a 7 Rem Mag more than adequate for moose. The 7-08 shoots EXACTLY the same bullets, just a couple of hundred feet per second slower. The 7-08 is the ballistic twin of the 7x57; Europeans have killed hundreds of thousands of Moose and Red Deer (1,100 pounds and similar to Elk) with that cartridge for over 100 years. Moose will never know the difference between the 7 Mag and the 7-08.

Moose are big babies. 7mm-08 is more than enough gun if you do your part. My wife has shot several bull moose with that gun and 139 barnes lrx with devasting results and penetration. I'd stick with it and barnes.

Ok , I didn't know that . I always thought of a 7-08 as the 308 case necked down to the .284 and that seemed light too me
The ballistics are pretty good

While I’m not in Alberta, I am just across the border in BC. And I hunt moose every single year with a rifle.

Moose typically don’t react like elk when hit, they don’t go as far or as fast.
If you are a shoulder shooter, use the TTSX load you have. If you are a a dedicated lung puncher, use the interlocks.
Soft bullets will fold up moose pretty quickly if they are punched in the lungs.

A bull moose quartering toward you and 250 yards out , next to a swamp ,on a guided hunt There's big diff for locals that know the terrain and have another day to hunt is all I was trying to say ..
Will the 7-08 work , sure . Is it a 7rm , no

Here, now, we get two days to hunt in October, and two days in November. Tripalm/10pt/or spike forks. Thats it. In November there is about 9 hours of daylight. Pretty short window, with highly specific antler requirements.

This years very large tripalm/10 point bull was shot (with a winters worth of meat in mind, not a guided hunt for fun so I’d argue it was a MORE important shot) quartering in to me at about 170m, close to timber and swamp, at -20*C with the specific thought to break his onside shoulder right where he stood. The cartridge and bullet combination I used was more than enough to completely smash the knuckle at the bottom of the scapula, and continue on to get caught under the hide after breaking a rib. Year before the same rifle/cartridge/bullet combination smashed both shoulder knuckles at 151 m and hung up under the hide on the offside. That bull was on the ground before I could even chamber a second round, and I’m quick with a bolt gun. And what I use, wasn’t even close to a 7/08/139 Interlock. The OP has more than enough bullet for moose.

Bullets matter more than headstamps. Pick a good bullet, that will give the penetration and expansion characteristics you want to see at your impact velocity, and go kill stuff.

Bullets are the only aspect of the hunt that matter when it comes to killing- not the cartridge that started it out of the barrel.

Why bust up both shoulders . You think the 139 interlock would do the trick on busting up shoulders ???? The ttsx will do it ,but I still don;t bust up both shoulders just because i can .

No worries just hit the lungs and heart, game over. I use a 145 gr. Speer SP. in both of my 7mm-08's. Pretty much game over if I do my job.

I have used bigger cartridges, 375H&H, 9.3x62, 30-06 all worked. Some perhaps better then others. Bullet choice is the biggest factor "hard" bullets tend to do less damage and moose tend to suck that up better then slower, more "traditional" bullets that dump all their energy into the moose. In my limited experience.

I shoot for shoulders and the stuff in between them on everything. I’d rather break them down where they are.
Hard bullets like mono’s work best when you hit bones.

The 139 interlock at 7/08 speeds is going to do pretty well. A few hundred feet faster from any of the 7 mag variants, it might be too soft at closer distances.

That said, the two bulls I mentioned had shoulders crushed with ELD m’s.

The last moose I shot was on NFLD with my 7x57 and 160gr NPs. Worked fine.

No need to change.