Been in the situation enough time I dismount and get off the trail to let lamas by. The recent one was runnning into a guy with 4 last month heading the same way as me. Just got off and followed him till he found a spot to let me by and I hopped back on.
"That mule is pretty impressive. It's...
The best advice, become friends with some one that can ride and pack. You supply some knowledge on the hunting area, they supply the expertise to pack the elk out in half a day.
Next best advice, before committing to anything, buddy up to the local chapter of Backcountry of Horsemen of America...
I think that's considered targeted marketing. They're trying to stay away from the urban warrior crowd and avoid the imagery that often casts hunters in a bad light (focusing on the hunt and not the kill). Unless the urban warrior crowd is a big sales demographic for them, it sounds like smart...
There is a whole scientific process to it but it's a pain to explain and then you get factors like single or double base, temperature sensitivity, position sensitivity...
Find data for the cartridge and bullet weight you want, then possibly refer back to the burn rate chart if you're getting...
Personally I wouldn't mess with a 7mm-08ai unless I was just bored or had a 7mm-08 that's throat was just toast. Yeah, you'll gain a little bit of capacity by getting the steeper shoulder, but the rounds that benefit the most by going to an AI version have a decent amount of body taper removed...
Sorry if we upset your fanboy sensibilities. "Failures" with the ELD-X are the same as with any Hornady bullet that uses their Interlock technology. When expansion reaches the ring the core and jacket separate. It happens with the original Interlock, the SST, and the ELD-X.
Advocating shooting...
You're setup is fine as long as it's well tuned. Arrows are pretty efficient at maintaining their energy/momentum over distance so long as they are flying straight. If you're ever worried about it try using a COC broadhead with shallower blade angles so the physics are more comparable to slicing...
Initial weight is more with the ELD-X but it won't retain nearly as much as it travels through an animal. You can plan on maybe %40 weight retention with the ELD-X and around %90 with the LRX. Apples to apples the heavier bullet will penetrate better than a light bullet, but these two bullets...
I've shot multiple elk with the 140gr 7mm Accubond out of my 280AI doing 3,100 fps and have yet to get any back. The last bull I shot with them was nice 6 x 6 at 90 yards. I put 3 in his lungs just to see if I could get one to blow up, all exited. I'm very surprised a deer was able to stop that...
The only time blood gets on canvas for me, is the half breed on a decker saddle. We started just getting pieces of the heavy tarp material (same stuff they use for tarping haystacks) big enough to cover the half breed and cut holes for the bars to go through.
If there's an RCBS cowboy set for it, I'd go that way. My understanding is those use a stepped expander like a Lyman "M" die for "belling" the case mouth. It's not a necessity, but a nice thing to have.
Flex tips require you to trim your brass to a length that only works for them, so they'll...