If it was me I think I'd want a flatter shooting caliber.
I live on Kodiak and I remember reading a Craig Boddington article about when he visited Kodiak to hunt deer with a 35 Whelen. It turned out that all the shot opportunities were too long for the caliber (country too wide open) so he ended up using the guide's 300 WM with 150g bullets to shoot his deer.
In a light rifle to get a flat shooting round you either need to go for less powder or a smaller caliber (less lead). Personally I use a 260 remington (both less powder and less lead!) and it seems to do great in a light weight rifle - and I feel good out to 400 yards. But clearly there are lots of options out there!
It just seems to me that a 35 whelen would a little limiting in terms of longer range stuff.
Patrick
Patrick, I really miss Kodiak and hunting there. Oddly, the only deer I killed with my Remington 7600 Whelen while I was there was at about 25 yards. It was down in a mostly dry Creek bed out near Saltery Cove. Blactails are't terribly wary in my experience. I was usually able to close the gap to 300 yards without any trouble. Sometimes the terrain doesn't cooperate though.
High Noon, good on you for being patient and polite through all this. The Whelen will serve you very well with premium bullets. Be patient. Stick to your choice. Something will come along. I will certainly keep an eye out and drop you a line if I find a good one. Get into reloading. It's a great way to kill time in the winter. I got into it in Kodiak and spent many an icy day at the bench.
The whelen can push 225's 2700 and change. Sure something that pushes bullets over 3000 fps will shoot flatter, but you still need to deal with drop past 300 yds. And the thought of dealing with brown bears in the alders with 150 gr at warp speed isn't comforting.
