Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Let's Talk 35 Whelen, Who Loves Them?

I've been hunting with my 7600 in 35 Whelen since 2005. KYHillChick bought me the rifle with the help of the guys here as a ST Hubert's Day present. I've shot more deer with it than anything else using mostly 200 gr Remington CL's . It was my rifle of choice for topping off the freezer for a decade. Last year I took it out of the rotation for a 30-06 and a 25-06, and I was happy with the decision.

My reasons for switching away from The Whelenizer:

1) There is only so much mass to a whitetail. There is only so much force to impart by the Whelen before . . . oops, you're out of the deer and in the dirt!
2) I'm reloading, but it was still an expensive rifle to shoot-- a lot more than an '06. It took more powder, bigger bullets.
3) The results were not significantly better than the other deer chamberings I use. Dead's dead, and the Whelenizer was not making them that much deader.
4) Recoil. Look, I don't mind a stout load, but when you can kill a deer with significantly less recoil, you have my attention. When I shoot it, I'm glad Mom made me drink my milk.
5) A few times I went looking for the Remington 200 gr CL and there weren't any.

I'm not a guy that demands DRT, pole-ax, laser death ray performance. I'm a realist. If I can shoot and the deer falls down somwhere I can see from standing in the deer's tracks, I'm happy. By that standard Whelenizer did as good a job as any of my 06's or my 308 using 165 grainers. All can reach out 200+ yards and bring down a deer. If I really had to pick based on dead-in-their-tracks performance, I would probably pick the '06. The Whelenizer just wasn't THAT much better.

On the plus side for the Whelenizer:

1) It is a cool round. I keep one by my chair.
2) It has a distinctive report. Everyone around knows when I've taken a deer. In fact I've had strangers come up to me and ask.
3) It has growth potential. If I ever draw a KY Elk tag, this will be my first choice in a rifle.
4) My buddy shot with a 300 Win Mag for a few years. I thought that kicked much more than my Whelenizer. His was a much heavier rifle too.


So what's the future of the Whelenizer?
It sat out last season, but I am working up a cast load with H4895 and the 200 grain GC RCBS bullet. I hope to be pointing it at a whitetail again this fall. I'm shooting for roughly 35 REM to 358 WIN velocities. I'll be using the same amount of powder as my current 308 loads, and the bullets will be powder-coated pure lead. What's not to like?

BTW: The new chambering I added to the rotation was the 25-06. 35 Whelen is probably the high-water mark for my whitetail battery. I'm starting to investigate the smaller calibers now. It did well as a freezer filler its first time out. Better than the Whelenizer? I shot, the deer ran around the field a little bit and piled up dead. No great muss or fuss. By the time I'm in my 90's, I figure to be taking them from my wheelchair with .223 REM.