I love the 35 Whelen. I own many.
So far, I’ve taken Elk (250 gr. NP) and Moose (280 gr. SAF) in America with my Ruger Hawkeye SS/syn. Whelen.
In Africa, I’ve used my Dakota Classic Deluxe 35 Whelen to take: Leopard, Sable, Sitatunga, Hartebeest, Lechwe, Bushbuck, Oribi, and Warthog, all with 250 gr. NPs.
I also use a 9.3x62 as much as the Whelen in Africa. Both have similar ballistics, and I love the way they both drop animals quickly. I took two Hippos, Kudu, Hyena and Warthog with my Ruger African 9.3x62 two years ago, using 300 gr. SAFs.
This year, I’m going to try my 9.3x66 (286 gr. NP & BBS) for the first time, mated with my 404 Jeffery (430 gr. NF) in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia. The ‘66 is an AHR custom, and the 404 is a Dakota Safari. The 404 will be for Buffalo, and the ‘66 for Cookson’s Wildebeest and the rest of any PG I decide to take.
Smaller calibers would work as well on the PG I hope to take, but one never knows what one will wander into in the Valley, so I prefer something a bit bigger when hunting even PG there, hence the BBS for the 9.3. Two years ago, I was hunting Croc on the river, when my PH and I walked into some Elephant. I don’t want a 30-06 in my hands in such cases. A 9.3 with solids is not the best medicine in these situations, and I wasn’t using my 404 on the Croc hunt, but I prefer the 9.3 over my 7mm. Bell wouldn’t have minded I don’t suppose, but I’m not Bell either!
