Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 35 Whelen bullet for MN Black Bear

Hey guys MN Black Bear season is closing in! I'm going to try to kill one with a bow, but will bring my 35 Whelen as well. I handload for all my other rifles. However, the 35 is the newest addition and I am not set up for it yet. I'm just going to run factory ammunition out of it for bear this year. Shots will be around 30-40 yards over a baitstation. I'm thinking either the plain Remington 250gr Core-lokts or maybe the Federal 225gr Trophy Bonded Bear claws? Any suggestions? Thanks much.

I have never shot a bear with my 35 Whelen. I have shot only 1 deer, 1 moose, and one elk (B & C 382g.s.)with mine. That given, I wouldn't spend the money for factory premium bullets. I think the run of the mill cup and core bullets would be fine. I'd go with something 225 to 250gr. and be comfortable. YMMV

Either one will do you just fine, I'd be tempted to just go plain jane CL.

Dober


(what part of Minne? I grew up in Detroit Lakes)

The 225-gn Partition sure doesn't suck!

200 or 250 Hdy would do the job handily as would the 250 Speer.

I really can't see where a premium bullet is needed for black bear...

Mac-I think we could of even done in that picnic basket stealing monster of a bruin that Magnum and you and I watched munch on the bull a couple of years back via standard bullets...

Quite a sight was he not?

Dober

Mark, I'll never forget that blackie and that morning... total Booner covered in elk grease and loving life!

He was a toad was he not!

And Magnum big time stoned that loper....<g>

Dober


(heading for home, if I have time I'll run by your site tomorrow)

We crawled on our hands and knees for half an hour to close the gap to 225 yards for the boy... we all did good, especially the Cole!

Mark, I'm working at home tomorrow... give a jingle if you want to stop by to make sure I'm here.

In the Whelen I just use 250 gr. Core Lokts for everything, deer to moose. At Whelen velocity they do fine and the ones I have recovered look just like the picture of a perfect mushroom.

They will break both shoulders of a big elk and not come apart, I can testify to that.

Hmmmmm......black bear.....35 Whelen.....40 yards.....I'd pick the prettiest ones

If you are confident enough to hunt bear with a stick and string,
I am sure you could kill a bear with any load available from any centerfire rifle.
I would grab a box of Remington 250 gr. shells and never think twice about it!
Good Luck,
whelennut

Dober, I'll be hunting west of Park Rapids off of Cnty 34. My father has lived in Park Rapids for almost 8 years now. I've hunted the area for about 10 years now. Being from Detroit Lakes you know where that is. I've been to DL many times, mainly to go to Lakes Sports. Thanks for the input thus far everyone. I'll probably run the plain Remington 250gr CL. As said the premium bullets aren't really needed for the application. For the record, does anyone think the 225gr TBBC is too heavily of a constructed bullet for Black Bear? Even though they can get much larger, average bear in MN is around 200lbs. Thanks again everyone.

Nope I don't think that the 225 TBBC is too heavily constructed at all, and it will do you fine as well.

Guess I'm just kind of frugile and for the most part don't have much use for preme's until I get to elk. If I were to do my hunting only for deer/lopes/black bruins etc I'd just use Hornady's and call it a day. But, dats just me...

Yepper I do know PR fairly well and went to school with the fellas that run Lakes.

Best of luck to ya, let us know how you do. Hunting bruins is something I love to do and sometime would like to go back to Minne and hunt them.

Dober

I have had good luck with 225 gr Sierras, but any of today's bullets will serve you well. Lou

Exactly what "whelennut" said.

Oh, and "been there and done that" on a couple of MN blackies.



The other "Whelen Nut"

Bears arent that hard to kill, seen it done with 243's on up with a wide range of bullets. Chose a quality bullet that your gun likes and dont think twice about how well it will work, the Whelen has plenty of ass to get the job done and most of the factory loads for it dont suck at all!

I tend to like to hedge my bets a little bit and run a heavier bullet like the nosler partiton or Barnes TSX's. My rational for this is in case i need to drop one on the edge of the timeber via a double shoulder shot. In that case I want to anchor it right there, right now as the timber we hunt is very very steep and thick and tracking a wounded animal in it isnt my idea of fun.

At Whelen velocities you don't need no stinken premium bullets. Any cup and core bullet will serve you well.

I use the 225 Bear Claws when I shoot factory.

Excellent velocity [2625 fps], accuracy [sub 1" 3 shot groups] and bullet performance. Huge bullet path, blood trail, etc. Little or no bloodshot meat.

I handload Sierra's, 225 partitions and 200 grain Core Lokts.

Those all work good but I haven't used them enough to want to use one on an elk yet. Probably use the Nosler or buy some 225 gr Swift A-Frames.

The 250 grain Speer Hot Core will handle just about any task the 35 Whelen should be used for. I've used it for years with good success.