Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .35 Whelen for whitetail deer..................

Thanks!

There really isn't a thing as overkill or overpenetration, but honestly, if there was, the 35 Whelen on whitetail deer would qualify in my book. Back when I was just getting into hunting, my buddies opined that 30-06 was the ideal North American round, except for dangerous game. If big bear was on the menu, then 35 Whelen would take care of them.

That's pretty much how I see my Whelenizer. I don't regret my 'Campfire friends talking KYHillChick into buying it for me as a Saint Hubert's Day present. It's cool that everyone on the neighboring ridges knows when I shoot a deer; it has a distinctive report. I keep a loaded round of 35 Whelen by my chair in the family room; I find it calming to look at and rub. It gets a lot of work when the Bengals fall behind in the 4th Quarter.

As a whitetail round? For the work I do in the woods, a 300 Savage is probably ideal. For the longer shots, I have good luck with an '06. 35-Whelen is probably going to be my high-water mark.

I have used the .35 Whelen a fair amount for whitetails. I like the 225 gr. Sierra the best. Over about 58 gr. of RL-15

+1 on the Sierra 225gr. it worked well for me too. It is the most accurate in my Whelen, gonna try the Nosler polymer tip on deer as it gives good accuracy as well. I've been shooting both bullets over IMR4064, gonna try RL-15 as I understand it works well in the Whelen with these bullets too.

I still prefer a 223 over the Whelen for deer.

For several years I used the 35 Whelen for hunting whitetail deer. I settled on an "all around" load using the Speer 250 grain Hot Core bullet. It was accurate and worked well. While I initially made this load up to hunt elk, I didn't get a shot while in Colorado,so I used them for deer.

shot a very nice buck at 90 yards - he ran 60 yards - head first into a GIANT chestnut tree. The 225 grain Sierra shut his brain down so fast that he didn't know he was dead on impact.

Terry

I used a Whelen for 8 years moose hunting in Alberta. Used 270 grain bullets, bitterroot bonded cores, the first one to bond its jackets to the core. Shot my share of moose, couple of elk, white tails and mulies and a black bear.
All within 100 yards, did a fine job on everything.
Sold it when I ran out of bitter root bullets, since there were no good tough bullets out there at that time. This was pre Nosler partition era.
within 200 yards you can not go wrong with a Whelen.
I would not choose it as a primary deer rifle. It will do, but IMO there are better deer rounds out there with much lower recoil.

I load for 5 Whelens used in Miss. The guys started off just using them for primitive season. Now they tend to use them in regular rifle season just because they like them.

My load is Rem. brass, Win. LRP, 58 gr. RL15 and the Hornady 200 gr. SP. That load is running between 2600-2700 fps. It's accurate and hammers the snot out of deer and hogs. We haven't recovered a bullet yet and it leaves very good blood trails. Shots taken have been from about 20 yards to a little over 300 yards.

I previously had a bunch of Encore barrels. I've found with the Whelen I didn't need them so they are gone.

I have not tried the 200 gr. bullets on any game but have been meaning to get around to it sometime.

youth, wasted money, mo power and a 30 or bigger caliber for WT deer or age, wisdom, skill, and a .223 both kill the same out to 250 yards.

250gr Hot-cor over 59gr R-15.......