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

35 Whelen bull 250 Speer

It's far from either. I've never needed to put a second slug from a 223 into a deer. I've shot several deer, several times with a Whelen and you'd never know they were hit.

Furthest I've ever had to chase a deer was shot with a Whelen. I've never had a deer take more than a couple of steps when shot with a 223.


Little and fast is much better on deer, can't fathom a reason in the world for picking a Whelen over say a 243. Nothing wrong with using one if that's what tickles you, but it ain't a better deer mousetrap.

That and some of the 'wind' drift comments. I'm curious as to how many of you are shooting at deer at 400 yards with your Whelen? Show of hands


I can't comment about out west, but I know a 223 works just fine for deer in Alaska.


Again, lots of folks make decisions based on romance, Elmer Keith or Taylor KO values. All of which mean not a damn thing, most especially where deer are concerned.

I've seen more than a few deer get 'thumbed' by 250 grains for friendliness from a Whelen, only to trot off as if untouched.

I'd take the Whelen any day of the week for bigger stuff, but I've no desire to use it again for deer.

And again, bullets matter. I've slung enough little Barnes bullets at things that 'meat' damage ain't a concern.

Nice moose ... I shot my first moose with the same rifle and bullet.

With a sobriquet such as Steelhead,



makes one wonder if you ever do any fishing/trolling/chumming.

Just Sayin'


BTW,

why "overgun" with a 22 cal.



when you can dink around with 20 Cal, 40 gr. @ 3,850 FPS.

JAPPFT,

GWB

It's not though. Had I said a 257 Roberts it likely would have been like a bobble head contingent behind the computer screens nodding in agreement.

I would take a 223 over a 35 Whelen any day of the week and twice on Sunday for deer, period.

I liked to kill deer with my 35 Whelen just to agitate my in laws.
I envisioned it as an elk, moose, and bear rifle. I would much prefer it to a 338 Winchester Magnum.
I prefer overkill to wounding animals and not recovering them. Jmho
Bob Hagel wrote that it is better to hunt with something that will do the job when everything goes wrong rather than something that will do the job when conditions are ideal.
whelennut

Head bobbing now.

I'd prefer not to shoot at a deer at 400 yards period and rarely do if I can help it. Honestly I wouldn't shoot at a deer with either of those rounds at 400 yards. I'd gladly use a 223 at my buddies farm in Missouri. I'll be in a blind, the shots will be slow and controlled at known ranges, with the longest being about 150 yards. I would choose a Whelen shooting 180 or 225 grain Accubonds hunting mule deer here in wide open Nevada any day of the week over a 223.

That's a really nice setup!!

Thanks. I'm liking it as well. Bevan King in BC made and installed the bbl with a McMillan and FXII 4x. Weighs 7.5# as shown.

Has shown vg accuracy with 200 and 250gr Hornadys. Hope to get some 250gr Speers to shoot in it tomorrow.

I don't usually hunt deer with my Whelen but my experience with the 200 gr Accubond @ 2840 fps on black bears has been excellent. Have no doubts it would work equally well on deer. Of course I usually use my 260 Rem and will use the new 270 Win a lot too on deer but the Whelen will deliver if needed. I shot one black tailed doe and a stone sheep with the discontinued 225 gr Ballistic Tip and they both went down fast.

Steelhead, it's pretty easy to imagine that had someone else said that, you would reply with a sarcastic comment about not being able to place a shot with a bigger bore rifle.

Haven't ever shot anything with mine that wasn't already dead so can't comment on that I will state that it's a push of recoil way different than any .300 mag I've fired and that is a huge factor in the enjoyment of it.

I am using 250gr Partitions and 250 Hornady Interlocks.

I've posted the pics in the past but it's a Karnis reshaped Boyd's nutmeg JRS stock on a VZ-24 action with Talley Ruger style bases and Ruger rings Pac-Nor SS Super Match #3 12" twist 22" long teflon coated black.

Mike

My Whelens and I have killed somewhere around 15 elk, a few moose, and one big mountain caribou with 250 grain bullets, mostly Speer Grand slams but also the Hornady and Remington standard bullets. A couple more elk with the 225 TBBC and one with the 225 X, and a few whitetail deer with the 250 GS and 225 Sierra.

The elk were all killed very decisively and I was really impressed how the big bullets can break shoulder bones and continue in a straight line to the vitals, unlike my experience with a few 30 caliber bullets which did not do so well against shoulder bones.

I hunt during mixed game seasons, so carry stout elk or moose loads and not deer specific loads. In my opinion the Whelen with stout bullets is not a quick deer killer compared to almost any lighter, faster cartridge. Two of the longest tracking jobs I ever had on deer, and one deer hit and not recovered were shot with the .35 Whelen. Even a .243 with a standard 100 grain would have worked better!

I bet the Whelen would be an excellent quick killer of deer with 200 grain bullets of light construction. I may have avoided the deer troubles by using Nosler partitions, they open quick and penetrate too. But I kinda agree with a previous poster, there are many better deer cartridges out there. And few if any better really big game cartridges.

I don't love my Whelens ( I've had three) but we're good friends and I like them a lot.

I am puzzled by the people who don't like the 35 Whelen as a deer rifle. It has been my favorite deer rifle since I bought it.
Try some Hornady 200 gr. Interlocks and get back to me.
Another possibility is that mine are normally shot in the woods at close range. Maybe at long range when the velocity has dropped of and bullet placement is less than ideal.......

I agree, using lighter built slugs it works well, if you use a slow expanding bullet in any round you will have problems. It is a bullet issue nothing else. Bullets like the Nosler Accubonds and Partitions are an ideal compromise since they open up easily and still can handle something like a moose with no problems.

Federal offers their Fusion ammo in 200 gr.
Seems like that would be a good factory loaded option for Whitetail.

Didn't buy a 35 Whelen to shoot deer, but of course, had to see if it was up to the task and have taken a few with it. The first rifle was a second hand one built on a 1924 VZ24 action with a Buhmiller 24" barrel, topped with a 2.5K Weaver and weighed in at 10.5 lbs.

Favorite load was 54 grs IMR4320 with a 250gr Hornady RN at 2480 fps. When Ruger came out with the cartridge in their "sylvette" 77 I dumped the VZ24. The Ruger likes the 250 gr Speer with 54grs IMR4320 at 2500fps. Never shot a deer with this rifle, just bear, elk and moose.