one whelen, one shot, one bang flop

[max1138]

took a doe this morning, at 225 yards by the rangefinder.
 nice doe for north ms. field dressed at 96 lbs, thats a big doe for around here.
I stayed in the scope thru the recoil and watched the bullet strike. it was awesome, the front end of the deer literally folded sideways as the bullet went thru center mass above the shoulder and the  back end caught up when the front hit the ground.
it was like watching it get hit by a truck, Ive never seen that with a 30/30 or a .308 bullet(06,308,or300 wby. but I usually shoot 150 grainers.  the whelen throws a 250 grainer and the results are way different.
 I would have liked to recover the slug  but it was a pass thru with a much bigger hole going out than in, and everything inside was wrecked heart/lungs just pulverized, theres a hole about the size of a nickel thru the top of the heart. it never moved or even kicked after she hit the ground, just done, instantly.  if I ever get another opportunity at an elk this gun will be with me, the performance on  thin skinned light game leaves nothing to be desired and based on the penetration it should be perfect for elk with in a reasonable (300 yard) range

new lesson, never shoot this gun with just a t shirt on, it was warm this morning and i HAD MY JACKET OFF, didnt feel it at the time but now im sore, I gotta get a limbsaver pad or/and load the buttstock with lead shot and slow this puppy down a bit.
well, that my report, sorry i didnt get pictures, I had a camera phone on me and could have but I was a little excited.

[elhoward622]

Awesome. I just got my Hornady 200 gr. cartridges yesterday and I am anxiously awaiting my first whelen deer!  What loads are you using by the way?

[Spanky]

I shot quite a few deer with my 35 Whelen and you're right... it just flat hammers 'em. I also used 250gr. bullets and was never able to recover one after the shot because they were all pass throughs. I got rid of the gun... it was just too much gun for deer hunting in the northeast. Nowadays I stick to the pistol calibers or a 30-30 most of the time.



Spanky

[max1138]

Awesome. I just got my Hornady 200 gr. cartridges yesterday and I am anxiously awaiting my first whelen deer!  What loads are you using by the way?

remington green box core lokt 250 grainers, only thing I could find when I bought the gun, the 200 would prolly kick less.
I bought a hundred of them and when theyre done Ill start reloading for them, suckers are 38 bucks a box around here and hard to find.

I agree with you spanky, its really too much gun for whitetails, but mississippi  allows 35 caliber or larger for primitive weapons season and I like the trajectory of a whelen vs a 45/70  or a 444  its pretty much point blank to 300 yards and that is a long shot in these woods.

I got rid of my 300 wby and 7mm rem magnums years ago simply because I didnt need that much gun around here, a 30/30 is fine for most places I go and the 308 will handle the rest, the whelen is mostly just for primitive weapons season.
I dont think anyone ever considered  the idea of a 300+ yard  primitive  weapon 

[elhoward622]

Cool. I plan on reloading some 200, 225, and 250s.  I guess ill see what my gun likes the best.  Yeah my 25-06 drops all my deer pretty much on the spot, but I just love that .35 Whelen cartridge!

[cwlongshot]

Congratulations!! Now you have discovered the 35 is where its at!! 

I load three different bullets in mine..

A 200 Hornady spitzer with AA2520 powder. Its a one hole shooter at 100 yards and speedy too at almost 2900fps.

A 250 Speer and 4064 powder for a thumper load. This one is almost 2600fps.

A 225 Accubond bullet with RL 15 powder this is also a very accurate loading and performer stepping along at an honest 2800fps.

Mine isn't a handi, its a custom Mauser with a 26" Shilen barrel. 

CW

[elhoward622]

Yeah I am interested to see what the 200's I bought will do.  I hunt over long, long fields so I need as much distance as possible.  I had considered trying to trade into a M.700 or M.77 in Whelen, but I am just fixing up my handi and making it a little less ugly!

[BBF]

Since you have some long range situation, FYI:

From the Hornady# 7 Book
Top MV listed 2650 fps 200 gr SP   BC. 0.282
Approx  Trajectory with a 200 yard zero
100 yard     300 yard
  +2.4"        -10.3"
From Nosler#5
Top MV listed 2525 fps 225 gr Ballistic Tip    BC.0.421
 Trajectory with a 200 yard zero
 100 yards      300 yards
  +2.6             -10.2

[quickdtoo]

Congrats on the deer!! Perhaps make it a 35 Whelen "Improved-Improved" as Wayne calls it, since the barrel can't be set back as in a fixed barrel bolt gun, you end up with a chamber that has greater capacity than an Ackley version, it won't shoot the parent cartridge unfortunately and requires fire forming first, mine shoots excellent.  

Tim

[max1138]

added one more to the freezer today, another doe(we got waaay to many of em around here) didnt weigh this one but guess 110 lbs or so.   it was kind of comical, I had sat down for a minute just still hunting and heard  a doe blow behind me. got snuck up on again and could hear them run across the hollow. I stuck my gun out from behind the tree hoping for a shot if they stopped, they stopped on top of the next ridge or so I thought and I could see the lead doe the largest one moving behind a thicket just from the knees up over the ridge  and partially obscured by brush  and just blowing away for all she was worth, apparently they cut across my scent track but had never spotted me. I tracked her with the scope thinking ok, theres an opening about  a foot across  for a clear shot  window and so I waited for what seemed like forever  and her front shoulders moved into the the opening and I fired, bang she folded and rolled away from the shot.down hill and out of sight.
I thought sweet, 2 in 2 days and actually sat there for a bit, drank a bit of water, replayed the shot in my mind thinking yep thats 2  give her a bit  and go get her.   so I got up and walked across the hollow and over the ridge and NO DEER
tracks, but no blood no hair no nothing to indicate I had made a hit what in the world? I know I hit her I looked for an hour  circled teh spot nothing, not down hill thru the end of the hollow  of over the ridge uphill, till my buddy kevin came up. did you shoot? yes! well wheres the deer? I said she is supposed to be right here indicating the opening between the two trees  I was just sitting there thinking how did I miss, I had it clean. he helped me search for about twenty minutes nothing. finally he says Im going to see if I can find anything over the next ridge.  and off he goes leaving me sitting fuming.
 
in a minute he calls "hey dumbass, heres your deer" apparently they were on the next ridge over from where I was thinking.  I climbed over the ridge and there she lay, blood sprayed everywhere  apparently she was quartering toward me when I fired the, bullet went in the front of the left shoulder and exited out behind the right shoulder and made one great mess of every thing in between,( there were parts of heart/lung outside the body cavity)  one quick survey of our location   and he said screw it, I going to get the 4 wheeler, I aint draggin this one a  half mile out, I dressed the deer and about 30 minutes later here comes the beast(my 400 arctic cat 4 wheeler with 27"589 mud tires, it goes thru anything that has traction)  crawling thru the woods.we loaded the deer and  doubled up for the slow ride back to the truck.  a pretty good morning for me.  altho kevin did remark that he like it better when I hunted with the 12 gauge, saying we dont have to walk so far to find  them, if you would quit shooting deer  2 hollows over  they would be lots easier to find.

[BBF]

Got to many Does? I'm willing to help.