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Post by mart on Sept 21, 2015 21:52:53 GMT -5
The 400 Whelen and I made our way across a beautiful, sign filled meadow this morning right after first light. It wasn't long until a cow moose and I were eyeballing each other. One shot from the 400 Whelen, my cow tag was notched and my freezer is now going to be much less empty. Made a short hike back to the truck for the wheeler and the gear and got started. There is always that, "what did I just do," moment when you get a moose down. The crazy thing was after I got started on dressing the cow a sub legal bull showed up about 35 yards away. He didn't seem to care at all about me. In fact I yelled at him, waved my arms and revved the wheeler. He was unphased. Shortly a cow came out and was equally unimpressed with me. I even fired a couple of rounds into the ground. No effect. He decided to try out his lovemaking skills by attempting to mount the cow. The live one, not mine. She quickly tired of this game and headed for the dark timber with her suitor in tow. Incredible day. This year has been one of the nicest for fall colors. The morning was cold, the colors spectacular and the grass a little crunchy from the frost. Add in a successful hunt and this is why we live in Alaska.   |
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Post by cherokeetracker on Sept 21, 2015 22:04:08 GMT -5
A South paw Strikes again.
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Post by nolongcolt on Sept 21, 2015 23:07:30 GMT -5
I am intrigued by your rifle. Can you describe it for us, semi custom I am guessing? How do you like the .400W?
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Post by lscg on Sept 21, 2015 23:36:27 GMT -5
nice! really beautiful country.
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Post by Squatch on Sept 21, 2015 23:58:41 GMT -5
I'm curious having never shot, let alone seen a moose first hand, how many pounds of meet will you net? Moose is on my bucket list of game to chase.
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Post by mart on Sept 22, 2015 1:07:10 GMT -5
That one is a two year old cow, according to fish and game when I dropped off the lower jaw. We've had some pretty mild winters recently and the moose in that unit have done well. It was huge for a two year old. It should yield around 250-300 pounds after boning and trim. I'll be cutting and wrapping Friday. A big bull will easily go double that for finished weight.
As far as the rifle goes it is a Winchester model 70 left hand with a Shilen barrel. I reworked the stock to accept the larger barrel. It has an NECG barrel band swivel and barrel band front sight. I had it drilled and tapped for a Lyman 48 receiver sight which it was wearing today when I shot the cow. The front sight is an NECG patridge style.
The 400 Whelen is a great cartridge. The late Michael Petrov, a friend of mine and the gentleman who inspired me to build mine, wrote a couple of very good articles on the 400 Whelen. A google search for either will turn them up. It duplicates the ballistics of the 450/400 Nitro Express, a 400 grain bullet at 2150 fps. It will easily do 2300 with a 300 grain bullet. There are a fair number of bullets available. I am fond of the 400 grain bullets. They hammer moose and caribou. The 400 Whelen has become my favorite big game rifle.
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Post by Robster on Sept 22, 2015 4:03:02 GMT -5
Awesome, I'll be up for dinner soon!!!
Thanks for posting!!
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Post by mart on Sept 22, 2015 10:43:23 GMT -5
Awesome, I'll be up for dinner soon!!! Thanks for posting!! I'm grilling backstrap tomorrow night. Supper is at 1830. |
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Post by bigbrowndog on Sept 22, 2015 16:36:39 GMT -5
I was lucky enough to speak with mr petrov, about the 400W and a project I had in mind. Sorry to hear of his passing, my parts are still sitting on the shelf waiting to go from parts to project to rifle.
Too many irons in the fire I guess,.....as it has been several years
Trapr
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Post by nolongcolt on Sept 22, 2015 16:41:09 GMT -5
Thanks for the rifle info. I too am a fan of the .400 bore, owned several and still own my '95 Win. in .405 Win.
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Snyd
.375 Atomic
The Last Frontier
Posts: 2,388
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Post by Snyd on Sept 22, 2015 18:57:35 GMT -5
Congrats! Some fine eatin there. What unit was your cow tag? I'm in Fairbanks and mainly hunt 20B. I wasn't able to make it out this year due to a temporary health issue but fortunatley still have moose from last year and this years sheep.
Some asked about the amount of meat you get off of a Moose. lower 48 moose are smaller, Alaska-Yukon Moose are the largest in the world. A mature bull can go 1500-1800lbs on the hoof. We got a 69incher one year and after losing some neck and shoulder meat ended up with 600lbs of boneless wrapped meat. We do our own butchering and grinding so that is accurate.
After seeing "organic" beef burger for $8.49lb in the store yesterday I'm sure grateful for a freezer full of organic moose and sheep!
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Post by hoover on Sept 22, 2015 19:57:51 GMT -5
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Post by mart on Sept 22, 2015 20:27:47 GMT -5
There's a lot of 400 Whelen info on both the 24 HCF and Accurate Reloading. I did quite few posts on mine during the building and load development stages. Michael's information is excellent with a lot of good history.
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James
.30 Stingray
Posts: 411
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Post by James on Sept 23, 2015 16:32:27 GMT -5
A good moose and a good cartridge..... Came close to having one made on a Ruger mkII action...
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James
.30 Stingray
Posts: 411
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Post by James on Sept 23, 2015 16:33:12 GMT -5
A good moose and a good cartridge..... Came close to having a 400 made on a Ruger mkII action... |
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