First of all, in my opinion/experience 300 yards is too damn far to be shooting at an elk with a 35 whelen! 300 yard shots are fine IF you are shooting a ctg which will have enough retained energy to allow the bullet to perform. Let me explain...
I spotted this bull and his "twin" bedded down a couple of days prior to me taking him. I tried to put a sneak on them but got busted at about 75 yards. I caught the two out in the open very early a few days later and watched them with binocs as they were making their way back to the same timbered area to bed down.
As you can see, the terrain was very open! I paralleled them and was standing beside a fence line as they came into view. The shot was a standing proposition. There was a slight breeze, 10 mph or so from right to left. I held absolutely on top of the shoulders with the crosshairs of the Ziess 4X. I believe in "Hair never air!"
When the trigger broke on the first shot I had just been "rocked" to the left by a gust and I knew the shot was high and over the middle of his back. The two bulls didn't act as if anything had happened.
On the second shot the trigger broke and the sight picture was perfect. Horizontal crosshair ontop the shoulder, vertical crosshair in line with the front leg. The "slap" of the bullet strike was not what I am used to hearing. Instead of a resounding "wh-o-o-p" it was more like a light, higher pitched slap. Third shot broke just like the second as far as sight alignment and with the same sound.
On both the second and third shot the bull never broke stride from the walking gait he was in and he went about 20 yards and simply collapsed, dead. The two bullets had hit about 5" from one another front to back and at the same elevation.
Bullet performance -
I was using 225gr Sierra GameKings. Both bullets missed ribs on the way in. One missed ribs on the other side and the other "kissed" a rib on the far side causing it to "flatten" a bit along one side. The bullet which missed ribs on the way in and out could literally be reloaded as the only marks on it are from the rifling. A bit of the base of the lead tip is still exposed above the copper jacket!! Both bullets were recovered under the hide on the far side.
Why was there this kind of performance by these two bullets?
Because the distance was great enough the velocity of the bullet had dropped below the performance range the bullet is constructed to perform at. My guess is the rounds were traveling at around 1700 fps. Too slow for them to open up when not hitting a bone like a rib. God forbid should I have hit the shoulder as I don't think the bullet(s) would have had enough energy to take him down.
I'm at work right now and don't have the load data or I'd list it, will update this post later this evening.
Elkslayer