Status code was passed as part of a string to HttpRequestException so that you cannot recover it from such exceptions alone.
The design of System.Net.Http requires you to access HttpResponseMessage.StatusCode instead of waiting for the exception.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.http.httpresponsemessage(v=vs.110).aspx
If you are now following the Microsoft guide, make sure you understand clearly why it asks you to call HttpResponseMessage.EnsureSucessStatusCode. If you don’t call that function, there should be no exception.