I would prefer to stay with a lighter rifle, for the amount of walking I do with it.
You might consider the Barrett in 7mm-08- 308, or 6.5 Creedmoor. One of those would only weigh 5 lbs and I would be very comfortable hunting deer or elk with the 308 or 7mm-08. Personally,I would go with the 7mm-08 because I have lots of reloading stuff and like the recoil and performance. If you don't reload one of the others offer cheaper factory ammo.
