HnS, I agree with your points. I shoot the rifle at the range fairly well off the bipod. Do note that it comes off in about five seconds anytime I want, including right before hiking off to hunt something.
I am going to hunt elk for the first time this fall in Colorado. I have hunted deer there, but not yet elk. I am still planning the hunt, but likely am going to leave open the possibility several locations with which I am familiar and where I have seen elk. In some of the more rigorous scenarios/locations, I may prefer my 7mm Wby Ultra Lightweight, which weighs just over 8 lbs scoped. I likely will bring both rifles. They both have pretty much the same trajectory (my favorite 7mm load is only 2" lower than the .340 at 500 yds; only 3/4" at 350 yds). I can choose what to carry. When I go on backpacking hunts, I have carried rifles lighter than the 340. But, for day trips and not carrying a full pack, the .340 hasn't yet hindered me. So, far, I have only carried the .340 where bears can be a concern. I originally bought it for Alaskan hunts. If I was buying something from scratch for elk, and no larger, I likely would not have bought it. I have a 30-yr-old Rem. 700 BDL in .300 Win Mag that shoots as well as any rifle I ever have shot, which is about as good as anything I would think for elk. That being said, it's just as heavy as the .340, and now that I have the .340, I like its capabilities, even though I haven't yet fully tapped them.
The elk tend to be at pretty high altitudes in CO. I never hunted elk there but I did a lot of hiking between 10k and 13k altitude. My 10-15lb day pack sometimes felt like 80 lbs when I couldn't get enough air. Your 7mm WBY seems close to ideal in my mind for a CO elk hunt.
