Most of my backpack hunting has just been backpacking during hunting season. My standard backpacking carry gun is a S&W 329PD. I do quite a bit of handgun hunting so I'm totally comfortable hunting deer with that. I'm hiking mostly forested areas with small ponds / lakes up to about 30 acres with grassy margins and small meadows that used to be ponds or lakes but have filled in. Long range isn't an option. The hunt I do for backpacking is mid-late September, higher mountains, so though I've seen snow a couple years it's a lot more likely to be tee shirt weather during the day. I've used a tarp and bug bivy about as much as I use a small tent.
Tom
