I'm sure as I get older and weaker a rifle's weight might be an issue. Then again, that'd why Gun bearers were invented . Seriously, I didn't have an issue going up and down some pretty steep hills in Africa with "heavy" rifles. I've only hunted out west twice (Wyoming where it was pretty flat but at altitude) and in Idaho where it was high and steep and didn't do too badly. Then again, some synthetic stocked rifles can be even heavier, but the point of lighter rifles is most definitively a valid one.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
. Seriously, I didn't have an issue going up and down some pretty steep hills in Africa with "heavy" rifles. I've only hunted out west twice (Wyoming where it was pretty flat but at altitude) and in Idaho where it was high and steep and didn't do too badly. Then again, some synthetic stocked rifles can be even heavier, but the point of lighter rifles is most definitively a valid one.