Once again, at least 50% of the answers here on the BACKPACKING HUNTING FORUM are not from actual backpackers... dayhiking with a rifle is not the same thing.
They are really different. Wife and I did the John Muir Trail in 2020; with hiking out to two resupplies (Red’s Meadow and Muir Trail Ranch) and a couple side jaunts it came in a bit over 230 miles. We did it in roughly 23 days so 10 miles/day average... this is over many mountain passes over 10k... 11k... 12k....13k... then Whitney at the end at over 14k elevation. That was BACKPACKING. Pack weight, and as you say boot weight, is at an absolute premium. I wore Solomon X-Ultra lows and felt sorry for the poor sods I saw in actual boots.
A backpack hunt has a whole bunch of other considerations, most of which blow any idea of running truly light out of the water. My last backpack hunt I carried a really heavy rifle with a big scope and my big 13x56 Minox in addition to my 8x Swaro’s and rangefinder and butchering gear and ammo and and.... it was my 2nd time doing this hunt, I knew the terrain and what to expect, and I wanted to be able to take one at long range. Got a nice buck at just over 600 yards. I know there’s folks who could make that shot 10/10 times with a 5-lb rifle but I’m not one of them.
To the OP’s point, if I were hunting brown bear in AK in thick stuff I’d take a big bore rifle that I shot well. And I wouldn’t sweat a pound or two of rifle weight. Body weight is an interesting one. Losing weight tends to go along with becoming fitter and it’s hard to separate the two. I got physically lighter on the JMT, and I got physically fitter as well. Was a very strong hiker by the end. I guess my take is I can carry an extra 5-10 lbs of fat spread over my body up the mountain without much problem, BTDT, but I’d sure hate to carry an extra 5 lbs of rifle weight in my arms all day.
If I’m going backpacking.... out comes the postal scale. I’m chasing ounces. We are planning on hiking the full south-north length of NM on the CDT this year, over 800 miles (!), and I’m sweating every gram.. forget rifle weight, I’m debating between my Glock 43X and my regular G43! A light pack makes an absolute world of difference.
For the backpackers... Zpacks is now making an extra long Duplex. Hallelujah! We’re gonna finish wearing out our old Duplex in NM, but are already debating colors for ordering an “extended” one here soon.
