Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Preferred total rifle weight..

You clowns for get Elmer was tough as nails.. As an old man he could out do any of you jokers!!!

This is a 21st century BACKPACK HUNTING FORUM.

I like old Elmer as much as the next guy , but
Elmer Keith never did modern style backpack hunting as we know it...He did not have to. He hunted off of pack horses most of the time. That is , when he was not shooting game off of his back porch..:)

When you have a 1,000lb nag hauling your arse around in the mountains, you can afford to carry 20 pounds of large bore rifle and full leather scabbard ,which is EXACTLY what Keiith did.

I didn't forget how tough he was, how could I forget, I never knew the man. How tough was he?

John Wayne, now he was tough.

8lbs is about the max for me, ~ 7lbs is about perfect.

I love how any thread on the backpack forum about firearms brings out non-backpackers to give their 2-cents.

Too funny.

It is very nice carrying a light rifle, it's very nice shooting a heavy rifle! There is a point somewhere different for all of us that is a sweet spot. 6lb is great to carry but shooting it is another story. 10lb is a great shooter but not so fun to carry. I don't care how big, bad, strong, great shot you think you are NOBODY shoots a light rifle as well as a heavy rifle. Just as nobody shoots a heavy hitter as well as a rifle with light recoil. I think for most the ideal is in the 7 to 8 pound range.

I hike a lot and I can carry a little extra without a big strain on me. In the past I have carried some heavy rifles and looking back I realize for me anyways sub 9 pounds is were I want to be.

6lbs is ideal for me. I dont shoot boomers and don't think I own a 9lb rifle.

Ain't it great?

I'd worry more about size and ease of handling than weight.

Phil

"Would" worry about, or do worry about?

I like heavy rifles, but wouldn't necessarily want to use one with a 30" barrel on an elk hunt.

Phil

I guess when I’m backpacking for a long period of time I’m mostly contemplating how I wish everything I had with me was lighter😂. So remembering that, a rifle that is light as possible and still muzzle heavy is my preferred rifle. My current long term ( actually living out of a backpack for 5 plus days) backpack rifle weighs 5 pounds 10 ounces. It’s a slightly lightened left hand Forbes 20b 7mm-08

The older I get, the lighter they get.

I'll be hunting this fall with a 7.5lb 6.5 PRC that's in the works right now.

Yes, not only that but less recoil too. My sheep hunts and a goat hunt in Alaska were very impressionable. You lived out of your pack and hoped to make it back to your
spike camp. I now know why with those extreme mountain hunters weigh socks, cut their toothbrush in half and ration ammo.

You would have to ask my Sherpa. I have not heard him complain of it being to heavy yet.

I see your point, however I carried a rifle around for just under 70miles of day still hunting for 2 weeks this past season. Per the phone app. Mostly in the hands, not attached to a pack, and up, down and around Pa hills. So I think some of us non backpack people have some valid penny for your thoughts opinions.

With that I'll say it is rare that a Nula or Kimber Montana is out of place....

I'm predominantly a northeast whitetail stillhunter/tracker, though I do hunt out west or Canada once a year. I'm not a backpack hunter, with all the wisdom and qualification that some apparently feel is a necessary requirement to be offering up opinions. I do use a day pack. Does that count? Mostly, I hunt from sun up to sun down with my rifle at the ready, in one position or another, all day long. I don't care who you are, that will take a toll on your arms day in and day out. After more than 40 years of carrying 9 lb+ rifles, these days, a 6 pound Montana or 6 3/4 pound Ruger 77RL, feels just about like heaven. And, non of the game I've taken was ever aware that I couldn't shoot such a light rifle.
Hope I haven't triggered anybody with an old man's 2 cents.

Yes, the supposed difficulty factor of shooting LW rifles is another thing that makes me wonder. Hitting Big Game animals is not a bench rest competition, and you mostly have a basketball size target to connect with.

Since I've started using the LW's, I've taken around 20-25 Deer and a Mountain Goat. One Deer at 358, a couple others at around 200 and the rest under 100. If I missed, the LW rifle had nothing to do with it.....

Next we will be told about hitting the top of the hill, huffing and puffing and how a heavy rifle would have saved the day.....OK, good for you....

my modified Kimber Hunter in .308 weighs in under 6 lbs all in; the shorter barrel also makes a little handier in thick timber; I wouldn't take it to a match rifle event, but it shoots at MOA

I prefer a slightly heavier rifle also. Most of my rifles are close to 10lbs all up including bipod,ammo and sling.