12 pound + backpack hunt rifle?

[Craig]

Lots of post about lightweight mountain rifles. Wondering of anyone packs in big heavy rifles into the back country? Just because you really like the rifle and you are comfortable with it?

 I have a Rbros 7mm SAUM with a Big Nightforce scope on it that I can shoot great out to 500-600 yards. It will shoot farther but 600 is my limit for now. Only issue is that its a heavy sucker. 12+ pounds. Or I have a T3 270wsm that shoots great but has a small 3x9x40 scope. I have set my limit to 400 Yards with this set up. No dials or anything. have to just hold over for anything over 300 yards. Its about 8 pounds.

I have a primo deer tag in Colorado and want the best rifle with me but don't want the rifle to be a pain in the butt during the hunt. will have to hike in 2-4 miles probably and be hunting at 11,000-12,000 feet in September.

[h20hunter]

Does this count? Easily makes 12lbs with a ten round mag. I purchased a Eberlstock pack to haul it.

[Magnum_Willys]

Get a kifaru or kuiu gun bearer so weight is on your hip not shoulder.

12,000 feet ? Yikes you are gonna be sucking wind that high - go with the .270 and aim for high shoulder. 

[jackelope]

I have the same dilemma. I'm going with the 8.5# rifle and leave the 12 pounder at home. I'll limit my shots. Really want to be able to get in closer on my hunt anyway and not have to shoot a goat a quarter mile away.

[kselkhunter]

12+ lbs is heavy to be hiking far with for me.

My heaviest is my long range setup w/Swarovski scope.  Around 9.2lbs with sling and a magazine of ammo.  My other rifles I use in backcountry are 8lb and 7lb, respectively....albeit those are for shorter range shots.  My typical backcountry hunt is setting up camp 3-6 miles deep from the trailhead and hunting a 2 mile radius. 

The good news is it's easier to be more accurate with a heavier rifle. If you're comfortable with hiking it into your desired area, and think you need that extra range go for it.

[idaho guy]

I carry a 12 plus pound rifle for what you mentioned super accurate and can shoot longer range. It is a pain in the butt but confidence In the longer ranges is worth it for me   

[Magnum_Willys]

I'm keeping my rifle to 10# max just cuz I've been packing that weight fine forever and even my son's 11.5# rifle seems a lot heavier - but heavy is good come shot time 

[Magnum_Willys]

Does this count? Easily makes 12lbs with a ten round mag. I purchased a Eberlstock pack to haul it.

But thats another 10# 

[jackelope]

Craig-
Are you hiking in 4 miles every day with your rifle or backpacking into a camp 4 miles in and then staying for a few days? That might influence my decision I guess.
If you don't have 40 pounds of other backpacking gear with you, it wouldn't be horrible carrying the rifle. Still heavy though......

[Craig]

Hiking in 2-4 miles and setting up a spike camp. Then hunting from there. Its all above timberline so lots of glassing tell you find something to go after.

[fillthefreezer]

i would take the heavy gun. chances are that will be the reason you get that 120yd chip shot. but take the gun with limited range and youll have plenty of opportunities at a great buck at 5-600yds...

[Brushcrawler]

Lose 5 pounds and take the heavy gun - you win both ways!

[Bill W]

Only people I knew that toted heavy packs or heavy guns into the high hunt areas were people that had lighter packs and lighter guns the following year.   An 8 lb rifle/scope combo will shoot deer as far as required.

[savagehunter]

I pack the lightweight gun and make my son Cary the heavy one best of both worlds.

[carpsniperg2]

Most of my LR gun's are 10-12lbs and I pack them with no problems. I go back and fourth on light weight and heavy guns. A few pounds in a rifle is not going to break me. That being said I am not doing 20 miles a day. So I can see why some extreme guys need it shaved down. Most guys will not be doing the kind of hunting that needs a ultra light rifle.

[Magnum_Willys]

Buddy got a 7# xbolt 300 wsm with leupy 4-24 turrets and started packing that instead of his 11# browning 338wm a few years ago and hasn't given up any range - just have to put the crosshairs on the shoulder not behind it with the 300wsm and it does the job out to 700.   The heavy gun hasn't left the safe since. 

Thought about trading the .270 for a 300wsm ?  Just kiddin - thats a real can of worms ! 

[Stein]

I don't even know how much my gun weighs, I just carry it wherever I go.


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[grade-creek-rd]

Craig,

I know your not in the market for a new rifle...but I am now shooting a Kimber Mountain Ascent in .280Ackley Improved with a Vortex Razor HDLH...the rifle has a 24" barrel and the scope has built in turrets and the total weight is just at 6 pounds...with that said, will you be hunting the 2-4 miles each day from a basecamp, so all you are carrying is an empty pack, lunch, water and rifle? If so, then I say take the heavy one that you like the most...but if you also have to pack in camp then I would think twice about all of your gear. It would suck to have to plan two extra days of just packing gear/game as well as burning yourself out. When I do the high hunt in WA I know that I am packing my entire camp in with me, and if I kill an animal then I have to add a day to get out. One day packing meat/hide (especially bears) and one day for gear...unless I go ultra-light.

Grade

PS. Hope all is well...and you co-worker that goes with me to Idaho always carries a cannon!...he couldn't believe how light my Savage lightweight hunter in 7mm-08 was after packing his Browning .300 all week...

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

My 28 Nosler is 13 lbs 4 oz with scope and bipod. I've got ambitions of getting it down under 12. But with a comfort level out to 1000 ish yards, there's no way I'd take a different gun.

I shaved some weight this year in other areas, but when you've got a lights out gun, it doesn't do you any good in the safe at home.


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[Taco280AI]

These mountains out here are no joke and even though I live at 5500 feet hiking above 11k still gets me.

[CaNINE]

Colorado mule deer tags don't grow on trees. If it were me I wouldn't want to compromise any capabilities. You want options open if a longer shot is required. All advantages go to the heavyweight rifle except one. 

I went through the same decision this spring for my wyoming bear hunt at 8500 ft. Take the 6 pound backpacking rifle or the 12 pound precision rifle? I chose the 12 pound rifle. If I had the 6 pounder I would not have been able to execute the shot and taken the bear that I did. Did it suck carrying that rifle around? Yes. Do I look back and remember that? No. I remember the hunt and the bear I was able to take.

My advise is keep options open and take the most capable rifle.

[The scout]

  I personally have had to many times where the buck I want is just out of range, a couple of them were monsters that I could have easily taken with the setup I have now. I have a 300 rum that comes in right at 12lb,s and I never think of leaving it home on a high country hunt for a lighter rifle.

[Okanagan]

Carry whatcha want!   Sounds like you already know that a 12 lb. rifle has enough weight to get your attention carrying it on steep stuff at 10 K feet. 

 I have listened to men tell me that the extra weight of a long heavy barrel makes the shot so stable that they will carry it after goats.  Have also talked with those who save every ounce.  My son carried a heavy barreled rifle on alpine hunts when he was younger because it was so accurate and he loved the way he could shoot it, and he had young strength and muscles.  I carried a heavy rifle for many years, sometimes on multi-day backpack hunts, because it was the only rifle I owned. 

About mid-life two things happened to me that gravitated me toward lighter rifles:  age and more money.

Personally, I carry as light weight a rifle as I can, whether for low land deer or on many-day backpack hunts in alpine (which I do less of as I age).  I like a rifle that still feels light to carry at the end of a long day.  Most of my game shots are methodical, with a rest which compensates for lack of weight, and if not it means that the animal is very close and sub minute of angle precision isn't needed.

FWIW as an objective measure, I spent three nights on a backpack hunt in late Fall one year at timberline in the North Cascades with a total carry weight of 26 lbs. including pack, rifle, everything.  I weighed it.  I hate carrying anything but meat.   

[Bill W]

my backpacks, with gear, real food/dehydrated food (depending on how much I whined the year before) and gun would range 60 to 85 pounds.  The real food packs were heavy,  I'd whine about why the weight, and next year with freeze dried the pack would be much lighter.   A lot of the new, lightweight gear did not exist back then.   The rifle weighed 8 lbs loaded and I'd only carry 10 rounds with me.