I was just wondering with the bipods,scopes,heavy barrels, target stocks. Do you still hunt, spot & stalk or just find a good spot and sit? I was looking at some rifles pushing 10-15 pounds.
Maybe you should start a poll listing several weight ranges. I'd give it a go but I've not set one up and am ticked at puters at the moment. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
My 270 AM fully dressed is is right at 14#s. Not too heavy to carry but is is unwieldy due to barrel length and resulting front heaviness.
I have several "hides" that I pack my stuff including rifle on a game cart when no snow and a sled when snow. Depending on which hide I'm using, I stay all day or a couple of days and just lounge. Otherwise I change at noon or so if things don't look good for the evening.
Legal weight limit for Idaho is 16# including everything "connected" to the rifle. I assume that the mag and chamber is empty also.
My walk and stalk rifle which also will shoot a right fir piece is a 10# 338 RUM. This one gets the call if I'm not doing the hide and lounge thing.
My "light" rifle weighs in 12lbs 3oz. It is a 338RUM by HS Precision. The other two rifles I typically big game hunt with both weigh in at just a tad over 16lbs. (338KK)
The 12lb rifle goes with me on very rough terrain hunts (sheep, goat some elk) One of the 16lb rifles is what I normally carry even for elk and mule deer as well as whitetail.
Carrying a heavy rifle is more about how you carry it rather than how much it weights. I use a carry system by Kifaru that attached to your pack and puts the weight on your hips rather than on one shoulder like a shoulder strap. There are other carry systems out there as well. You could do a search on this site as the subject has been talked about several times.
If you are careful about the rest of the "stuff" you carry in your pack and keep your pack weight to a minumum adding a 12-16 pound rifle is not too bad. The Kifaru system is also just as fast or faster to get into shooting position as a should strap.