oldsmellhound

I never understood the "light rifle" craze. Personally, I'd rather have a rifle that is a bit on the heavy side. It is steadier for me, easier to shoot accurately, and doesn't have as much recoil. I guess I'm still fairly young and still have lots of energy. I may change my tune when I'm 60. For me something in the 9 - 10 pound range feels best.

popeye

If I'm still hunting the lighter is better, an extra pound or two if I'm in a stand isn't a big deal. I've only weighed a two of my rifles before and both were just under 8, scoped, loaded and slinged,but I know that I have thatisprobably 10 pounds if it's an once.Now that I'm thinkng about it,,,, I'm going to have to weigh a few more just to see what they really weigh

oldelkhunter

I agree that lighter is not necessary for a deer rifle especially when most people walk a couple of hundred yards to a stand at most but I tried hunting with a Sendero one year and I no longer have one.

RallySoob

as long as you have a good comfortable sling you don't have too much to worry about unless your carrying a 50 bmg. I like it around 6-9lbs with a good sling and tripod installed

skb2706

Hunting deer, no matter what kind can be totally different from one place to the other. I elk hunt the mountains of CO with a Sendero, at times I wish it had wheels.

Alsatian

My preferred deer rifle is a .25-06 built by my father on a Springfield action with a 24" medium contour barrel. The walnut stock that my father shaped himself is kind of meaty. The whole outfit -- including scope -- probably weights 10 LBS, I would guess. This is at least a couple of pounds heavier than currently manufactured rifles. It still kills deer. I somehow manage to get through the morning hunts and afternoon hunts without dieing of exhaustion. The extra weight actually reduces the already modest recoil of the .25-06. I have a .243 Winchester Model 70 featherweight that probably weighs 2.5 LBS less. It doesn't seem to me to be a noticeable difference between carrying the 10 LBS rifle or carrying the 7.5 LBS rifle.

I think if the weight of your mass produced rifle -- whatever that weight may be -- is too heavy for you, maybe you need to work out more. And before you throw mountain hunting at me, I'm headin' out to the mountains in about a week for 8 days of backpacking -- average elevation probably around 10,500', two passes over 12,500' will be crossed -- and carrying a heavy pack. I have done this before and know what this is like. You just do it. +/- a couple of pounds isn't that big of a deal, or so I think. Just my opinion.

Rebel Hog

Try stalking with an M1 Garand......By noon time you feel like tossing it in the first lake you come to..

oldelkhunter

You can use whatever you personally like. I use whatever cartridge is necessary and then get the best handling best pointing rifle made for the purpose and shoot ita lot . Most of the times it ends up being the mid-range weight rifle but not always,.. I don't know what correlation there is between backpacking at High Altitudes and Whitetail hunting at low altitudes in the woods behind ones home but somehow you seem to think there is . Why would I throw Mountain Hunting at you , its no contest your surely the expert on the subject.

oldelkhunter

That is so true...My Sendero was a 308 and it was very accurate...My best friend at the time just had a custom built on a 700 action in 308 that shot as well. Used his for a few days and the Sendero went bye bye. I like something that is lightning quick both in shotguns and rifles and I didnt need something to shoot deer at 400 yards at least where I whitetail hunt. Most of my shots on whitetailsaverage 30-60 yards with the occasional 100+ yard shot. I have shot only one mule deer at 100+ yards most were nearer to 200 yards and one really good one stretched it to nearly 300.

skb2706

The Sendero would be my absolute gun of choice if I knew my hunting would be a short walk, long shot and plenty of horsepower. Mine is a .300 Win mag. Sometimes my hunting is all of that and sometimes long walks and much shorter shots make it a poor choice. If the Sendero didn't shoot so well it would have went down the road along time ago. Perfect rifle for long shots at antelope in the winter wheat on the farm and no cover. I bought mine in '97.