frizzell,
That is what is cool about these forums is you get input from different people, each person is usually right from their own perspective.

I have had wooden stocked rifles which have cost me animals in my early years of hunting. I would check my zero on a nice sunny day. Then when I went hunting two weeks later on a wet drizzly day, I could not hit a deer at 200 yards. Went back to the range and my point of impact had moved 4" at 100 yards. This was not the only time I have seen point of impact shifts on wooden stocked rifles. Since I have switched to all synthetic stocked rifles I don' t have these impact shift problems anymore.

As to the heavy barrel, for 99% of my shots at game I use a rest of some sort, so there is no reason to carry a rifle heavier than necessary.
When practicing my offhand shooting at the range I notice no difference in my ability to shoot accurately with a light or heavy barrel.
I have owned bull barrelled rifles and have noticed no inherent accuracy benefit with them for a 3 shot group over rifles with a sporter barrel.

The only time I don' t use a rest in a hunting situation is sometimes I need to make a quick shot on a coyote at close range usually inside 50 yards, that is when the quick handling properties of a light rifle are most appreciated. If I can' t get a rest I usually don' t take the shot. This year I used a fallen tree trunk for a rest to shoot my 6pt bull elk at 20 yards, (what a rush that was), used a bipod to shoot my 15" antelope at 347 yards, and used my day pack on a tree trunk to shoot my fat 2pt mule deer this year at 250 yards. Shot 3 coyotes from a bipod and one coyote inside 50 yards free hand.

Anyway this is my experience/perspective and we disagree on these points, it would be pretty boring if everybody agreed on everything.

Did you have a good year hunting? What do you folks hunt in your neck of the woods?
Have a good one!