All Around Whitetail Deer Rifle weight
 

What should the weight be for an all up Deer Rifle( ammo,sling, scope)these days. I am thinking 7 1/2 - 8lbs. Anyone agree or disagree ?

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

I agree with that!...........But would like it under 8pds.......

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

I just bought a new electronic scale that is supposedly accurate. I had rifles that I had broken down onit last night and my wife looked at me funny. WOnder WHy?

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

7 lbs. full up with ammo, strap ready to go but where I deer hunt weight isn't really a big issue. Elk hunting is where I want to cut weight.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

That would be a nice weight had a Kimber 84m in 7-08 that came close to that and it was nice carrying around. Where I deer hunt I might walk 200 yards to get in a stand but Mule Deer hunting is another story. I should have qualified it for Whitetail Deer only. COncur on the Elk as well the less weight the better especially as I get older and probably the same rifle used for mule deer.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

We hunt whitetails and mule deer at the same time, sometimes as "deer" and sometimes the license is specific about species. Eastern plains of CO we have both together. My latest gun of choice is my sons TC Contender carbine in 7-30 Waters, even out to 300 yds. it is very effective, weights in at 7lbs. full up and it balances and carries quite nicely. Another one would be a Remington Mtn Rifle in .260 that weighs in just over 7 lb ready to hunt with.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

For regular, all-purpose jaunts I'd say around 8 lbs.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

i like them around 6 1/2lbs but i dont use scopes or slings.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

7 lbs. is good. It'snot hard to carry and the weight is good to help steady the rifle during the shot.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

Mine is right about 10.5 lbs, and it is a little heavy.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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 :)

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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.

RE: All Around Whitetail Deer Rifle weight
 

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.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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

RE: All Around Whitetail Deer Rifle weight
 

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.:D

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

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.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

Yep I used to hunt a piece of property that had elevated shooting houses all over it and you would get some long shots and the sendero I had was about perfect for that situation or any other similiar "beanfield rifle" . We lost the lease on it and rarely do I use a shooting house anymore unless on someone elses private property. I use tree climbers a lot and i like light short rifles for that deal in most cases , distances are not long and handiness is better then heaviness, but in your situation the Sendero is about perfect.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

you would not want a 9-10 lb rifle trackin deer in the north east. especially maine. about 6 pounds is it!

RE: All Around Whitetail Deer Rifle weight
 

oldelkhunter: Sorry to put you off. I'm no expert. I just don't see the necessity of super light weight rifles. More to the point, I don't see that a 10 LBS scoped rifle gives up anything to a 6 LBS/7 LBS/8 LBS rifle. But opinions vary, and that is OK. The only reason for throwing in the backpacking thing is I often hear people say for mountain hunting, naturally, you just gotta have the lightest possible rifle. I don't think that changes the considerations a bit. With respect to tracking deer in the Maine woods, probably you are talking a lever action .30-30 with iron sights that weights about 5 LBS, so that very specific kind of deer hunting need not perturb the analysis of rifle weights (if that is your main kind of deer hunting, just go get an open sighted .30-30 and have done with it).

RE: All Around Whitetail Deer Rifle weight
 

actually we carry iron sighted/ peep sightedcarbine pumps in 35 whelen and 30-06 and often carry model 7's and 700's that have been cut off to cArbine legnth and had the stock cut an inch or so chambered in 30-06 and 350 rem mag. as far as lever guns we have 32 specials but they rarely come out to play anymore

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Lot of people that use Remington 7600's that weigh in at 7 1/2 may disagree with you. Where did I say that is what I would use in that situation anyway?

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That is a big mistakea lot of people make. Light guns tend to jump around just a little bit morewhen your heart is pumping after running to get into position or climbing a very steep mountain. If your not used to it you can miss or worse wound a nice animal. The weight of a little heavier gun may steady the rifle and make the difference on a shot.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

7 1/2 lbs is a heavy 7600.thats what remington prints but ive weighed all of mine and have only one, (in 243) that weighs 7.7 lbs my whelen carbine only weighs 6.66 lbs perhaps if you load it up w/ a scope and rings it would push the 8.5 lb mark but the weights will vary depending on the bore size and rifle or carbine and stock work. dont go gettin all humped up over it. you carry your crow bars and ill carry mine. and if your all amped up after runnin up a mountain or doin jumpin jacks or whatever it is you do theni doubt a few ounces are gonna make bit of differance

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

Original post was to find out what everyone else thought what the ideal weight for a whitetail deer rifle. I just mentioned the pro and con of every situation.

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

I didn't know there was a light rifle "craze", as i've wantedlight riflessince i shot my first buck in the early 60's... I still prefer a light rifle, and just won't carry anything heavy!

DM

RE: All Around Deer Rifle weight
 

I justweighed my rifle. It's 8.5lbs loaded