How heavy a gun is too heavy for hauling?

[IChaseCoues]

Excellent advice!
Sometimes I wish though my 6.75# 7WSM was the rifle I was most comfortable with. It might be in a few years, but its got to prove itself first.

[ATH]

My elk rig is 12lb. The past 2 years I've humped it by sling on hunts that require about 16 miles/day of hiking. The one day I actually shot game (elk AND muley) the first year I even forgot the sling so was hand-carrying. I would not recommend that to someone in average shape, I won a marathon the week before and was keeping up with a mountain goat of a local that had 30 days in the mountains that fall before I arrived. For most people, I think a tactical rifle on a backpack hunt is too much.

I got an Eberlestock this year, no more slinging the rifle. What I can do, and what I can do and enjoy, are different things. By the time I am 40 I will get a light rifle in 300WSM built to replace this Sendero for backpack hunting.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Hit the gym! 12-14 pounds is right where I want to be at. You got to stay active. That being what it is if your not fit now start slow.

Jon

[phorwath]

Originally Posted by ATH

What I can do, and what I can do and enjoy, are different things. By the time I am 40 I will get a light rifle in 300WSM built to replace this Sendero for backpack hunting.

Roger that. Never said I couldn't haul around a 15-20 lb rifle. Simply said that the mere thought of doing so about makes me puke. Which is to say, I wouldn't enjoy the time afield.

I've walked more than 100 miles through the mountains carrying a backpack that never weighed less than 65 lbs, not including my rifle and bow & arrow on a single hunt spanning 21 days afield. These miles were measured as air miles off a USGS topographical map. Hard to say how many actual miles were involved on the ground. Did a second comparable miles traveled hunt that lasted 14 days.

Nowadays I don't go hunting to practice self survival skills, and I'm pretty sure brute gorilla manliness was not a key theme to the OP's question.

[Chas1]

Brute gorilla manliness was not a key theme-Well said Phorwath. A little enjoyment and relaxation should play a part.

[RDM416]

My elk rifle tips the scales at 16.5 lbs. Several other have mentioned the Kifaru gunbearer system which is what I use. If you are going to be doing a lot of walking use the Kifaru or other pack type gun carrying system which will get the weight off your shoulders and on your hips.

Once you have the weight on your hips remember to take a critical look at everything else in your pack. Now you are simply concerned with total pack weight. For all your other gear buy the best mountaineering and backpacking gear you can afford........ typically light weight costs the most.

I hunt with other guys that give me a hard time about packing a 16 pound rifle, but they think nothing of all the crap they don't need that they have in their pack. I would rather find a way to trim 6 pounds out of the rest of my gear and carry the rifle that can make that 1K yard shot.....

[Strider]

My hunting rifles vary in weight between 8 lbs and 10.5 lbs. Due to the confidence factor, I always end up with the heavy one even on long backpack trips. I have spent the last few months shooting off the bipod out to 800 yds with my Tikka and will probably carry it this year.