I would pack a hand gun but extra weight on a 3 day hunt or more adds up and when climbing a mountian for goats a light gun is nice . I packed my 30-378 once and 11 pound gun up in the hills for a week was not the best. that is why a lighter gun would be nice and with sheep and goats a 5 to 6 hundred yard shot can happen. I will break it if needed i have a 375 h&h that is about 8 pounds with no break and the recoil doesnt bother me. With the caliber is for on these hunt you do sees bears and on some areas it is open during that time of year. Plus i figure with a gun in one of those calibers it would be a good bear gun also for in the spring the bears can be up in the high country so you might need to put on a few miles to get to them and when packing out a load on a pack weight matters. so hear is the next question can a gun in that weight be a good shooter. Hold moa
Thanks for all the feed back!!
I agree that weight is an issue when packing around for days on end. However the weight of a side arm in contrast to the weight of water, rations, and the other gear used for long range hunting is minimal. I what is another 5-8 lbs? I know the tent I carry when back packing weighs about that. In terms of close range use a sidearm is the best route. If you have a bear run up on you it is much easier to maneuver a pistol then a long barreled rifle. You might loose some energy but it is better to be able to get a shot off then not in that case.
On your rifle you know what works for you and what doesn't in terms of weight. I know my field rifles normally come in around 15 lbs and I have no problems with that. When it comes to accuracy weight has nothing to do with it. Any well built rifle can hold MOA or less. The trick is the shooter. If the person driving the rifle has poor technique or is scared or the recoil then you will never see that kind of accuracy. The reason benchrest rifles weigh so much is because they generally utilize a very long barrel w/ heavy barrel contour and are weighted for their intended purpose (many BR guys like to see the bullet impact though their scope, thus they hate recoil and muzzle jump).
Anyway just my thought on the subject. And you know what they say about opinions (everybody has one and they all stink).