Average/preferred whitetail rifle weight for blind/stand hunting

[USAF Ret]

This may have been done before. What is the average weight, and/or your preferred weight, for a whitetail rifle hunting (scope included) in blinds and tree stands? Why?

 

[Wolfshead]

My 38” 6.4 lbs. Winchester model 94, or my 39” 8 lbs Tikka T3X 308.
Pretty much all I hunt with.
I still hunt in the thick, close woods near me, and like a short, light, quick to shoulder rifle for that.
My 94 is perfect for the thick stuff, but my Tikka can do that at just a pound, and a half more weight, and is excellent for sitting some of the AG fields, and stands that we hunt also.

 

[Steiny77]

Can't say that I've ever weighed a rifle, but for the type of hunting you describe, weight shouldn't be an issue anyway.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Can't say that I've ever weighed a rifle, but for the type of hunting you describe, weight shouldn't be an issue anyway.

It's a great situation in which to hunt with older rifles, classics, etc. I've taken game out of a stand using everything from a model 70 in 06 to a 1880's vintage 450 BPE. Hunting from a blind or stand increases your options for hunting with cool guns.

 

[Sheltowee]

A lot of my whitetail hunting is in the South with longish (for that part of the country) shots available. I like a heavier, shorter barrel rifle if I'm sitting in a shooting house. My Tikka CTR comes in a bit over 10lbs fully loaded:

 

[USAF Ret]

A lot of my whitetail hunting is in the South with longish (for that part of the country) shots available. I like a heavier, shorter barrel rifle if I'm sitting in a shooting house. My Tikka CTR comes in a bit over 10lbs fully loaded:

View attachment 408109

Beautiful firearm. What scope is that?

 

[Sheltowee]

That's an old Vortex Viper 3-15 but the rifle is wearing a Trijicon Credo HX 2.5-15 these days.

 

[USAF Ret]

That's an old Vortex Viper 3-15 but the rifle is wearing a Trijicon Credo HX 2.5-15 these days.

I run Vortex Vipers on most of my hunting rifles. 4-16x.

 

[Wildabeest]

Eastern stand hunting buddy of mine came out for his first western mountain hunt a couple of years ago, bringing his Winchester model 70 bull barrel 308 with him. Not sure what that thing weighed, but it was a tank. Never heard someone string together so many four letter expletives while trouncing about the hills.

For me, I’d carry whatever gun I liked the most to stand hunt. Weight would only matter if I was planing to cover lots of ground with significant elevation changes.

 

[Wildabeest]

Eastern stand hunting buddy of mine came out for his first western mountain hunt a couple of years ago, bringing his Winchester model 70 bull barrel 308 with him. Not sure what that thing weighed, but it was a tank. Never heard someone string together so many four letter expletives while trouncing about the hills.

For me, I’d carry whatever gun I liked the most to stand hunt. Weight would only matter if I was planing to cover lots of ground with significant elevation changes.

Correction. It was a Remington 700 bull barrel.

 

[Steiny77]

My smart @ss gunsmith buddy advised me to quit b#tching about a couple extra pounds of rifle and suggested that if I wanted to pack less around I could easily take a few pounds off myself.
He wasn't wrong

 

[Mudranger1]

man y'all think way too much into things...the average whitetail hunter has no idea or even thought of weighing a rifle

 

[Ben Lamb]

man y'all think way too much into things...the average whitetail hunter has no idea or even thought of weighing a rifle

We are all slightly above average. So we got that going for us.

 

[sclancy27]

It's a great situation in which to hunt with older rifles, classics, etc. I've taken game out of a stand using everything from a model 70 in 06 to a 1880's vintage 450 BPE. Hunting from a blind or stand increases your options for hunting with cool guns.

View attachment 408106

That double barrel is badass. I feel like you need to be wearing a safari hat and short shorts to pull it off tho.....

 

[Big Sky Guy]

I put 7-8lbs. Even though you're not hiking miles, but rather more likely yards, you still have to carry it. Maybe I'm just a weak small man but once a firearm gets over 8lbs. my enjoyment of carrying it (shoulder, cross arm, etc. doesn't matter) decreases significantly. Add to that a off-hand standing shot is somewhat likely walking through whitetail woods and off-hand standing shots are more difficult to hold the weight of a heavier rifle, even with sling wrapped around arm trick (IMO). Also once to tree stand you still have to pull or carry it up. Add on I used to keep all my clothes in my pack so then you're prly hoisting up over 20lbs of crap.

If "it doesn't matter" or "7-9lbs" was a choice that's what I would have put as I never considered weight a factor in a firearm, with over 20 years hunting in Ohio, until I moved west. Would be curious what my father's Benelli SBE I with leupold scope weighs.

 

[Ben Lamb]

That double barrel is badass. I feel like you need to be wearing a safari hat and short shorts to pull it off tho.....

Nobody needs to see that. It's a fun rifle. Shoots a 350 grain bullet at about 1600 FPS. Drops a whitetail like a hammer drives a nail. The 450 3.25" BPE was considered the 30-06 of it's day. Good all around cartridge.