Well, when it's all said and done the rifle now weights a little over 8.5 lbs with scope.,, nice handling but just a little heavy for me. Should have used just a little less Rockite. The situation is for hunting public land in the West - I find a guy needs to get about 3 miles off the road or trail for even a chance of finding a buck.. That makes 6 miles round trip minimum, with a couple thousand foot climb most likely if you are in the Cascades. The distance is actually more important than what rifle/scope/caliber/ you have. So say you have a bad knee that little extra half pound means a lot.

Hunting from a tree stand on your Dads 100 acre farm in Wisconsin would be a whole different thing. This rifle would perfect.