I currently shoot a 6.5 Creed Bergara B14 Ridge. It is a bit too heavy of a rifle for that caliber to be lugging up and down the mountain, imo. It became pretty obvious after my recent goat hunt. I am looking to move to a lightweight .308 with a short barrel. Something along the flavour of the Ruger Hawkeye. I know the 6.5 and .308 perform similarly, but I think the larger 30 cal is better for short range bear defense (low probability but still a factor), shorter barrel, lighter weight, cheaper to reload, and easier to find ammo.
I realize there are lot better calibers for mountain hunting, but for the above reasons, combined with the fact that I don't ever see myself shooting beyond 500m, I think the .308 hits the sweet spot.
Am I completely missing something? Anyone here have a .308 lightweight mountain rifle that would like to chime in? Or other thoughts. Thanks in advance.