It all comes down to your physical limitations, that gun could have been made for a man who was very tall and very stout. If it was me, I wouldn't hesitate to carry it in the woods hunting, but I'm 6' 4" and a pretty strong guy. I have a hammerdrill I use at work that weighs 18 or 19 pounds and have no difficulty using that, and the weights not even spread out like a guns weight is. In my safe, I have an elk rifle that weighs over 13lbs with ammunition and optic. So it's all what you can (and are willing) handle, a 5'8" guy that doesn't workout isn't going to want a heavy firearm. So if you hunt, you could go to a gameland during hunting season (after you sighted it in ofcourse) and just spend the day taking your time doing some walk hunting. Doing this will let you know how well you can handle it, it will also help you to adjust to this firearms weight if you really want to shoot free hand but that's just my two cents.
