If you could only have one...

[wvbreamfisherman]

I like the idea of a combo gun, but have no experience with them.

A bolt-action in 30-06 or .308 is another viable choice, although not quite as flexible as a shotgun. A lot depends on what you'd be using it for primarily.

A .22 is yet another good choice, but not too good for big game, although I'd guess that the .22 has taken down far more than its share of game (especially with a 5D-cell flashlight taped under the barrel).

[Pathfinder1]

Originally Posted by Grandpa

Nothing sounds goofy to me. Everyone knows their own abilities best. A .22 is a very viable choice in my mind. I'll still stick with the shotgun though. Although I am now leaning more to a Savage combo gun, .308 over 12 guage or .243 over 20 guage.

Hi...


The over/under is also a good choice.

My favorite trapline gun was a .22/410 over/under. If it flew, I generally could down it with the 410. For small game and varments, the .22 was quite satisfactory.

Shotguns and ammo have improved quite a bit in recent years. Rifled barrels, saboted slugs, etc. Very accurate and effective.

[catspa]

I met natives in AK who only had a .22, and a beat-to-h*ll one at that. They still managed to feed their families moose and once in a while killed a bear, unlikely as it seems. However, when they inherited an old 30-30, their chances went way up.

Parker

[ppine]

I would go with a .30-06 in a Winchester Model 70, the older the better. With handloads, .30 caliber rounds can be made for everything from ptarmigan to grizzly bears. Store bought ammo is available anywhere that sells ammo and some convenience stores up north.

The shotgun idea has some merit, but I don't like the range limitations. When you are really hungry you don't want to wait until the food is within 80 or 100 yards to shoot it with a pumpkin ball.

edit- I agree with catspa about native Alaskans. It is ironic that a lot of people around the world that are subsistence hunters, would love to get their hands on any of the stuff we talk about all the time.

From 2 feet a .22 works fine on large animals.

Megafauna is what makes the difference for subsistence. Ever see the show about the group of "ordinary people in Alaska" hiking from one location to another with less and less food? They ate rodents, ptarmigan, ducks, and porcupines. They had a .410 shotgun and a .22. They were always hungry because they gave away the .45-70 because it was "too heavy." One moose or even a caribou would have changed everything. In the bush, one shot can make the difference between poor and rich. You need to be able to knock down large herbivors from 250 yards. That is why bush Alaskans like their rifles, not mention that warm fuzzy feeling they get at night in country with bears with humps.

[dinosaur]

I have the gun I'd choose. It's an over-under .22magnum - 20 guage.

[Grandpa]

Originally Posted by catspa

Well, this is gonna sound goofy, but for many years a single-shot .22 was my only gun.

Parker

On another thread about home butchering of beef and hogs, I mentioned the mobile butchering trucks that come right to the farm. Old buddy Bob has been killing hogs and beef on the farms for 40 years with an old single shot .22. I asked him if he ever had to shoot twice and he said yeah, once, right after I started this business. He has been dropping big old hogs, 1200 lb cows and 2000 lb bulls for 40 years with that old .22.

No, Parker, nothing goofy about calling the .22.

[ppine]

What are you going to shoot with those shotguns? I suspect that most advocates of them live in the East, or forests in the West. In open country a rifle is a much better choice. See edits above.

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by ppine

What are you going to shoot with those shotguns? I suspect that most advocates of them live in the East, or forests in the West. In open country a rifle is a much better choice. See edits above.

This is a good point. But the original question did not specify the geography. This is also the reason I chose an over-under rifle-shotgun combination. The shotgun can be loaded with myriad rounds including a rifled slug which makes it effective at ranges over 100 yards. For survival at close range nothing beats a shotgun if something or someone is going to attack. A shotgun is very forgiving to the user.

I chose the .22Magnum rifle combo because a little practice will make you effective at 200 yards. Also, this weapon is not scoped. No long range shots but it's a break action and little can go wrong with the weapon. I may have some trouble getting larger game but I can shoot a prairie dog and have something to roast over a fire.