Personally I would go with a heavy barreled .22lr or magnum pistol with a red dot scope and then carry a shotgun seperate. The pistol can be supprisingly accurate for small game and is easy to carry around (a major plus) with the ability to be quickly reloaded. For the larger stuff a bit farther away the shotgun is nice. I would prefer to carry a 12 gauge shotgun being ammo is plentiful in both shot and slugs and there are also flares available.....plus there isn't many living things out there that can't be stopped by a few shots from a 12 gauge.