Searched 3 years but could not find. So here goes what may be a repeat.

My head continues to spin. The elusive "right decision."

I picture myself hiking into the back country prepared to camp out as long as my food lasts. I am not going to be carrying multiple firearms, but I will be prepared to hunt what is in season to extend my stay.

A shotgun is probably the most versatile fiream with its wide variety of shotshells; with slug and heavy shot loads almost any game can be taken. But it is very loud and a reasonable collection of shells tend to be a bit pricey, bulky, and heavy. Practice to get competent can be expensive, though trap, skeet, and sporting clay games are a possible added dimension of fun.

A 22 is fairly quiet and its ammunition tends to be very cheap so that practice is inexpensive. There is even a small variety of ammunition in the 22 calibre, all of which are small and lightweight so you can carry a lot of them. Accurate shots can take a variety of game, but as a rimfire gun it would be illegal to try to take big game, such as deer.

There are combination shotgun / rifles that can give you the versatilty and advantages of both. If you add accessories like cases, slings, scopes, bipods, etcetera, you only have to buy one of each. But these combo guns are much heavier than either a shotgun or a 22. Shooting with them takes practice so you will be going through both kinds of ammunition; wing-shooting is quite different than traditional shotguns. They provide a single-shot of each kind before you have to break them open and reload - though you would be going for one shot, one kill anyway. They cost about what it would take to buy both a shotgun and a 22.

What to do, what to do?