I think that a pellet gun could be a handy thing to have along, not as good as a "real" gun for all things, but the proper pellet gun could get lots of food, assuming birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc, are in the area. One could also provide lots of entertainment. But I am not sure that a small BB pistol would be good for much but entertainment. For critter gathering I would prefer a .22 cal, and a "pump" action would be better, since one can't carry a large supply of CO2 cylinders with them. I have never owned one, or even seen one in a while, but Coleman used to make a detachable shoulder stock for their pump pistol, seems to me that might be a compact, powerful, and somewhat accurate weapon...