My mind was wondering a bit recently and thought I would pose the question hear. If you were to play a modern day mountain man of sorts and had to choose one rifle/caliber combo what would it be? Say something that would not be to much overkill for fox, bobcat, and coyote but capable of taking whitetail and the occasional black bear. I'm wondering what the compromise would be. Bolt gun, AR, shotgun with slugs and #6? Stainless/synthetic or wood and blue? Optics?

I'll limit it to the eastern U S and shots no longer than 250 yards. What ya think?

.62 cal Smoothbore....kill mice and moose with the same gun. Load it with shot..or Round ball

.243 bolt in something loose.

Also wanted to add ammo availability/ price into the mix.

Nice piece , nessmuck

A modern springer air gun. Not a PCP.
Then you only have lead to carry.
You could have a mold made and cast you're own.
No worrying about where your getting powder.
Might have to be close for a bear, but you're looking for a thrill right

Bolt .243, 20” light contour barrel, suppressed, McMillan gamescout stock, trijicon 3-9 accupoint with post reticle.

243 would be my choice

Nice rifle. Mine is the mirror image. But .45 cal. Green Mountain target barrel, tiger maple South paw. Built by a member of the Kentucky Corps of Long Riflemen. (tried to post a pic Ness but i'm to stupid to figure it out).

7mm-08

Why would ya want to do a thing like that ??

12 gauge shotgun. Besides Joe Biden says that's all I need; he must know. Seriously though, if all I could have is one firearm that would be it; along with a wide selection of ammo, slugs to #8 shot.

I guess if I had to pick ONE gun to be stuck with for the rest of my days, I'd go with one that ain't even built. a o/u with 12 ga. under (3 1/2" chamber) with screw-in rem chokes. The "over" would be a simple .22 long-rifle. Stainless throughout, w/synthetic stock. And sling swivels installed. And a compass in the hollow stock. The hollow will be large enough to carry extra ammo, cleaning kit, and maybe a pup tent or medium sized canoe.
If it has to be a rifle I'd have a left handed bolt gun w/open sites and "look under" scope. Stainless/synthetic. .30-06 caliber for ease in getting ammo, and the ability to make loads that will take just about everything. Sling studs too, of course. Same hollow stock as the o/u above.

I’ve posed this same question on other sites and have often stated that it would be a 6mm of some sort but I tend to sway towards something a shade hotter than the 243. 6mm, 6mm rem mag, 6x284, etc. Pains me too because I love the 25’s so much but they’re awful rough on the smaller stuff unless head shots are taken. However, given one gun and one gun only, I’d take an O/U any day. Savage, tikka, valmet, doesn’t matter so long as it shoots straight. 30-30/20 ga. 223/12 ga. Those would be my choices. Wouldn’t feel undergunned at all. See through mounts, 3-9x scope and a pile of ammo for each barrel. Set for everything at that point.

257 Roberts

you said rifle , 308 bolt gun, I can load bullets for small game and bullets for big game. neck size only you can reload with very very little equipment

there would be a few ways to go

if I had to do all those things I would probably grab a Mossberg 500 combo I feel like most of the trade guns compromised range for versatility. the pump shotgun is very much the trade gun of the 20th century. my grandpa never had anything but a pump 12ga in his adult life , he shot a lot of fox when he was younger with it.

most deer really are shot inside 75 yards or could be with a little planning many places east of the Mississippi .

slugs , 00 buck , #4 and some #6 for the little stuff.

I had a pheasant walk up to about 15 feet from me yesterday while deer hunting. that has me thinking of the huge amount of game , that can be taken with a shotgun it is just so versatile. of course it doesn't do distance well.

but I am glad I don't have to pick I could see a very effective 4 gun battery
-12ga shotgun I like the M500 combo the one I have has a smooth bore slug barrel that shoots slugs surprisingly well to 100 yards.
-308 rifle really liking my mossberg 308 2-7 scope
-22 rifle
-semi auto handgun in 9 or 45.
although 5 would be more ideal if you wanted a more dedicated varmint gun

if you really had to get down to one gun a H&R SB2 with a 308 and a 12ga barrel , decently accurate and technically one gun

bolt guns are really growing on me , reloading for my 308 bolt guns is nearly as fast as making pistol ammo. 4 pulls of the handle and done , I neck size only so while I check my case length it just doesn't grow like full length sizing.

.243 and a nice 4 power scope would get it done. My vote is for a remington 788 or savage model 11 youth.

Beautiful gun Ness, I'd like to shoot it someday me self.

You’d look better than Jurassic Park ,shooting it !

My .54 Lyman's Great Plains rifle would work too, round balls only.

We could dress him up I think, lol.