The man with one gun

I am a one gun hunter, whatever is shooting for me is my goto gun for the year and even tho I have options it usually is a disappointment if I mess with this system.

However, while I am a one gun hunter, I am by no means a one gun guy. I have enough to fit whatever game I plan to hunt, I just need to get enough trigger time with it to get the load I want and get comfortable shooting it.

As was mentioned, most of us have a rifle that could cover 95% of the hunting we do.
An Enfield or 30-06 will cover most North American game. There are alot of rifles in that catagory. Most game, with the exception of the big bears or something that cannot be stalked closer than 600 yds.
 
Nobody should be restricted to just one gun. But if it has to be just one then it has to be a 12 ga pump shotgun, preferably with a couple of barrels and at least 4 different chokes. Make mine a Rem 870. If you mean just one rifle then I can't argue with the 30/06ers. But I'd rather mine were a modern bolt action 6.5x55 with a variety of bullet weights for reloading.
 
Good thread. I am am going to comment on rifles only, as shotguns are another matter entirely. I have owned various models and calibers over the years. I don't like owning guns I don't use regularly, so I have finally settled on owning just three:

.22 LR for plinking and youth training
.243 for range practice
.300 WM for all big game hunting (kills everything)

The only major decision is caliber. After that, just find a rifle that you like.
 
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I own Twenty something rifles, but I only ever hunt game with one. Every time I think of using something else i think of previous hunts with my go to rifle and wind up grabbing it. Varminting is something else I am always swapping out rifles and trying different things. Shotguns are target specific as well.
 
Myself I could not do this, one gun thing. And I have a valued heirloom, 1956 made Winchester M94 Carbine too. My target shooting/hunting interests are too varied. For example last year I bought my first dyed in the wool, precision rifle, a true TR/Palma type rifle in .308 Winchester. My .222 Remington is always present for local 'yote duty. And this year I MAY take up Free Pistol shooting as well. Which I never would have thought of in the past, if it was not for my desire for good quality sixguns, and cohorts into ISSF Air Pistol.
 
I could be a one gun guy (I did great with my Rem 600 in .308 for years), but I have three main reasons not to.

1. I'm a die hard gun nut and I never met a gun I didn't like.
2. #### happens, and not having a spare sucks.
3. I'm not so poor that I can't have more than one rifle.
 
Northman999 said:
I could be a one gun guy (I did great with my Rem 600 in .308 for years), but I have three main reasons not to.

1. I'm a die hard gun nut and I never met a gun I didn't like.
2. s**t happens, and not having a spare sucks.
3. I'm not so poor that I can't have more than one rifle.
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I don't have to own one gun , so don't
That and as a competition shooter , one must own several types and calibres of rifles, and it just spills over into hunting rifles.
Not that I couldn't hunt with one gun, I just don't.
Cat
 
ONE gun? You're kidding.....how can anybody have one gun??? But if that's the way it had to be probably my .300 Win Mag....or maybe the .338-06....or maybe my 7-08.....or maybe.........hell, you can't have only one gun. Just wouldn't be right.
 
So far for 5 years...I've been hunting deer, even small game with really light loads, shooting IPSC 3 gun matches, and Service Rifle Matches, with my Norinco M14. I can keep doing this for another 35 with this rifle if I have too. This would probably be my one gun.
 
I've thought about this a lot lately and now think the following would cover a lot of hunting:

.22 LR - target practice, grouse, rabbits.
.223 Rem - varmints, longer range target work
.270 Win - pronghorn, deer, mountain goats, sheep, elk
.375 H&H Magnum - bears, moose, buffalo, the occasional African safari :D
12 gauge - skeet, trap, ducks, upland birds
T/C Encore in .22 LR, .270, .375 H&H and 12 gauge as a backup for all.

That's a four rifle battery and a shotgun, with a backup that covers everything. So six guns in total.

But of course, that's if you don't target shoot in any specific disciplines. Doesn't cover handguns or black powder either. It's also inadequate if you want to own and use a variety of different guns for interest's sake. Some of us like trying out old Lee Enfields, or we want a gun in each action type to experience them all. Or we want a beater and a safe queen in each caliber. There are also guns which are great for specific applications but not ideal for others. If you want to go on walkabout with a lever gun in a pistol caliber, then by all means get one. The hunting rifles would cover you but none are so uniquely adapted for small to medium game to black bear defense when you just want to fish rivers and streams. If you want to hunt the bush with a .30-30 or a .45-70, then get one! They are sweet handling little rifles with modest recoil. AR for a tacticool target rifle? Knock yourself out. Handguns differ for Olympic Pistol, IPSC, PPC, IDPA, IHMSA, etc etc. Double barreled shotguns could be owned specifically for Skeet or Trap, etc.

So own the best guns you can afford to do everything that you want to do, and maybe think about keeping it down to that.
 
I like having and using multiple guns. It's more fun that way. I can have nice guns and beater guns and powerful guns and not-so-powerful guns and can tailor my choice to the task at hand. It's like beer, always fun to try something different once in a while.
 
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