When I was up there, I bought and carried a used Mossberg 500 smooth bore slug gun loaded with 1 1/4oz Hevi-shot rifled slugs mainly on the advice of others. Never had to use it or even thought about using it... but I was advised to use slugs rather than buckshot. Since then the 500 has remained my main camp gun. It is light, powerful,has done very well on feral hogs and shoots both slugs and shot effectively. I like it and consider it far more flexible for defense than a rifle.