This is a short article. I'm writing this 8 hours before I leave for a backwoods camping trip. Before leaving, it's hard to narrow down the selection of guns to bring with me. Here is what I'm bringing, and why.

Remington 870 20ga Tactical: This gun has an 18" barrel, and a Knoxx recoil reducing stock. It great for slugs and buck shot. Bear is in still in the spring season and this will work inside 150 yards. It is also fun to setup some static clays in a berm and hit them as fast as you can. Lay out more clays for practice with quick reloads.

Remington 870 20ga Field: With a 26" vent rib barrel and threaded for chokes, this is great for hitting clays thrown up by your buddy with target shot. Bring a case of clays and flat of shells (250 rounds). They will go fast.

Remington 597 Heavy Barrel with a Vortex Crossfire 4-16x40 scope: In two days, between 4 people, I expect to go through 1500 rounds of 22LR. A good accurate .22 rifle will help you out-shoot your friends.

Henry Big Boy/Golden Boy in 44 Mag: Reloading 44 Magnum keeps the price down, and allows you to tailor the loads to target or hunting, but if I had to do it again, I'd buy one in .357 so that I could buy Hornady XTP ammo for hunting, and Federal or Sellier and Bellot 38 Special ammunition for fun.

Savage Axis in .223: Tannerite, ThunderShot or Sure Shot are brand names for Binary Explosives. A quick search on YouTube will enlighten you. These targets explode on the impact of a projectile. They release a shock wave that will make you giggle like a little girl. My Axis works great for setting off the targets and is a great backup for Coyote.

The following is hard to find and can be expensive, but I'll include it to keep the article accurate.

BSA Martini Falling Block 22LR: These are rare and can go for around $800. They are manufactured around 1925 and were used as training rifles after the first world war. They have peep sights, heavy barrels and are crazy accurate. I will shoot this rifle more than every other rifle combined.

Runners up:

SKS: These are great rifles and are fun to shoot. The only reason it didn't make my list is that I know at least one of the other guys on the trip will bring one.

Mosin/Nagant 91/30 (or M44 / M38): These are also fun, and accurate rifles. They are very loud, so I'd prefer to bring another rimfire that will get used more.