Many years ago my dad told me "You'll always come back to a .22". As a young soldier I went through the gamut of opinions about the merits and drawbacks of various guns and calibers, and you know what? My old Marlin 60 and single shot shotgun (an SS Kresge 151) do everything I need here in Ohio. Yeah I own some other stuff but I've gotta agree with eskimo about a good .22 rifle just for versatility. The old man was a pretty smart guy after all.