I'm in Pa. and OK with a 3" model 66.... though will admit to taking a Ruger 77/357 carbine for day hikes at the cabin........ w/ 158 soft points.... there have been comparisons to a 30-30 out of a 16 inch barrel.

A nice point about Pa. is Coyotes are almost always in season.......so with my licence in my wallet......I'm good to go as there are a lot of Coyotes in the ridges behind the cabin....no orange required

I spent 2 summers in Alaska in the 70s..... the locals gun of choice, out on a homestead, was an 18" Mossburg 500..... w/ stock.... the pistol grip version is a joke........

I agree with Bam-Bam, I spent the summer of 2010 living in a spike camp on the Stampede Trail west of Healy. I carried a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug loaded with Speer 200 grain HP in a Sourdough Pancake but ALWAYS had a Mossberg 500 Mariner within arms reach. Talked to AK FWS & NPS from Denali a couple times a week (they would stop by for coffee during their back country ATV patrols) and they all concurred with the Mossberg. The whole summer I had way more problems with Mama Moose than Bears .....

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Retired & Livin' my DREAM :)

Just curious.... what was loaded in the Mossberg , slugs, buckshot ?
Norm