Most of my hunting so far this year has been with a .410. Early season doves respond well to properly placed .410 patterns. As the season goes on I'll upgrade to larger gauges. Match you gun and gauge to game and hunting conditions. But if I only had one gun to choose from and shoot all year it would be a 12 with I/C and Mod if a double. With that I could deal with just about anything I am going to hunt. But I hope my wife never decides I could be happy with just one gun.