ORIGINAL: tykempster
And the Ruger is more expensive...but you can load it higher...but not as many shells...man this is hard deciding and I don't even have the money yet!
I have a solution. Get the Marlin Guide gun, fit it out the way you want, (sights, sling, etc.).
Then save up and get a Ruger. I'm sure you could get a good, used one for a lot lower price than MSRP! The one I bought was used, but it didn't look like it was used a lot.
(I have found that when hunting in thick forest, I rarely get more than one shot anyway. That's why these days I use a muzzleloader a lot, even during regular modern firearms seasons.)