dont let anyone tell you any thing bad about these guns. my best friende droped a very large doe at 160 yards with a h&r ultra slug hunter and lightfields. and as far as the close range thing goes my buddy shot 3 deer in the same spot out of thwe same group at about 80 yards. buy a one of thoses ammo carriers that slip on the stock of the gun. for 20ga's my father and i have used an Ithaca 37 w/ the longer 26inch deerslayer barrel for years and droped almost every deer in their tracks. if money is not a concern buy a Remington 1100 LT-20 w/ the 21 inch rifled barrel. use a b squared mount and a decent 3x9. my father just bought one about 3 of years ago and has killed about 20 deer with it. the thing is accurate and deadly. one thing to keep in mind w/ the b squared mounts is make sure the bolt does not hit the mount. throws the scope off. after that my father has never had a problem. good luck and dont buy a 12ga theres no need