I guess when it comes to hunting and shooting I have very specific needs. I wouldn't want to shoot prairie dogs all day long with my .300 Win mag and I don't even consider hunting elk with my .204s. When it comes to coyotes hunting I want more than one and less than the other.
If I know I will be walking miles over some serious mountains I'd be more inclined to take a 7lb. rifle than a 12 lbs. rifle.
If I know that with little cover and very spooky animals I need a long range rifle to stretch out my effective range, I take a rifle with range regardless of how much it weighs.

There may be some "one gun guys" that do it all .....I'm not one of them. But hey I have 27 sets of loading dies so I have to use them.

I like to have a different rifle for each day of the season...

I have more than i realy need, but less than i desire.
I do have the basics though ... and all I really need would be ...

1 12 gauge (have 3 but one will do)
1 22 (have several, but again, 1 favorite is plenty)
my 243 (a long time favorite)
my 6.5 X 55 (have 5 of these but one real sweetheart carbine)
my 30/06 (a trusty, ugly Savage that shoots well)
and the medium/large bore i don't yet have! (?? someday ..sigh)

In honesty I rely on fewer then I have, but I do like some overlap just in case so I'll say +3.

If I had to narrow it down I could live with 5 rifles.
22 Rimfire
22-250
7mm rem mag
338wm
375 H&H+ African DG/Futures

My bare minimum arsenal would be:
12 gauge shotgun
22 lr
.223
25-06
30-06
.338 wm
9.3x62
416 rigby / rem mag.

:)

I pretty much have everything i need already.

.243 WSSM- long range varmint and speed goats
.270 win - deer and such
12 guage super mag - birds of all sorts
other 12 guage- in case somebody wants ot accompany me
20 guage- in case wife wants to accompany me
45 acp- just in case
just recently got rid of my 7mm because i moved out of elk country and no longer required its services.

12 ga Shotgun
30-06
22 Lr
Pistol of choice

That would cover just about everything

Welll I voted for 3, because this is a hunting website and for all practical needs an arsenal of a .22-250, .30-06 and a 7mm rum would cover me for anything that I would ever need rifle wise.
That being said

I have a .30-06 rem. 700 that is my go to gun.
I also have somewhere between 12 and 20 other options depending on the game and the conditions.


Yes you can get by with 3 rifles. But if you have other options? Why do it. Its more fun to take 8 rifles to the range than just one!
-Jake

A typical day shootin pds requires more than a bolt -06 for maximum enjoyment.

to me an arsenal is a whole lotta killin stuff

not 6...a whole bunch

if i were to come and tell you this guy has an arsenal ...he would have 4-10 assult riffles...2 of everything else and swords and knives and gernades and rocket launchers..

a small arsenal to me is 10 long guns, maybe 5 pistols etc

bass pro has a nice arsenal