I would want my 22 lr

X2 Could kill anything and could protect you from anything.

The same gun I use for turkey. A youth model 870 20 gauge. Along with an accompanyment of both 7 1/2 shot and a couple slugs. It is light and easy to carry.

Mario, if anybody could pull off killing a polar bear with a hornet, it would be you. :eek2:

As for me, I'd probably take my Marlin 917, the 17 hmr might not be able to kill a polar bear but I think that a moose would be reasonable.

Savage 24F in one of the many configurations would be nice, but still a bit heavy.

A 22LR in semi-auto with maybe just a couple high capacity mags along with the regular capacity mags would probably be the best choice.

I would use a 12 gauge shotgun. It will take down just about anything.

My Savage 24V......... .30-30 over 3" 20ga..

my danwesson 357 8 inch barrel.my hunting pistole.

as far as versatile, a shotgun can do a whole lot..are you fighting for your life? like being attacked by moose and bear, or lions...you might want somethin different..but shoty does bird - deer -bear...and the wabbits and stuff , and with proper ammo comes less damage. imo bulky..yeah, but you are in the wild, you'll need shelter, can leave em there and take a handfull of different loads when ya go hunting.

I like my 357's. Marlin 1894 18"bbl. Enough for the Ca black/brown bears and lions and bad people. Light enough to pack. I could put 200 rnds in my bdu's. Big enough cases to feed it black if things go bad for a long time.