[Anticonn]

Two winters ago I was house-sitting for my parents while they were out of town, at about 2am I stepped out for a smoke and beer on the patio. Absolutely silent night, full moon, the 4 inches of snow on the ground had been warmed in the sun and frozen at night, very crunchy and noisy. I finished my beer and crunched the can, which was answered with the hiss of a huge lion that had been circling me at 10 paces. I had no idea it was there until it announced itself, had it moved to pounce I can assure you there was literally no way I could have shouldered a weapon in that time. Seeing that silhouette circle me, head low, ready, was the single most terrifying thing I have ever seen, compounded later with the fact that I was oblivious and defenseless.

I tell that story to explain my apprehension about carrying a long gun into the woods, if I'm being stalked or charged I can't bet on having the necessary time or space to chamber, shoulder, and draw a bead on an aggressive cat. With the snubby my target will put itself in the kill-zone quickly enough. But if I can't rely on that caliber being effective I need to figure something else out. I don't have any real experience with rifles, and while I'd like an excuse to buy one, it's not something I'm familiar with enough to bank on for self defense.