Hiking in the Utah Rockies along the Wasatch front (way back when) I always took along a Winchester 1200 riot gun I got for Christmas. Some of the guys were happy with their .44s and .357s, but when the moose are in the rut and grizzer bears are loading up for winter, I just loaded up that pump and felt pretty safe. I never needed it, but had I left it home I knew I would regret it. That's how my luck goes. It had a sling and I had a Frito Bandito bandolier full of 00 and slugs.
I kept it til a friend traded me out of it in 1997, IIRC.
It stood between the bed and dresser draped with an old jacket ready for home defendin' most the time.
Guns have come and gone but I've never been without a 12 ga pump.
I have a big heavy Mossberg M590A1 filling in for the old Winchester now.
This one. With a light, a sling and a bayonet. No one should be without an apple peeler.