I'm with Ticks on this. A .410 is an easy gun to get comfortable with. But if you need to take care of anything substantial from any kind of distance, a .410 isn't going to do it for you. Get comfortable with the .410 and then get a 20 or a 12 g. A .410 won't even kill a groundhog unless you can sneak up quite close (and you rarely can

). And if you ever do find yourself in a standoff with that rabid fox (heaven forbid), you don't want to have to be in close range to stop him, ya know?
Also, I don't know if a shotgun is the most versatile for a farm gun if you, um, ever need to put a large animal out of its misery. A rifle or somewhat higher-powered handgun would be the much more humane choice. I'm pretty rusty on my guns so someone with more knowledge than I could probably give you more details there...
In the general sense I hate guns. Really do. But I'm a good shot, know how to handle one, and am not afraid to do so if I have to. But I'm a pacifist by nature and a vegetarian (so no need to hunt). I do keep guns in the house, but it's a real catch 22 for me. I'm uncomfortable having them but I'm equally as uncomfortable
not having them--the instinct to protect my family and my animals is pretty strong. My son is just at toddler now, but in the next couple of years I'm going to have to make a tough decision as to what to do with my guns. Do I get rid of them? Or, as the world gets scarier (here I go, putting on my tin foil hat again

) do I get bigger and better ones? It's a tough call. But I can say that here sits one liberal vegetarian crunchy mamma that 110% supports a decent citizen's right to have guns.
