Agree with Geo here. A hammergun in good condition, especially if it has rebounding locks, carried closed, hammers in safety notch is as safe as any other in this scenario. Also agree you would only get one shot, but given those conditions that is about all one can realistically expect, regardless of their choice of gun. Far, Far Too much emphasis has been placed on "FirePower" for sporting guns over the years. I recall in one GunDigest some years back, I believe it eas Ken Waters, had been asked by the editor, probably John Amber at the time, to hunt "Exclusively" with Farmer type single barrel shotguns for one season & then do a follow-up article on the results.
Essentially his conclusion was; he loved his fine doubles too much to replace them with the lowly single, "But", his game brought to bag was very little changed from a normal year & his ratio of game to shots fired was one of the best he could recall.
