drop the do-all gun theory and get a gun designed for the specific need.
Agreed here...to a point. This is why I have 20+ firearms and my wife has 5. Each has their purpose. But, for me, shotguns are just so versatile. You can shoot all sorts of birdshot, buckshot, slugs, etc out of it and change the chokes. One shotgun can be used for multiple different situations compared to pistols and rifles. When I do get a new gun, I have an intended purpose for it in mind before purchasing. I have a rifle for hunting in the woods, one for the open fields, one for big game, one for small game, etc, etc. My semi auto shotgun...does it all. I hunt turkey, ducks, dove, geese, pheasant, coyote, boar, clays, the list goes on. All with one gun and simple ammo/choke changes. As you can see, the primary purpose of our guns are hunting related (self-defense when it comes to pistols). I mostly shoot skeet/trap as target practice for hunting during the off season. With my rifles, I target practice using the same guns I hunt with. I take that same “practice how you play” concept to skeet/trap and use my hunting shotgun. I don’t see many designated trap/skeet guns make it out to the field for hunting.
But yes, getting her a semi-auto of her own is the near future goal. Once that happens, we'll probably set up her 870 for turkey hunting permanently. Or even sell it if she sees no need for it after getting the semi-auto. Like you said, does the
need for designated trap/skeet gun exist? In our case, no. Semi-autos work plenty fine for both hunting and trap/skeet shooting. Trust me though, if my wife ever told me the she wanted a gun designated for skeet/trap
only, I won't steer her away.
I think this will be one of those agree to disagree conversations, which is fine. We wouldn't be humans if everybody agreed on everything. I agree with most of the points made and I don't disagree that a designated trap/skeet gun will have a small advantage over a pump or even a semi auto for those sports. But I still disagree with the idea that you basically aren't welcome at a skeet/trap range with anything less than an over/under. It’s a public range, not a private range. If people want to shoot pump actions or even single shot, that’s totally up to them. Pointing out to them that an over/under would be better for skeet should just be one sentence and then dropped after that.
My last base was Travis AFB, CA. Stationed in New Mexico now. The rod and gun club on Travis had a nice trap/skeet/5 stand range right across the flightline, so I went there every other day during my lunches. 90% of the club members there (which seems to be a trend at most skeet/trap clubs) were 65+ years old. I was one of the few young bucks who shot there all the time, which is one of the reasons why I was voted into a board position: to be the voice for those still in active duty. A lot of the active duty guys had their hunting shotguns and I had to fend off the old guys complaining that the "not serious shotgun shooters" were taking up the range.