As a kid growing up, I spent a bunch of time on the farm with my grandfather during the summers. He wasn't a gun kind of guy in that he had plenty but they were tools and for him nothing more. He was no more excited about his Remington Model 11 with US Military markings than he was his bronze pipe wrench. But it, his S&W Model 10, and a Winchester 94 were in his inventory (I know of others, including a .22lr and the family heirloom Colt 1849 Pocket Pistol his grandfather carried in the War of Succession).
The Model 11 was in it's military configuration (short barreled, so I figure it was for guards - it came from Eglin Air Force Base) and he kept it behind the door in the corner. By this time, he had dealt with a home invasion some 30 years prior (used a Hopkins and Allen Safety Police in that instance, which led him to buying the Model 10). The main use for that shotgun was to dispatch armadillos from the yard or for rabid racoons. He carried the Winchester in a sling behind his truck seat (not in the window).
From him I learned that a good shotgun needed to be free of encumbering devices. That Remington lacked slings, had no lights (flashlights were still pretty bulky), no glowing sights, no protruding pistol grip, no side saddles, no rails, no adjustable stock, etc. It sat, ready to use, and every time I saw him reach for it, I knew a critter was about to get it (and I would have to get a paper sack to carry it in). He was very effective with it. I never recall a time when he grabbed that shotgun that I didn't have to get a sack, which is to say he always bagged what ever he was shooting at.
He was, along with my dad, the wisest person I knew. It worked. My dad copied him (his father-in-law, which say something as his own dad was a WWII vet) with a Savage 720 (dad would pinch a dollar hard) that he kept, though we lived in town. I have a Savage 720 at my place in the woods.
There are some folks who would point to that as sentiment and nothing more, that I should face modernity and get a plastic-fanstastic combat shogun, something phased with plasma, preferably in the 40 watt range. For me, based on observation and wing/rabbit shooting, that is to say, experience, a shotgun that has a plain stock and nothing hanging off of it is just about perfect. Anything else might just get in the way.