Good luck on the scatter gun acquisition. A good upload bird gun may be hard to find these days...let alone the ammo!

You don't strike me as a die-hard upland birder, so may not be a good idea to dump a couple grand on a good over/under 20 ga (or 12) for a single hunt.

You hunting on the west side, or east side? Dakotas?

You hunting with pointers, flush/retrievers, or just walking dog-less?

Hard to beat the Remington 870 Wingmaster Magnum for an all-around scatter gun that will cover everything from big waterfowl to the little upland birds as well as whatever one can do with it in their home. Lots of mods if you want to destroy it in the future and gak it all out with furniture and accessories.....like I did to my Dad's old 870.

If you were a big time birder, I'd invest in an over under 20. 12's will get too heavy in the field and not needed for most good hunters over dogs.

I'd also get an over/under professionally fit, as they are not all the same on the shoulder.

Many a pheasant died in my past life between my trusty 870 and my grandmother's Model 12 20 ga. Damn golden retriever was good at finding/flushing birds...but never did the retrieving part well.