OK, I can't remember if I've posted my top three here.
(There are so many threads like this one,
and I am too lazy to check every page.)
So statistics or not,
here are my current choices.
(Ask again next year.)
1) Marlin 336 in .30-30: Tried and true for a century.
Loaded for up for white tail or bear. Moose have been taken with it.
Loaded down for grouse or rabbit. (00 buck shot over a few grains of powder).
I prefer mine with a 16.5" barrel, suitable for dense woods, and a go to for HD.
Skinner peep sights, sling. Action smoothed myself.
If I could only have one, this would be it.
2) Marlin 39A in .22 (short, long, long rifle).
Also will have 16.5" barrel. (Mine still wears the full length,
but I don't need it. Will have it cut down.)
Good for small game (squirrel - especially squirrel - rabbit, birds ...),
great for plinking, teaching newbies how to shoot.
Lever action is fast, but encourages quality shots better than semiauto.
Set of Skinner peeps.
3) One of the following, depending on whether I'm urban or rural.
3a) Urban: SW airweight revolver in .38 spl +p. Could be 442, 642 or 637.
Worn in an OWB. (Yeah, they're pocket revolvers, but "pocket" doesnt' work for me.)
3b) Rural: SW or Ruger .357 mag in 3" or 4" barrel. Most likely mod 65 (current), 686 or GP100, but there are other choices, also.
3b also eats .38 spl, of course, which makes it all the more appealing.
In a rural setting, where one must deal with SD and game acquisition
(when carrying the .22 rifle for small game, never know when a deer might walk by),
the .357 mag/.38 combo in an OWB sounds good to me in Maine.
Admittedly, if I was in Alaska, I might think otherwise (like .44 mag).