Mountain lion/woods gun

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Cats don't really like attacking things looking at them, so put a pair of sunglasses on the back of your head when hiking.

I carry my 44 mag Blackhawk or redhawk most of the time in the backcountry, but anything 38spcl+p or up would work. Mostly you want a fast follow up shot weapon, cuz a mountain lion can and will move like lightning. The only one I ever actually shot was with the 44 redhawk.
 
fxvr5 said:
Numbers vary depending on the source, but bear attacks appear to outnumber cougar attacks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America
A total of 125 attacks, 27 of which are fatal,[1] have been documented in North America in the past 100 years. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.


https://petpedia.co/bear-attack-statistics/
What Are the Top 10 Intriguing Bear Attack Statistics
  • There were 664 bear attacks on people globally between 2000–2015.
  • There are 40 bear attacks around the world every year.
  • There were 23 fatal black bear attacks in the US between 2000–2016.
  • There were 22 human-bear incidents in the US Yosemite National Park in 2019.
  • There haven’t been any fatal bear attacks in Glacier National Park since 1998.
  • There were only 4 fatal bear attacks in Ontario, Canada, in the last 100 years.
  • There weren’t any wolf attacks on people in the US since 1900.
  • On average, lions kill 250 people per year in Africa.
  • Mosquitoes kill 750,000 people every year.
  • There weren’t any wolf attacks on people in the US since 1900.
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Your wolf attack numbers are wrong.
http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/wolf-attacks-on-humans-in-north-america/
 
Should have said “the numbers” rather than “your numbers”. It seems like the numbers regarding animal attacks reported all depend on the biases of the author. If you like wolves or mountain lions, then the wilderness is like Disney and the animals are all innocent and friendly.

fxvr5 said:
Those are not my numbers. See the authors of the articles about that.

Also, my post was a response to cougars and bears, not wolves.
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DR505 said:
Should have said “the numbers” rather than “your numbers”. It seems like the numbers regarding animal attacks reported all depend on the biases of the author. If you like wolves or mountain lions, then the wilderness is like Disney and the animals are all innocent and friendly.
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Just another great example of why we need to assess sources and fact check information. Wolves certainly do attack people on occasion. So do Deer. Wild animals are wild, and the wilderness is a dangerous place. Which is probably why some of us enjoy visiting it so much. :)
 
WrongHanded said:
Just another great example of why we need to assess sources and fact check information. Wolves certainly do attack people on occasion. So do Deer. Wild animals are wild, and the wilderness is a dangerous place. Which is probably why some of us enjoy visiting it so much. :)
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If it weren't dangerous I don't know that I'd like to be there so much...
 
adcoch1 said:
Cats don't really like attacking things looking at them, so put a pair of sunglasses on the back of your head when hiking...
Click to expand...

This was my thought too, to a certain extent. I believe it is well-documented in India that when a “person”-eating-tiger is known to be in the area, many people walk around with a mask of a face, on the back of their heads...the theory being that a tiger will not attack its prey, ‘head-on’.

Sam
 
Been hiking and hunting in the Idaho woods for forty years and have seen two cougars. Amazing creatures to see in the wild.

I have friends that hunt them with hounds. They use a .22 pistol The dogs tree the cat and they just walk up to the base of the tree, shoot the cat in the head, and that's it.

But if I was worried about a cougar attack, I would think that because they pounce on you from behind from an elevated position, and attempt to sever your spinal cord and jugular vein as quick as possible, the most relevant defense would be a thick scarf, lol.

If I was set upon by a cougar and rolling around in the dirt with one latched on my neck, I'd likely be better off grabbing my bush knife instead of my G29...

IMG_20191008_092609729.jpg
 
dickydalton said:
Picture taken in the Lincoln National Forest just east of my house. I'll just carry one of my 44 mags. thank you...
Big Cat

Big Cat

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That picture says it all!
It's one thing to shoot one out of a tree with a .22 or such after it has been treed and you have time to get a clean shot. It's another thing when THAT cat is is about to turn you into a rag toy. I agree with the magnum boys on this one. After all, self defense is the purpose the OP suggest, right?
 
Trey Veston said:
But if I was worried about a cougar attack, I would think that because they pounce on you from behind from an elevated position, and attempt to sever your spinal cord and jugular vein as quick as possible, the most relevant defense would be a thick scarf, lol.

If I was set upon by a cougar and rolling around in the dirt with one latched on my neck, I'd likely be better off grabbing my bush knife instead of my G29...

View attachment 991699
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A lot of truth to the scarf as protection. A good hiking pack has saved a few people from serious injury. And I think a knife might be a better tool than a gun to deal with a cat anyway. Or a samurai sword. Heck, a trekking pole would be useful too.
 
Amen, regarding the carry of a serious blade. I am glad to live in a state with a Penal Code that is blade-friendly, and glad that a state I really like to visit is also blade-friendly.
 
I spooked a decent sized black bear diving my SxS on a trail leading West into the Sierra from Swall Meadows, just North of Bishop, Ca about three years ago.

That critter turned and ran away so fast it left a trail of dust in its wake.

While an occasional cat or bear might be bumped into, I am more wary of two footed mopes trying to dry gulch me than four footed ones. Usually a 9mm loaded with 127 gr +P+ SXT rides with me when I’m out.

Stay safe.
 
Riomouse911 said:
While an occasional cat or bear might be bumped into, I am more wary of two footed mopes trying to dry gulch me than four footed ones.
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Exactly!:thumbup: As I've previously mentioned, before we grew so old and infirmed, my wife and I were avid backpackers, and I carried (along with bear spray) either a heavily loaded .41 Mag, or a heavily loaded .45 Colt for protection from "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh, My!"
Now that I think back on those days though, I remember the times when I felt the most ill at ease on backpacking trips was when we were at the trailheads. Sometimes those "two footed mopes" you wrote about hang out at trailheads, yet we never saw a one of them when we were 15 miles into the wilderness. All we ever saw when we were deep into the wilderness was the occasional "running away" black bear, one "running away" cougar, and a few stupid moose that we had to detour around. So the truth is, when we were on our backpacking trips, I'd probably have been a lot better off carrying my regular "in town" CCW than my single action Ruger Blackhawk loaded with "Ruger Only" .45 Colt loads.;)
 
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I like these threads to see the variety of handguns that are carried for the just in case of a bear or other four legged critters. Carry a big gun that you can shoot really well and very fast because the animals are fast. But your biggest threat is going to be two legged. @.308 Norma said it the best it will be at the start of the trail or a little ways down the trail but it's the threat. A 357, 41, 44 all work great on cats and on two legged snakes.
 
For a mt. lion you don't need a hell stomping round like you would for a bear or wild boar. A hot .38spl hollow point, 9mm JHP would be more than sufficient for a kitty of this size. Personally if I were going to the woods for any length of time I would carry a .357 magnum with a snake round and the rest hunting rounds.
 
Several years ago I saw an article, I think by Bob Milek, about a cougar hunt he went on with a professional hunter. They used dogs to tree the cat, and then shot it out of the tree before it would come down to attack the dogs. The pro recommended a revolver loaded with 22 magnums.
 
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