Question to real life incident.

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HI express

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On the news this morning a man heard his wife screaming in the back yard. He lives out closer to the foothills so there is sometimes wildlife running around. Not knowing what to expect he grabs his sidearm and runs out to see a ..mountain lion!

Just for a sec..put yourself in his place.. what do you do?

This retired LEO cranked off two rounds (his words). He wounded the mountain lion and the wounded lion took off into the woods.

The rangers responded and hunted down the mountain lion as it was wounded and there was an elementary school nearby.

Kudos to the officer.

How many of you have a long gun and would have grabbed that first?
 
My wife has screamed twice in our backyard. The first time was when she saw a lizard. The second was because of a mouse. She'd probably faint if she saw a mountain lion! I would have felt very foolish if I had grabbed a high-powered rifle for a lizard or a mouse!

That retired LEO probably just grabbed the first firearm he could get his hands on. If his wifes scream had been a false alarm, his handgun would have been easier to conceal.
 
I would have grabbed my Nagant. Seeing how its either that or my 20ga(with birdshot) or my little .22.

I wouldnt immediately assume someone was in that kind of trouble in my neighborhood, seeing how its houses every 20 or so feet and fences.
 
If I got my 'druthers,

I'd go for a rifle or shotgun first. He may not have had that option. Might not own one, might have been wearing a sidearm.
 
Have a (few) long guns and shotgun to pick from, but I probably would have grabbed my Ruger .357 first. Especially if I felt this incident had the possibility of going past my property line. I happen to live very close to an Elementary School too and I take special care not to make people nervous by walking around with a firearm without some discretion. I'd rather the calls to the Police that may be phoned in regarding this type of incident say "there's a cougar on the loose" instead of "there's a man at the boundry of the school property with a rifle".

Just the PC politics of living near a school.
 
"I would have felt very foolish if I had grabbed a high-powered rifle for a lizard or a mouse! "


Better to be thought foolish than dead.
 
My wife has screamed twice in our backyard. The first time was when she saw a lizard. The second was because of a mouse. She'd probably faint if she saw a mountain lion! I would have felt very foolish if I had grabbed a high-powered rifle for a lizard or a mouse!
Click to expand...
but i guarantee she'll never scream at something harmless again.
 
i'll probably get flamed for this

but i would have grabed the most available weapon (.357 rev or .45 acp) but in my back yard (unless it was trying to eat my dog) i would not have shot, but sent the wife inside to get the camera!!!!!:D
 
one-shot-one,

At first, I was going to agree that you were due for a flame job, as I could have sworn it said that the lion was attacking the woman. Second read shows nothing along those lines in the story. So, assuming the family was safe, I think I'd second your request for a camera, and use that for the shot.

As for the gun, I'd grab whatever was at hand and do the best I could.
 
I guess I'm different from most folks.

I have a Remington 870 with #4 buckshot in it for social purposes. On the sidesaddle are 4 custom manufactured slugs by James Gates of "Dixie Slugs". The shotgun has been fitted with a Wad-Wizard that is used specifically for buckshot. It will pattern one full load of tactical 00 buckshot in less than a 5" circle at 25-30 yards.

I'd simply advise anyone who takes using any weapon seriously to simply become an expert with their particular tastes and know its limitations.

JK in SC
aka "HiVelocity"
 
I have my handguns loaded and ready to go in the safe. My long gun has a lock through the action. I won't waste time unlocking the padlock, grabbing a stripper clip, etc. I'll grab my 1911 and go to work; nothing here is going to require anything more.
 
My ex-PMS was notable for her extreme emotional outbursts in the face of trivial situations. Her most noteworthy was screaming at the top of her lungs for me to get my gun. Upon investigation, the source of her terror was a nine inch non-poisonous snake

I think if she had ever scared up a mountain lion, I would have thrown rocks at it to see if I could persuade it to go into my liberal neighbor's backyard.

I think it would be poetic justice for a mountain lion to eat someone who may have voted for the CA ban on hunting mountain lions.

Pilgrim
 
What was the justification for shooting the mountain lion? Was it stalking the woman or just trotting through? Is it permissible to shoot any wildlife that comes into the back yard?

Where did this happen? Any link to the story?

Just wondering.
 
I would have done the PBD (Poll Boy Drill -run out with my 1911 covering it with the muzzle, sick my dog on it and order it to lie prone for being in my yard!). :evil:

Okay, in all seriousness, it's hard to figure since we don't know the size of the yard, the animal's proximity to the wife and whatever it's disposition was observed to be at the time.

As for what I would do, FAL time baby. :D
 
Where do you live?

Wife is screaming in back yard. Some kind of problem.

I live in Long Beach, PDSR California. The mountain lions don't (yet, anyway) get this far into the city. We do have opossums and rats and I've smelled what I recognize as skunk a couple times, but never spotted any. I would not expect a mountain lion. Or a Siberean Tiger. Perhaps a thug or a rapist or a psycho; but no 'dangerous animal'. So my primary firearm for domestic problems is a handgun of some form.

If I lived in a rural setting, I'd probably have a long gun in a 'serious' caliber, for me, a minimum of .30 Carbine. I also have a couple lever guns in .357 Magnum and .44 WCF. Then there are the .308 Winchesters and up. It sort of depends on what one reasonably expects.

Speaking of 'reasonably expecting'; several years ago a circus elephant escaped it's confines and rampaged through a city. The local police who responded were absolutely unprepared to take on an elephant.

Who would expect a rampaging elephant in Honolulu?
 
This prettu much exactly happened to by grandfather in AZ. My grandmother screamed from inside the house to get a gun and he picked up a bolt 3006 he kept in a closet and ran over to find a mountain lion in the backyard stalking up to the family dog. He opened the door quickly and put one right in the head area. Dropped it right there on the lawn, and animal control picked it up.

One thing - you don't want to just piss off a mountain lion who is only a few paces from you.
 
would grab what is closest to me in my case it would be a handgun , not enough time to open the safe and get the Mountian Lion Gun out.
 
I personally think he did great. yes, its nice to have a long gun, but sometimes its not available... Perhaps a good 10mm would have proven well too? :)
 
I meant to add also to my last post is that I think it is an old-school thing. A lot of the older generation usually have a rifle or shotgun at the ready in my experience.
 
I keep a rifle handy (as well as a handgun on my belt) and mountain lions are a definite possibility on my place (neighbors claim to have seen them but so far we haven't). But I better have a dang good reason to shoot one (or a quick shovel;) ) or else I'm gonna be in big trouble with the F&G folks :uhoh:
 
Always hard to judge another but unless the mountain lion was chewing on my wife or closing in fast I would not have fired directly at it. I am pretty sure even a cat like this would retreat under gun fire directed a few feet under it.
 
Where was it?

WT and Archie,
It happened a day or so ago. The shooting was in Orange County, Trabuco Canyon, Rancho Margarita area. The articles are under the OCRegister but you need to sign up as a member, but you can get a brief idea with the summaries.

Luck.

And yes, being from Hawaii, I always expected an elephant attack especially since the only ones that I saw was at the zoo or at the circus. You never know.:p
 
A long gun would be nice but in a crisis I would have had a handgun on me. Many people do not carry at home. I happen to believe you are just as vunerable at home as when out and about. So I carry all the time.:)
Jim
 
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