will a 9mm stop a mountain lion?

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like others said, you can kill a cougar with a 9mm, but you have to ask yourself how many shots will it take? 1? 2? 5? 8? You might only get 1 or 2 shots landed suring a scuffle.

Like you know, when out and about in the woods(other than tracking/hunting them) mountain lions wont let you see them unless they want to be seen. If a person does get attacked, it is very quick and very, very unexpected. They, like most predators, attack weak prey or when prey seems the weakest or most vulnerable. A guy was recently attacked by a mountain lion near Moscow, Idaho. He was attacked when he was bending over gathering firewood. He actually fought it off with a knife. http://www.idahostatesman.com/531/story/833563.html?storylink=omni_popular

thats the thing with mountain lions. Unless they are rabid, they will usually back down when their attack is met with agression. Personally, i would go with a more powerful caliber. But what you have is better than shaking a stick. I would 147gr +p ammo if you do use a 9mm. Your CZ will handle the extra pressure.
 
First, for people that may not know the Cougar concolor is know by different names in different areas: Mountain Lion, Cougar, Puma, Florida Panther, Panther, Catamount, etc.

Sure, a 9mm will stop a cougar. Even if you shoot it in the thigh with a .22 it's going to die.... eventually. The question is how quickly do you want to stop it? You aren't going cat hunting. Your concern is that a cat might be people hunting. If it's stalking you, you will be damned lucky if you know there is a cat in the area before it's knocked you down and is trying to rip your spinal cord out the back of your neck. :what: In this instance a rifle or shotgun is nearly useless. Likely it will be on the ground and well out of reach by the time you figure out what's happening. All cats are ambush predators by nature. Never forget this.

I live in a forest choked with heavy brush with some of the biggest cougars known to exist. I've seen a large one in my yard several times. I've talked to the local game wardens about cougar many times. They can carry whatever they want and all carry .45s and .308 rifles/carbines. Guess what I carry? A .45 with a .308 carbine as close as practical. The warden assigned to my immediate area has killed a couple charging/attacking cougars with his .45. He says cougars are thin skinned with low body fat and similar weight to people so whatever works good on humans will work good on cats.

If a cat is stalking you and decides to attack a 9mm will probably end the fight. If it's defending it's kits or feels cornered all bets are off and you want the most powerful handgun you can effectively use.

Medium sized female cougar defending her kitten against a big male grizzly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7MuFDVEUro

Be safe!
 
"Its all about placement."

That comes into play only if you see the mountain lion before it is chewing on your neck. If you see it, you are already ahead of the game. Simply opening your shirt to make yourself look bigger, while shouting your head off, can be sufficient to scare them off. Or not. San Diego County, and Orange County to our north, are well populated with mountain lions. They prefer mule deer and mountain sheep, but every now and then they find joggers, hikers, and golfers to be tasty.

Once it really is about placement, a good hollow point 9mm round, such as the Speer +p 124gr Gold Dot, should do the job. Mountain lions are not heavily structured like a bear.

Cordially, Jack
 
I actually know a person who was attacked by a mountain lion while deer hunting. He killed the cat with a hip shot from his rifle as it launched itself at him according to his story. Said that he just happen to catch a movement out of the corner of his eye just before it made its attack. He said it was a young cat that had a mouth and paws full of porcupine quills which he believes is the only reason it came after him being that humans are slow enough for even a starving hurt cat to catch.

His story pretty much illustrates the point that if you are rifle hunting you already have enough firepower to kill any cougar.

A cougar or mountain lion is about as heavy as a human being, generally under 200 lbs so you don't need a big or deep penetrating round ike you would for a 400 to 600 lb black bear. A 9mm should be fully adequate for defense if the situation should arise. If you where handgun hunting a .357mag through .44 mag would be a better choice but the situation is different than a self defense situation.
 
I'm in SE WA State just a few miles from Moscow ID

Cougar attacked a camper gathering firewood out near
elk creek, Elk RIver. they rolled down a slope and the guy
knifed it and it ran off. He came back to Moscow and
yesterday they had a tracker with hounds looking for the cat.

TIz also Blackbear country, as well as the rising population
of grey wolves.

I'd want more in a handgun for the times when the rifle might be
leaning against a tree or something.

Your hide,

Randall
 
tec-22 with a "broken" trigger mechanicism :D.Carried one for years doing seawalls in FLA.I saw gators,sharks, and feral dogs on the daily and saw a panther close once.I would trust anything that carrys more then 12 rounds no matter what caliber(except airsoft or .177 BB guns), as long as you are a keen fellow and very alert.If you are worried,travel in staggered pattern with a point man,and don"t take the your picture under a tree.
 
I won't get in a debate over the 9mm round, but I just believe it is underrated. In my own penetration tests involving winchester white box FMJ ammo, the 9mm out penetrated .38, .40 and .45 easily punching through three 2x8 boards. I guess I sufficiently answered my own questions regarding the power of this round. ...
 
Mountain lions are smaller than humans. They are a lot less aggressive too, so unless you're specifically hunting them, you should be more than covered with a 9MM.
 
BlindJustice:
TIz also Blackbear country, as well as the rising population
of grey wolves.

I'd want more in a handgun for the times when the rifle might be
leaning against a tree or something.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. Here in Northwest Oregon, if you're in cougar habitat, there's a very good chance you're in black bear habitat as well. I believe a 9mm would be sufficient against a cougar that you saw coming (not much chance of that), but not against a black bear. So if you're in habitat roamed by both cougars and bears, why not carry a .357 or .44?
 
Unless the Mountain Lion is really sick -- or really hungry, you shouldn't have a problem scaring one off just by being in the area.

Loud Noises: shouting, or a gunshot should usually always do the trick.

If your out hunting; and for some reason you do get attacked: I would use the rifle in hand.

If there is a possibility of much bigger predators: hence bear territory then I would carry a 44mag. Getting a shot off before the animal is on you is going to be the hard part no matter what.

9mm would be fine for the cat; However if your already carring a rifle, the rifle would do fine. If your worried about bears, I would step up to something that would put the bear down: hence the 44mag.
 
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Cats are muscular but not big boned or heavy skinned. What they are is fast and stealthy. Your biggest problem, if one is actually hell bent on eating you, will be getting a clear shot and hitting it in the first place. If you can do that, the 9mm can put them down, but I would prefer a JHP bullet to a FMJ.
 
I went to the zoo the other day with my girlfriend and saw some serious cats. They are some scary SOBs..I'll tell ya! They can climb, jump, run, etc fast as lightning. It would be nothing for one to climb up a tree and kill you before you even realized it was coming for you. The thought of even hunting deer in their territory scares the crap out of me. I would not feel safe at all with just a 9mm pistol. A .223 pistol with a red dot sight and a sling is a much better choice IMHO. Then again, I don't see cats as being a very big threat after being hit with anything. They don't seem like very persistent animals. I feel like if you were to shoot one with a 9mm, it would wimper and run away like a big 'ole pussy cat! A bear, on the other hand, would probably keep coming for you even after taking several shots of something larger, like .40s&w or .45acp.
 
Most Western states require a centerfire for all big game, EXCEPT mountain lions. Most of those states permit taking pumas with a 22 RFM.

A good friend is lion hunting guide and I've never known him to use, carry or recommend anything but a .22 RFM to his clients.

I've know old ladies to chase them off with a broom.

Of all the things to fear in this world, mountain lions are way down on the list.

From time to time you hear how one has chased down a jogger or killed a dog that was tied up, but they are not fearsome animals. Their primary prey is deer. If you don't have deer you don't have mountain lions.

We used to live even farther out in the middle of nowhere than we do now and I chased one out from under our triple-wide with a Streamlight flashlight - it was after my goats, I think. By the time I retrieved a firearm from the house all I could see was feet and tail almost a quarter-of-a-mile away.

As someone who lives in a rural environment - I'm a lot more afraid of skunks than mountain lions. They have a high incidence of rabies and they stink.

At least mountain lions don't spray stink.

If you have a gun and encounter a mountain lion, well, you are well armed...
 
Wyoming lion attack defeated with non-firearm weapon

Information drawn from an AP News Story.

On SU12JUL, a Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off an apparently starving mountain lion that attacked him in Wyoming's Soshone National Forest. The man was camping W of Cody with his wife and two toddlers.

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced - a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.

"It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away." The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.

"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."

The mountain lion was shot and killed Monday after it attacked a dog brought in to track the animal, which was 4 to 5 years old. Authorities say it was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving.

Apologies for a post only marginally on-topic (Lion attack, but no forearm component.) I imagine Mr. Britton would rather have had a heavy handgun, but he deported himself well with the chain saw.

Best,
Johnny
 
I think it kind of depends on which party is on the defensive.

I read an article about a cougar hunter with dogs, who let them tree the cat, and then he would knock it down with a Kimber 1911.

On the other hand, if one was charging me down, I would want a decent sized rifle or a shotgun.
 
A handgun you know and are proficient with , loaded with ammo you shoot is better than the reverse---except for the noise it makes.
 
what i am saying, is that i don't carry my rifle with a round in the chamber all the time. i can carry my CZ cocked and locked. and, i only shoot my .243 at deer. and something tells me that it is a tad bit harder to shoot an animal with a long gun with a scope on it at close range rather than a pistol with iron sights on it at close range. the draw won't be a problem, im 15 years old, my reflexes and senses are plenty fine. see, i know that the cats will probably come around when we have killed the deer and are gutting it or something. because something tells me that they would much rather have the deer than me. i'm to bony. and i will have my rifle down off of me at that moment. so all i need to know, is if a 9mm will stop a cat. i guess it will. all of the other stuff is just what i need to do, and that changes as the terrain changes.
 
i would go with a 147 gr JHP. then i would sneak up on him and shoot him in the balls. that should give you a decent head start.
 
"Will a 9mm stop a mountain lion?"

Yes of course it can, the question you really should be asking is "how many good hits with a 9mm will it take to stop a mountain lion" and then ask yourself if your weapon's magazine can hold at least that many rounds.

Personally, I would go with something a bit bigger but a 9mm is better than nothing.
 
For you folks who keep telling the OP just to use his hunting rifle. Don't forget that it's possible, heck even likely that if the cat sees you as prey you're in trouble. Cats totally out class humans, and about anything else as hunters. If the cat wants you it may go from completely hidden to knawing on the back of your neck in the blink of an eye. Carry whatever sidearm you are most comfortable with. I'd carry my Glock 19 with one in the pipe. Just point and shoot.

Don't ignore those animal insticts. If something feels off/ uncomfortable, there's usually a good reason for it.
 
it will take one shot.
because people that think that a 9mm will stop nothing bigger than a coyote, are a horrible shot.
 
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