What Handi to use for cougar?

[guns-o-fun]

Yeah, the whole regulatory thing is a source of insecurity too - but home defense is home defense.  I saw one about 2 miles from our place in the mountains in WV that is surrounded by a large national forest.  Now when I go out at night, I tend to get the willies when I hear something in the woods near our house.  They are still fairly rare here, but do seem to be coming back.  The number of sightings is up.  Personally, although I am a pretty good shot, I would prefer something that would allow a quick follow-up shot.  Those guys are way more agile and move a lot faster than I can, even witho my adreneline pumping.  Take care out there!

[yooper77]

we got lots of cougars(mountain lions) here in Californy...the libs banned hunting em cuz" the hunters must have killed em all,we never see em"...wrong,they never saw em cuz the lions learned that man was dangerous, and taught their young to stay clear of humans too. Now we have whole generations of lions that have never had a reason to fear man, and that makes them very dangerous. When a lion attacks you will feel fangs and claws before you see em. Just the fact that your lion isn't afraid to lurk near you and your neighbor's homes is plenty good reason to shoot him,Pete. Your 30-30, a shovel,and sealed lips will probly fix the problem....Good luck

Californians build homes in wildlife’s backyards then cry saying hey a coyote took my dog, or hey a cougar was stalking me or worse.  The reason you are see more wildlife is because humans are invading their homes.  Now they are chased away and invade our more populated areas and the people keep on crying.

Most folks would go nuts if they actually knew what was walking around their house in the evening.  Wildlife is everywhere, and so much for keeping sealed lips, too late.

yooper77

Yooper, my dogs and cat never roam free.  I hunt with the dogs, but they're under my control.  They have a 2000 plus square foot run which is their home as well as an insulated dog house inside of an insulated milk house in the barn...with back up electric heat if needed.  My cat has never been outside.  He's afraid of it.  I too consider free ranging dogs and cats to be vermin and shot immediately.  If my neighbors dogs run loose by accident, I know the dog and take it home.  None of my local neighbor's dogs kill anything.  When and if they're loose, they just come to visit my mutts.

Zoner, I could not have said it better.  That is the scary thing.  The beastie is comfortable around human habitation.  There's miles and miles of pure wilderness he could be in around here, instead he's here off my front door.

Pete

Good to hear, my in-laws have a neighbor and she feels her free roaming cats don’t do anything wrong.  People just don’t realize how destructive a well fed pet can be, but they preach “not my fluffy”.

yooper77

[Sourdough]

Fluffy and his kind don't last long around my place.  Pellet rifle, .22CB, or .17HMR. then the three Ss.

[wreckhog]

Would love to see a cougar. A lot of guys in my state claim to spot them including the Outdoors editor of the Albany Times Union in this Sunday's column, but no one has ever killed or photographed one, or even provided a trail cam pic of anything other than a fat bobcat.

Even in places where they kill a couple people a year, like Vancouver, they are rarely spotted, but people find their tracks and scat every day.

[billy_56081]

If you have a decent pair of dogs no mountain lion will bother them. As for kitty cats I would actually be rooting for the mountain lion to get em.

[super8]

My 2 cents...from Butte America...you know what to do...3 S's...stop posting...solve the problem

[guns-o-fun]

Yes, I know that humans are encroaching on too much wild habitat, but with the population over 6.5 billion and rising, that is not likely to change.  Anyone care to volunteer to reduce the population explosion by one??  I don't think so.  I do not advocate hunting these critters down to exterminate them, but you still have a right to protect yourself and yours.  As far as stats go, that all depends on the "universe" of objects included in the population.  If you include the population at large, then the probability of being mauled by a mountain lion is like the probability of being hit by lightning.  But if you live in the woods where they roam, the probability is higher.  Sorry to preach, I have just seen so many lame arguments made on the basis of statistics (having been in public education for the last 8 years) that I am tired of it.  Free roaming cats really can do serious damage to small critters - especially birds and native bird populations are having a hard enough time of it.  Just thank the idiots who decided to introduce starlings and sparrows from Europe because they were mentioned in Shakespeare!!

[petemi]

Pigeons, starlings and house sparrows are a curse.  Whenever one lands on my barn it gets blown off.  My 22 inch Pardners in .410 and 20ga. are real good at that.  My neighbors, the Millers run a very large dairy operation, and they have all three by the hundereds, perhaps thousands.  I don't understand their logic.  I'm sure they eat tons of feed each year and are a serious disease vector, nesting as they do in the silos.  I go over every once in a while and burn a couple of boxes of shells just to keep my wing shooting tuned.  The starlings are a tough target, but they don't cost anything

Pete

[Spanky]

Would love to see a cougar. A lot of guys in my state claim to spot them including the Outdoors editor of the Albany Times Union in this Sunday's column, but no one has ever killed or photographed one, or even provided a trail cam pic of anything other than a fat bobcat.

Even in places where they kill a couple people a year, like Vancouver, they are rarely spotted, but people find their tracks and scat every day.

They're here Wreck... I had one run across the road in front of my truck 2 years ago. I had seen tracks before in the snow but until then that was it, just tracks. The one I saw went across the road, up the bank on the other side and into the woods... it took about 5 seconds for it to disappear and I haven't seen one since.



Spanky

[petemi]

Spanky, Patty had the same experience, but it was summer....no tracks.

Pete

[Frank V]

Some of the laws for animals are really assinine. Before I retired, the criteria for the use of deadly force was being in fear of your life or great bodily harm. THIS WAS USING DEADLY FORCE AGAINST ANOTHER HUMAN, NOT AN ANIMAL!
Some laws regarding animals simply don't make sence!
Frank