Guns Thread

[Tinker]

My Father-in-Law came across some man-eating Grizzlies in the woods once. They were calm and relaxed and didn't come after him. He found out the reason later was that they had just finished eating two park rangers.

[Apollonius]

In the opinion of experts gathered here together, what is the best gun for shooting a cougar?

And/or, is there a better way of keeping them away?

Serious question for a serious situation.

[Sennacherib]

[Demon of Undoing]

I know guys in NM that will hunt a cat as hard as they have to once a dog or livestock has been killed. They insist that nothing but nothing builds a momentum of disregard for man like a cat made bold. They use Curs and Catahoulas to bay him up, and a common pistol ( Carl uses a .22 Mag Ruger) to finish. Of course, that's with dogs around, and a couple of hunters. Carl swears puma is some of the best meat available, and my Southern buddy who was transplanted there says it is indeed good. I just don't generally eat other large predators. Professional courtesy, you know.

Ap, if it's just defense and not actively hunting, a shotgun will do. If you actively get a chance to take it to him, though, Sennacherib is correct. He suffers from .303 on the brain and will probably fire fifteen aimed rounds a minute whether it's needed or not, but he got it honest( apparently, the affliction is blood- borne).

[Demon of Undoing]

[Sennacherib]

[Mr. Perfect]

[Apollonius]

Thanks for your replies Demon, Sennacherib, and Mr. Perfect.


In all my years of living in the Interior and tromping around some pretty wild and rugged territory, I don't remember ever seeing a cougar. You rarely saw deer because the area I'm talking about has too much snow, so except for a few that wandered up from lower elevations, one of their chief sources of food was nearly absent (even snowshoe hare are not that common in the Kootenays-- again, too much snow).


I sometimes travelled with a dog, and sometimes with a 30-30, because bears were a problem. It was (maybe still is) one of the few places where you might actually encounter grizzly. However, I had a rather cavalier attitude about it all in those days and most of the time I just walked wherever I wanted unarmed and unaccompanied.



Nowadays I live in a far more populated area, so it's not just me that I have to worry about. At one time I had a very good aim, but, I don't get much practice in anymore, so I think I'll stick to the shot gun.

[Colonel Sun]

Or just bring along a Chinese grandmother.

[Mr. Perfect]

Apollo if you have any questions about say specific loads this forum has always been good and I recommend it highly:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f30/

Be careful that the right wing doesn't rub off on you.

[Sennacherib]

[Mr. Perfect]

Wow.

[Tinker]

Sport-killing is repellant. Murder for the jollies of any creature is disgusting.

I've got no problem with taking out a Cougar that's preying on one's livestock or whatever, that's just a part of the game of survival, but the people who do it for sexual gratification are simply murderers.

That seems to be what Wildlife Adventures International is purveying. "Look at how massive this cougar we slaughtered for no reason other than showing off the fact that we slaughtered it, was!", if people like the taste of Puma, then at least that, I hope the at least use its parts as efficiently as possible.

One of the worst memories I have is watching the light go out of the eyes of a chipmunk that I shot with a bee-bee gun. It was so senseless and pointless, I just destroyed life for no reason.

[Colonel Sun]

[Apollonius]

[Mr. Perfect]

There are a lot of management people from all sides of the table that will argue that trophy hunting helps the herd. They make compelling arguments. Unfortunately I am not qualified one way or the other to assess them. Just keep an open mind when you come across some of these issues.

[Tinker]

[Tinker]

[Sennacherib]

[Tinker]

[Mr. Perfect]

Girls love them pink guns.

[Colonel Sun]

[Sennacherib]

[Colonel Sun]

[Demon of Undoing]

When I started teaching my daughter how to shoot, we put press-on stickers for manicures on the grip and frame of the Ruger MkII. Hearts, rainbows, a tiny unicorn. At this point, it isn't really a weapon, so I don't have a problem with decoration.