Cougar attack near me - 1 dead, 1 severly injured
- Thread starter Brewdude
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Gallows humour, eh Michael? Not so funny for the individuals involved!monbla256":u7v82o6c said:
Humph!
:|
******
RR
Pumas are nuthin to mess with...every once in a while they come into the suburban area down here. I’d rather be packing...but that’s just me.
Trout Whisperer
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Tragic and hair-raising experiences posted here.
When I lived in the Rockies, I enjoyed climbing fourteeners (peaks which are 14,000 feet ASL and higher). In order to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, I had to arrive at a trailhead well before dawn. It was surreal to hike in the dark, constantly scanning 360° around me with my headlamp while prepared to draw my .357 Magnum pistol. Thankfully, I never saw a pair of hungry eyes glowing at me.
Now that I live farther north, I carry bear spray, but as @KevinM mentioned, it is not foolproof. I whistle Mozart and various hymns while I hike or fish, and I carry a great, big revolver on my chest in case I encounter a bear that is not deterred by the announcement of my presence, or by a cloud of capsaicin.
When I lived in the Rockies, I enjoyed climbing fourteeners (peaks which are 14,000 feet ASL and higher). In order to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, I had to arrive at a trailhead well before dawn. It was surreal to hike in the dark, constantly scanning 360° around me with my headlamp while prepared to draw my .357 Magnum pistol. Thankfully, I never saw a pair of hungry eyes glowing at me.
Now that I live farther north, I carry bear spray, but as @KevinM mentioned, it is not foolproof. I whistle Mozart and various hymns while I hike or fish, and I carry a great, big revolver on my chest in case I encounter a bear that is not deterred by the announcement of my presence, or by a cloud of capsaicin.
I lived in Ketchikan, ALaska for eight years. It was also the home of countless stories re bear encounters. The local mantra was basically that while a Black Bear MIGHT be deterred by a high power hand gun (.44 mag or better) it would just make a Brown Bear (large coastal Grizzly) mad. A 12 ga high capacity shotgun with slugs was deemed OK...for Blackies only. That, too would just piss a Brown Bear off. What was really thought to be effective? Minimum was a 375 H&H, a cool head and a steady aim...the best was staying the hell away from ‘em. The concept is putting one down right then and there. If you didn’t stop it cold you were lunch. For general walking around communing with nature in Black Bear country I used to carry a high capacity 9mm filled with special truncated cone solids. Very good penetration. When lake or stream fishing I used to carry a custom Ruger Bisley revolver...cut to 5 1/2” and mag-na-ported...and hard chromed. It was sweet. I loaded my own solids. AndvI would add a Winchester Model 94 Trapper (16” barrel) loaded with a heavy Barnes flat tip solid. Other rounds favored by locals were the old .45-70 and the .444 Marlin...again with the heaviest slugs possible. Remington used to produce a carbine version of both their pump and auto with an 18” barrel. I think either would be good chambered in 30.06 Springfield with big heavy slugs or solids. Note...a pistol or long gun in the truck is worthless...you need to have it right there at hand.
We used to be just as respectful of Black Bears as we were of Brownies. A Brown Bear will just attack you if it feels challenged...and likely kill you. But sometimes not. They would just swat you around, breaking a bunch of bones in the process...and chew on you a bit...then leave you alone. Then you either died or crawled away. With Black Bears it was a whole different thing. They were either scared of you (most often) or they were looking for lunch. If the latter was the case they will not only beat you up til you stop moving and screaming...they will then drag you away for a leisurely picnic. Their intent is not to erase a threat or challenge...their aim is to eat you.
Those of you who don’t or won’t carry firearms into bear country...don’t carry peanut butter sandwiches in your back pocket...etc.
A determined bear will not be deterred by repellant. We used to call it “tourist seasoning”.
For cats...and wolves, Coyotes, ferral dogs, criminals...I think almost any stout handgun would be good. .357 mag, 9mm, .45 APC...even a .380 APC. There are both Bersa and Browning .380’s with high capacity double stack magazines. With MODERN ammo I think that would be fine.
I now carry a Springfield Armory XD Compact .40 S&W. Very good hardware, excellent round.
Please, not a .22. lol.
Um...sorry for the dissertation.
We used to be just as respectful of Black Bears as we were of Brownies. A Brown Bear will just attack you if it feels challenged...and likely kill you. But sometimes not. They would just swat you around, breaking a bunch of bones in the process...and chew on you a bit...then leave you alone. Then you either died or crawled away. With Black Bears it was a whole different thing. They were either scared of you (most often) or they were looking for lunch. If the latter was the case they will not only beat you up til you stop moving and screaming...they will then drag you away for a leisurely picnic. Their intent is not to erase a threat or challenge...their aim is to eat you.
Those of you who don’t or won’t carry firearms into bear country...don’t carry peanut butter sandwiches in your back pocket...etc.
A determined bear will not be deterred by repellant. We used to call it “tourist seasoning”.
For cats...and wolves, Coyotes, ferral dogs, criminals...I think almost any stout handgun would be good. .357 mag, 9mm, .45 APC...even a .380 APC. There are both Bersa and Browning .380’s with high capacity double stack magazines. With MODERN ammo I think that would be fine.
I now carry a Springfield Armory XD Compact .40 S&W. Very good hardware, excellent round.
Please, not a .22. lol.
Um...sorry for the dissertation.
