So you think your handgun will save you from a Mt. Lion Attack?

[JJHACK]

Here in NE Wa. there was a research project on the reservation. This amazing footage is worth watching.

Then think about how your handgun in a holster under your jacket is going to help you.

http://www.americanhunter.org/mobile/blog.php?id=32107&cid=11594

 

[colonel00]

Well, the deer should have been carrying lion mace instead of a handgun anyway

 

[Beendare]

Yeah, awesome footage......I've had these lions up close and they will face off with you being a large human form as it appears they did here on this deer. No doubt they can come out of nowhere on these small animals...but my experience and the experience of a couple other friends that have confronted lions at close range- they do give you a shot either with your bow [a buddy last year calling elk in Co] or myself while pig hunting [had a shot with my pistol on my hip]

For some reason the lions will hesitate on a large human form.

 

[Mike7]

I think a handgun can absolutely save you in a lion attack, although it may not keep you from sustaining some injuries. I knew a lion hunter who killed a lion with his pistol while the lion was biting him.

I was hiking not too far away from the attack in this article below, where a mom saved her child with a metal water bottle of all things. That same month, a lion one mountain range over chased my dog back to me while in full attack mode. The lion was so fast that I wouldn't have gotten off many shots before he got to me, had he continued on his sprint...but once he saw a large human form walking toward him yelling, he halted the attack.


Article: 02 September.
A 5-year-old Canadian boy Simon Impey was attacked by a cougar in the far northeastern corner Washington State while hiking with his parents and sister on the remote Abercrombie Mountain trail along Silver Creek in the Colville National Forest, in Stevens County, near the town of Northport, Washington.

The father Mark Impey was walking about 50 meters ahead with his 7-year-old daughter when he heard the screams of his wife and Simon. He assumed they had been stung by wasp(s), but when he ran back, he saw that a big cat had his son Simon by the head, and his wife Dawn Manning was trying furiously to fend the animal off with a metal water bottle. Dawn and Simon had been eating huckleberries and had been crouched down low. She saw her son stumble, and when she looked over, the cougar had her son's head in it's mouth. The cougar had jumped out from a brushy area and attacked Simon. Dawn's repeated blows with the water bottle finally forced the cougar to retreat into the bush. Manning said she thought she hit the cat three or four times, but her husband said it looked more like a hockey fight. Simon's face and Dawn's hands were covered in blood, so they covered Simon's head with a hoodie before heading out for help. "We were quite frightened," Mark said. "We picked up sticks, I put Simon on my shoulders, and we carried him down (to the car)."

It took about an hour to hike back to the vehicle, and Impey says his brave little boy didn't cry or complain once. Not knowing whether the cat was going to continue to stalk them made for a very tense situation. Manning said the family stayed close together and made lots of noise in the hopes of keeping the cougar away. Conservation officials, who had been hunting for the cat since the day after the attack, told Impey the cougar had, indeed, followed the family all the way back to the car, but fortunately chose not to attempt a second attack.

Once they got to the car, Impey headed straight for the nearby border crossing and the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital 25 miles away, as the family was from Rossland in Southern British Columbia. At the border station, he honked his way ahead of two waiting cars. "I got out of the car and told them it was an emergency and they backed up," he said. "I gave the border guard our passports and told him to tell the hospital we were coming, and he waved us through." Impey said relief came soon after reaching the hospital in Trail, BC. "Right away, they determined it wasn't life-threatening, and that calmed us down," he said. Simon was expected to make a full recovery. The father said, "He's happy and is being quite active and is quite calm about the whole thing."

After being informed of the attack the next day, Washington wildlife official and regional enforcement supervisor in Spokane, Captain Mike Whorton said that Washington wildlife officers were sent to the scene, and from where blood and cougar tracks were found, they began searching for the attacking cat. Department officers contacted local hunters with hounds trained to tree cougars to assist in searching for the cougar. Whorton noted that if the animal is found, it will be killed. "When human life is threatened in this way, we take no chances. Cougars that have attacked people clearly pose a continuing public safety risk and are euthanized if they are captured." Colville Forest officials said they would be posting warning signs at the trailhead where the attack occurred.

Sources: (The Spoksman-Review; by Rich Landers; 09/03/2009) (The Seattle Times; Report of cougar closes Seattle park; By George Tibbits, Associated Press Writer; 09/03/2009) (foxnews.com; 5-Year-Old Hurt in Washington State Cougar Attack; The Associated Press; 09/03/2009) (King5.com; 5-year-old hurt in Wash state cougar attack; The Associated Press; 09/03/2009) (CNews; B.C. boy recovering from cougar attack; By Sunny Dhillon, The Canadian Press; 09/05/2009) (The Record; Mother fights off cougar during attack on son, 5; same story as above By Sunny Dhillon, The Canadian Press, cited for 2nd family handout photo provided; 09/06/2009) (CBCNews.ca; B.C. boy attacked by cougar doing well; CBC News; 09/06/2009)

 

[trkyslr]

It kind of amazes me the amount of talk of people who are just as afraid of thinking they'll be attacked by a mt lions vs a bear. from my readings and knowledge it seams bear attacks to mt lion attacks are probably close 50/1 or greater. Also from my sightings of both in the wild lions have always hauled ass away where bears were more curious or ballsy. Why do people fear mt lions as much as they do? just curious as when Im in bear country im keeping on alert for them while when im in mt lion country (which is a lot) im never looking for lions as i do bears.

 

[justin davis]

I'm surprised at the amount of hunters who are scared of lions and bears too. And people in general. You have a way better chance of being killed in a motor vehicle driving to your hunting spot than being attacked by a lion or bear.

Hell you probably have a better chance of being eaten by big foot than being attacked by a lion or bear. (black bear that is). Grizz is different!

Im not scared of animals. Only scarred if the two legged critters

 

[BroodBuster]

The common trait of lion attacks is that the person attacked was somehow mimicking a prey animal. In the case above hunched over picking berries. The most common victims are mountain bikers peddling along which to a mt lion must look a lot like a deer running away triggering an attack. There is a reason why experts say to look them in the eye and if attacked fight like hell. Job well done by that kids mother.

Quick shout out to the Colville Nation. For being probably the poorest tribe in America they do some pretty cool stuff.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

A coworker shot a lion in the head while he was taking a dump last November at 6 ft. We watched a bedded buck for 2 hours on Tuesday, only to take our eyes off to check out some does that came through a saddle up close. Maybe 3 minutes. Never saw found the bedded buck again. Investigation showed cougar tracks in the buck's bed. Never saw him leave or the cougar. The cat tracks were right in the spot I'd been glassing from at first light/7am when we back tracked at 12 noon. Not uncommon. Same general region as the video Colville National\NE Washington.

I was local on the same Silver Creek trail a few days after the Canadian boy was attacked too. F+G said the kid was really tough and somewhat unfrazzled about the whole thing.

This past two months have been the most cats I've seen show up In person, on friends Game cams, and have been taken by friends. My small circle of contacts has already taken 3 cats. Another friend has shot two in a row, back to back.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

My best buddy was a National Statistic also in 2001. Was attacked in Big Bend NP. Cat would NOT leave him alone after repeated yelling and rocking. Eventually grabbed his calf/lower leg. He bashed it's head in with a large rock multiple times until it released.

He made it out to the park HQ and reported it. Said within a few hours he could hear the hounds from his camping area. The killed the cat in short order. A 82lb female in poor condition. El Paso forensics confirmed human DNA under the claws, and the top of the skull had severe trauma under the hide during autopsy.

Crazy.

They definitely creep me out more than any of the bears when working up there in the darkness.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

For me it's more of a fear of an unseen enemy kind of thing, however I wouldn't say it's fear so much as making me nervous is all. A bear attack may be more likely but there is also a far greater chance of defending myself because bears aren't as sneaky so I'll have time to avoid them and if not avoid then time to draw my pistol. Mountain lions don't attack head on nearly as often so by the time you see them you're had, at least that's the impression I get, I could be wrong.

 

[marc]

Yes I do. In 2003 I shot one just north of Elbe WA at 12 yards with my longbow that was coming at me. Ever since then I carry a glock 20 on my hip because I was lucky that I was calm enough to make that one arrow count. I feel much better with 15 rounds of 10MM for the cats and the meth heads.

 

[n2horns]

I never had a problem taking a cougar down, must be my stunning good looks. Been working late, needed some comic relief.

 

[Moe.JKU]

I've never seen the need to carry a hand gun in the bush. Might be the fact we aren't allowed to where i live, but even hunting in high density brown bear, Grizzly and cougar areas never felt that having one would make me feel more safe. Sure it would help out, there was guy that killed a black bear with a knife after he got mauled looking for it.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/09/3...fe-kills-525-pound-black-bear-during-mauling/

 

[Beendare]

Lion just dragged a kid from a trail here in the SF Bay area. The kid was in a group of hikers and leading the pack and the lion pounced on him. The adults charged over and scared the lion off the kid...F&G ran hounds on the lion and killed it- 75# youngster

Lions are a big problem here in Ca-moratorium on hunting them for a long time- but the F&G doesn't want it getting out. They regularly have under the radar houndsmen killing these problem lions but they don't want the public to know about it.

I think what JJ is saying in his OP is to "Be prepared" and i totally agree...but these lions usually give you a little time to react if you pay attention

 

[justin davis]

Cali should allow cat hunting.

 

[velvetfvr]

I haven't got a cat on cams where I hunt but I saw tracks this year. It's not so much as afraid of getting attacked by a cat, it's how they attack. They will follow and are sly animals. I am pretty sure I have been followed by them and can't carry a pistol. Always gets the heart pumping when you know something is watching you, just gotta hope it isn't your time if you come by one

 

[Forestryguy]

My GF talked to a group of guys while on vacation in Steam Boat, CO. One of them was in the hospital after being attacked by a Mountain Lion while packing out an Elk. They all had side arms, but no one could get a shot at the cat. The cat stopped the attack and ran off. The guy had to be airlifted out.