Mountain lion kills mountain biker in Washington

[Sigarms]

Never once - NOT EVEN ONCE - did any state or federal agency send employees into the bush with a pistol for self protection. Most often used - 12 gauge with double ott buck.

For larger animals, slugs with shotguns. My rifle of choice for out west and while in Alaska with a rifle was .45-70, generally over 400 grains with some decent velocity. Not great for long range hunting, but pretty much good for anything I'd need defending from.

That said, when participating in "outdoor activities", generally a rifle or shotgun for various reasons are just too cumbersome. Be it I was hiking or a multi day kayaking trip out west, long story short, 30 rounds of 230 hardcast bullets going over 1100 FPS is absolutely better than having nothing at all. No different than having a .380 in the city. Perhaps not the best caliber for the job, but again, something is better than nothing at all.

THAT said, if I was out west, if my only choice was a .380, I'd probably just lay my hopes with a large knife:laughing:

If I was "working" in the woods, yes, a rifle would be mandatory.

Thing that would surprise most people I believe is actually how fast a brown bear can run. Heck, I've even seen black bears here that I thought at first was a dog running full tilt only until I saw it's size and realizing it wasn't a dog. Buggers are FAST.

 

[oosik]

Roy Jackson - I think you have hit upon a good idea - more cougars/less sheep. Reading these posts - now I can see why so many tourists would get injured/killed while visiting Alaska.

There has NEVER been a person on the face of this earth that can win an all out fight with a 175 pound bear. A lot of folks don't realize this - until its too late.

With this in mind - - you want to stand up against a 1000 pound brown or grizzly bear with a hand gun. Fight hard - your partner is running like H-E-L-L in the opposite direction.

 

[Sigarms]

With this in mind - - you want to stand up against a 1000 pound brown or grizzly bear with a hand gun. Fight hard - your partner is running like H-E-L-L in the opposite direction.

If you and I are in the woods together and we come across a 1000 lb bear, all I need to do is out run you

That said, thinking about it, if you and I were 3 yds abreast of each other and we came across a bear and I took off, would the bear target me for the chase or would it go after you since you got the late start? I honestly don't know, wouldn't really want to find out.

 

[oosik]

Sig - - neither do I. However, long ago there was a wildlife photographer - Gordon Eastman - got lots of videos of brown bears. I think my love for wanting to live in Alaska came from watching all his videos. He came from my home town - Omak, WA.

 

[rekees4300]

NORTH BEND, Wash. - Eastside fire officials said emergency crews were responding to the report of a mountain lion attack in the foothills near North Bend around 11:20 a.m. Saturday.


King County Sheriff's officials said two mountain bikers were attacked. One was killed.

===========

That's about 25 miles SE of Seattle.

Bruce

When a Mountain Lion sees a fast moving object in the woods his brain registers deer/kill. Lion did what comes naturally, now it will be hunted down and killed.

 

[flusher]

Cougars are stealthy hunters. The largest gun in the world is no help if it attacks out of cover from behind and gets the kill bite on your neck. That's what happened to a mountain biker in Jan 2004 in Whiting Ranch County Park in Orange County, CA. Drought had forced the predators down into this suburban park which was kept in a natural state with lots of cover for hunters like cougars. That attack happened on a Thursday. The previous Sunday my son and I hiked nearby trails. Didn't see any cougars, but did see a bobcat.

 

[k0ua]

When a Mountain Lion sees a fast moving object in the woods his brain registers deer/kill. Lion did what comes naturally, now it will be hunted down and killed.

The Mountain lion has been dead now for many hours.

 

[radios1]

For larger animals, slugs with shotguns. My rifle of choice for out west and while in Alaska with a rifle was .45-70, generally over 400 grains with some decent velocity. Not great for long range hunting, but pretty much good for anything I'd need defending from.

That said, when participating in "outdoor activities", generally a rifle or shotgun for various reasons are just too cumbersome. Be it I was hiking or a multi day kayaking trip out west, long story short, 30 rounds of 230 hardcast bullets going over 1100 FPS is absolutely better than having nothing at all. No different than having a .380 in the city. Perhaps not the best caliber for the job, but again, something is better than nothing at all.

THAT said, if I was out west, if my only choice was a .380, I'd probably just lay my hopes with a large knife:laughing:

If I was "working" in the woods, yes, a rifle would be mandatory.

Thing that would surprise most people I believe is actually how fast a brown bear can run. Heck, I've even seen black bears here that I thought at first was a dog running full tilt only until I saw it's size and realizing it wasn't a dog. Buggers are FAST.

try a .338 rifle sometime, longer range, cheaper ammo, and it will take a bear down no problem.. I saw the devastation it did to a big wild boar, and no way a bear could take that either..

 

[Doofy]

Bears are unpredictable. Timothy Tredwell and girlfriend found that out the hard way. So much for being a "Bear Whisperer" Photo Journalist to Bear Scat.

 

[goeduck]

Polar Bear speed 27MPH, Black Bear 30MPH, Brown Bear 35MPH. Usain Bolt's top speed was 27Mph.

Most of us would be lucky to be half or a third as fast as Bolt and after a day or so we would be bear scat.

Cougars have been rated at up to 50MPH so no chance running from them at all except maybe the middle aged lady kind.