Helicopter rescue: fear of Mtn lions

I personally have no issue with this. At first I wanted to sit on my high horse and look down at these people but after reading the whole article…EFFFFFF that! They were in a clearing waving sticks as the lions watched them from the timber. Then the guy in the helo reported seeing them too. All with an 11 month old. There are some internet badass on here apparently, but if I’m unarmed with an infant, I’m freaking out too.
 
Not too ridiculous as lions where observed by the Helo crew and didn't leave.... With that said obviously there where not use to wildlife regardless of where they were from. Unarmed Texans means Cali imports.

While elk hunting in ‘19, I bulgled one into 10 yards East of Durango. Interesting encounter. After yelling twice, He finally left unspooked as he casually walked away. Sure glad he left, was only the second day of my hunt, not sure how long the DWR investigations last but would of sucked to have to loose a bunch of days to lion nonsense.
Only a Texan would let a mountainlion walk away
 
I don't understand the amount of scathing comments and dogpiling in this thread.

If they were being stalked by two mountain lions and felt that their 11 month old child's life was in danger (along with their own), who cares if they were frightened enough to call for help? They tried moving into an open area, they tried making noise, making themselves look big, waving sticks, etc. They panicked when the lions continued their interest. Should we crap all over them simply because they didn't bring a firearm?

I agree that a helicopter evacuation is a bit much, but I also know I would personally exhaust every measure if it meant protecting my child, and that being scared and full of adrenaline can make folks do some weird stuff.

Not every American lives half their life in the wilderness and believes they can take on lions, bears, and wolves like Liam Neeson.
 
Only a Texan would let a mountainlion walk away
Only a Dumbass would of wanted to waste the last two days of his sept archery elk hunt hanging out with CPW while they do their investigation...would of smoked an out of season cat that he ended up not having too.

Outside of that I'm not poaching a cat, especially since ain't no way I’d get to keep it.

I grew up in that valley, I m personally not losing the right to return. 20 years is a lot of memories, to never get to revisit in the fall
 
I personally have no issue with this. At first I wanted to sit on my high horse and look down at these people but after reading the whole article…EFFFFFF that! They were in a clearing waving sticks as the lions watched them from the timber. Then the guy in the helo reported seeing them too. All with an 11 month old. There are some internet badass on here apparently, but if I’m unarmed with an infant, I’m freaking out too.
Couldn't agree more.
 
Man, if only the had been armed. They could have shot 2 mountain lions that had no intention of attacking them. Their lives would have been saved and this horrible tragedy could have been avoided.
 
I hope they write an article. I have yet to have cats surround me, despite my efforts. I dream of the day.

Of course I don't leave the house without some sort of equalizer.
 
Man, if only the had been armed. They could have shot 2 mountain lions that had no intention of attacking them. Their lives would have been saved and this horrible tragedy could have been avoided.
Being armed is very different from killing two lions. Having a gun meant they would have some sense of awareness of the possible threats and a way to deal with a life-threatening situation. Warning shot might have spooked the cougars. Killing them would mean the critters got too close. Better than a taxpayer-financed helo exfil IMHO. But then, I'm a subject in the People's Republik of Commiefornistan who is always strapped. Better to have it and not need it...
 
I carry 100% of the time while camping and hiking in cat country. Especially at the oasis’s I’ve found in west TX. Cat sign everywhere along with food, water, shelter. Of course they could be on me before I know what happens while hiking in the maze of arroyos in my favorite canyon.
 
I carry while in the woods, but at some point you have to kinda of think it through logically. I was stalked by two lions for awhile, and the 3rd time I came around a bush and they were sitting waiting together again, I unholstered and walked back to a campground and asked for a ride to my car. Yeah, maybe you do survive with the gun, but you also have to weigh if their claws will hit arteries, will you survive the blood loss and following shock, if you don't bleed out within minutes?

Without saying, going 1 on 1 with any predator is inarguably life or death. Make it 1 on 2 and you better channel your inner weasel.
 
For the folks defending the"victims" it is a statistical impossibility to be attacked and killed by a mountain lion.

One person every 20 years on average in the US. The math is impossible to know but how many people recreated in Mountain lion country every single day year round and 1 person every 20 years, and those attacks have almost always been sick or injured lions.

Not expecting the the family to have known this and rationalized it but it's hard to be afraid if lions with those numbers.

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For the folks defending the"victims" it is a statistical impossibility to be attacked and killed by a mountain lion.

One person every 20 years on average in the US. The math is impossible to know but how many people recreated in Mountain lion country every single day year round and 1 person every 20 years, and those attacks have almost always been sick or injured lions.

Not expecting the the family to have known this and rationalized it but it's hard to be afraid if lions with those numbers.

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This is my thought as well and I say that as a person who is already a statistical anomaly in the fact that I’ve been bitten by a shark. We have a lot of cats in my neighborhood this time of year, even had one screaming in my backyard last week. I don’t ever even give a thought the idea that I might be attacked by a cat.

Grown men, especially hunters, who have emotional based fears of predators and can’t reason their way out of those fears using statistics, make me laugh. The fact of the matter is, if they are going to be terrified of anything, they should be terrified of dying in a car wreck on the way to the trailhead, yet they dedicate all of their headspace to the idea of defending themselves against a Mtn Lion attack which is far more unlikely than getting struck by lightning or even spontaneous combustion.

I can’t be friends with people like this. If you can’t apply reason and logic to unfounded fears, you’re not a grown-ass man.
 
For the folks defending the"victims" it is a statistical impossibility to be attacked and killed by a mountain lion.

One person every 20 years on average in the US. The math is impossible to know but how many people recreated in Mountain lion country every single day year round and 1 person every 20 years, and those attacks have almost always been sick or injured lions.

Not expecting the the family to have known this and rationalized it but it's hard to be afraid if lions with those numbers.

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You math is off. A total of 126 attacks, 27 of which were fatal,[1] have been documented in North America in the past 100 years. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.
 
it is hilarious seeing all the big manly men criticize the family for being afraid of mountain lions and in the same breath talk about how much fire power they carry in case they ever run into a mountain lion. paranoia is funny
 
I'd think the chances of dying in the helicopter would be much higher than from the mountain lion.
 
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