Mountain Lion Caliber

[keepriding]

a 40 is plenty. If that is what you shoot best, than it's probably your preferred option. With cats, I don't think you need to woory as much about stopping power as you do about how fast you can deliver a shot. If a cat does attack, they rarely attack adult males, there is a chance that cat will be on you before you know it's there. Rifles are almost useless in that scenario, but your handgun is a good choice. my 2 cents

 

[Shepherd]

I also killed my lion with a .260 caliber. She died before she hit the ground.

 

[mcr-85]

I drew a cat tag this year. I will most likely shoot it with my grandpa's model 94 .32 win special. Thats the plan anyways. We gotta get one in the tree first.

 

[Pwb199]

Given your options, I’d go with the 30-30!

 

[hunter4life]

I see a lot of replies that are from guys who have obviously not killed lions, or have never hunted them with a client. It is amazing how many people can screw up a 10-20 yard shot on a treed lion. Do NOT take a rimfire.

.30-.30, .243, 44 mag carbine, .223, any deer or elk rifle, will all work just fine.
Most people suck so bad with a pistol that I wouldn't want them to use one. I personally carry one, but I am not planning on killing the cats we chase, it is just for insurance. We often carry a .45 long colt carbine with hot handloads of a Barnes -x bullet and it is lights out for the cat.

 

[ALrifleman]

I used a 257 Weatherby on mine in Idaho. Good shot and he still ran 20-30 yards. Tough animals.

 

[kiddogy]

I used a .223 on mine. good shot. he did not twitch. there is a reason they are called pussies.

 

[Bowhunter65]

Take your 30-30 , sure a lot of us as houndsmen ( lifelong 2nd generation) use 22lr or 22mag and we use them all the time. We as a houndsman want that cat to hit the ground dead. Good luck, you will be amazed with the dog work.

 

[Blueticker1]

22 mag is a damn good cat killer, but if you're comfortable with your 3030 use that, I have seen a lot of cats take a dirt nap with the 22. The worst wreck I ever seen was with a 44 mag that the moron couldn't shoot after he assured everyone that he routinely shoots 25-50 rounds a week with it. Truth is take the gun that you are most accurate with and put the bullet where it needs to go. Cats are not hard to kill. Granted that advice is if you are using dogs, if you're calling em a 22-250 will clean their clock as far as you can shoot it.

P.s after reading all of the other replies that advice just applies to Utah, apparently other states have a considerably tougher lion. Coyotes can take more bullet than any of the lions I've met

 

[roosiebull]

when i'm calling lions I like my AR in .223 (sig m400 predator) the best right now, the last big tom I called in and killed I was able to shoot 3 times... really thick on the coast here and I assume they don't go far... the first shot did the job, but I figured I would keep killing him.
very minimal hide damage, and it could have been one little entrance had I not shot a second time... or 3rd

I have also shot them with my 7mag, and 7-08. the AR is hard to beat for me, just because I can see the impact and get a fast follow up.

in the near future i'm getting a 1/4 bore... probably the 257wby, and I will use that a lot too.... a soft bullet at calling range should demo their insides, and not go far.

I will admit, my main objective is a dead lion with minimal tracking rather than a perfect hide.... if they don't bleed, they are hard to track

 

[Ruger2004]

30-30 should be perfect.

 

[wildwilderness]

.22 would be fine if you add another 2 -- .222 the Triple Duece!

 

[HRH2K]

.22 would be fine if you add another 2 -- .222 the Triple Duece!

I recently acquired a CZ 527 so chambered and am head over heels...

 

[bill_eb]

I shot mine in Utaj with a .223 and Hornady Vmax - Bullet exploded internally and all the internals of the cat were bloodshot. But cat hit the ground and flipped over and ran 40 yards before he ran head long into a tree and knocked himself out. He died a few minutes later. So I second a previous post that he still had some fight left in him but was a dead man walking. Used the Vmax to spare the hide damage. If I did it over again - I might use a jacketed bullet that gives a good pass thru on the 1st shot and use a Vmax on the 2nd shot. Guide also recommended a 38 cal. pistol as an option. 30-30 would work but was overkill.

 

[lamrim79]

For lever action, most of my big cat kills have been 45 Long Colt with a Rossi R92. Beautiful gun, deadly accurate with just its out-of-the-box sights. Some people want to know about light calibers vs mountain lions for defense. Light and heavy calibers are like light and heavy trucks. If you don't have any skill, you usually opt for bigger to make up for it. I have had several mountain lion encounters hunting with my dogs and dispatched 2 170-ish pound cats with my 22LR derringer, only because the rifle was too close to fire. The cats went down immediately with no twitching or nerves. 22 LR right on top of the skull. I carry the little derringer when I'm backpacking for defense. North American Arms. Really nicely made. But I'll never see a cat unless I have my dogs sniffing them out. In the extremely unbelievably rare case you get lucky (or unlucky) enough to even see a cat just hiking, and they, for some reason, want something to do with you (which they don't), just the snap of a little 22LR will tell them that you are nothing to mess with. And in case you DO have to fight a big mountain lion and you are NOT armed, go for their eye sockets. They have very large eyes and they are an extremely exploitable target. I have fended off several cats when the scramble gets going with the dogs treeing one (and they always jump back down) and I am trying to get my dogs to safety just by focusing on damaging the cat's eyes. I'll throw sticks, sand, rocks, rounds, anything at their eyes just to break up the melee and they've winced and backed off. I've also used bear spray and it works but you and the dogs are usually going to get some depending on the wind so I woudn't use that again unless it was just me hiking. On one of those days after bagging the cat and throwing it in the back of my subaru crosstrek, I also helped a few guys who were stuck in their gigantic, heavy, full size dually ford F-WHOKNOWS50 by throwing on the tow strap and using the Subaru's unstoppable All Wheel Drive to pull the massive heavy truck out of the mud. Big and little are easy to navigate. Big brain? You only need a little. Small brain? You see those guys are all over the place and they make up for stupidity with big trucks, big guns, Huge RV's, etc. Be smart. Hunt small. Camp small. Take what you are given, and no more. And you will get another hunt.

 

[Coldtrail]

For the people I guide, .22mag for little cats, 30-30 or .35 is great for big cats, if they insist on using archery equipment......I will send them elsewhere.

Too many variables between hunters abilities if things get western to use questionable weapons & getting dogs ripped up puts a real damper on the season.

 

[Buzzy73]

Killed 2 with 22-250 and works great, no exit with nosler BT. Know a 44 mag does a good job too.


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