Mountain Lions and Coyotes...

[Glock17JHP]

I live in Southern CA, in the foothills below mountains that are about 5,500 feet high. My elevation is about 1,400 feet. We have been having a lot of coyotes, and a few mountain lions in our area. I have not personally seen any mountain lions, but the closest sighting was during daylight and was only about 1/4 mile away at a slightly lower elevation (1,300 feet). The mountain lion that was seen got within a dozen feet of a small child (it was in a tree in the kid's backyard), and was really looking the kid over before being scared off by the child's father. Coyotes are much more common, and I have seen a half dozen or so within distances as close as maybe 15 feet while on my own property just in the past 4-6 months. My question is this... what would be a good choice for protection when outdoors should things go wrong? Is 'Low-Recoil' 9-pellet 00 Buck enough to stop a mountain lion? I am guessing it would definitely be enough for a coyote. I have several 12 gauge slug loads, including Brenneke Tactical Home Defense and WinLite "Low-Recoil' Foster slugs (both are 1 oz.), but I am not sure I would want to go that route with a mountain lion unless it is clearly a better option. Buckshot 'feels' like a better choice to me if it is 'enough' for both critters. Comments, please...

[DocGKR]

Mountain lions are not that hard to stop--all the common service calibers work fine, as do the assault rifle calibers, as well as 00 buckshot.

[Low Drag]

I know a fellow on the west slope of Colorado that hunt mountain lions with dogs. He uses a Glock 21 with ball ammo to do the shooting. It's usually very close after a climb up a rock face and holding the dogs back etc. He needs a one hand weapon to do the type of hunting he does.

[TOrrock]

Like Doc says, you should be fine. I might go with standard velocity buckshot vs. reduced recoil, just know how your gun patterns.

I know a guy who's taken several treed mountain lions with a 6" .357 magnum with 158 gr. JHP's.

Hope it doesn't come down to having to dispatch one, but if it does, you should be OK gear wise.

[Wayne Dobbs]

I've heard of mountain lion hunters in West Texas who used Ruger Single Six .22 Magnums on the cats with decent results. They are not very tenacious of life, so a properly loaded service pistol or shotgun should be more than enough.

[Dragon Slayer]

Just make sure you shoot to kill and finish the job, you do not want any wild animal roaming wounded.

[ST911]

Advice in the thread is GTG. I know of several yotes and lions taken with medium weight .223 rounds, and .40SW duty rounds. Coyotes go down easier than mountain lions.

Get a good hit, follow through for a second one if needed.

Remember that both will leave you alone unless they don't have their normal food source, are cornered/wounded, or are juveniles. They will see you far more often than you will ever see them.

[Glock17JHP]

I figured I was OK with the coyotes with my shotgun and Ranger RA1200 (Low-Recoil 12 gauge 9-pellet 00 Buck), or my Glock 19 and Ranger RA9T (9mm 147 grain JHP). As mentioned above by one of the replies, I also figured a mountain lion would be harder to stop than a coyote, just didn't have an idea 'how' hard to stop. The coyotes here are about the size of a medium-sized German Shepherd (a long-legged one, that is). Would anyone here hazard a guess as to what sort of critter is of similar size to a mountain lion? A large dog? Something else? I will research on that myself in the meantime.

[Glock17JHP]

Remember that both will leave you alone unless they don't have their normal food source, are cornered/wounded, or are juveniles. They will see you far more often than you will ever see them.

Agree 100%, of course!!!

[lethal dose]

Coyote are no match for even 55 gr .223 fmj. As previously stated, any service caliber should do. 00 buck would certainly be devastating. Hopefully you don't get close enough to one to have to administer a round of 00 to a wild cat. Anyhow, for defense from one, the scatter gun would be my first pick. For hunting, I always have fancied the challenge a wheelgun hunt brings and, when successful, the stories it generates.