bound to happen

[acloco]

Kamiah - you are sooooo right. Cougar will, literally, tear through 10 dogs in seconds.....and then be looking at you!

[creekwalkr]

If the only gun I had was my Savage single shot .204 I would shoot all ammo I had!

But for my personal choice. . . .243

You can hand load a w i d e variety of bullets and its a good all around caliber. I've got a brother-in-law hand load some rounds, knock off a ground hog @ 200yds and turn him inside out. Later that day, he took another heavier hand load and bust a deer from 350yds without a blink ! (I love summer nusiance tags)

I use my .204 for coyote or smaller game. But. . . I agree, a well placed 45 grain Hornady Soft Point will do some work on larger critters

just my opinion. to each his own. and all that other phylisophical stuff.

[WyoVarmiter]

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes here but the .204 is more than enough gun for a mountain lion! Most of the cats killed in this area are killed with a .22 magnum! Why do they make a mountain lion out to be some thick skinned, dangerous, safari animal......they do not handle bullets very well at all! It would not affect my ethics to take my .204 hunting for a mountain lion at all....more than enough gun for a cat! By the way, we have mountain lions that have been seen right here in town by our grade school. I'm sure this will spark a big debate, but most people that have voiced opinions on here about the .204 being enough gun have never even seen a mountain lion, let alone hunted one! I have!

[Rick in Oregon]

I wan't going to get into this either, but we've got lots of cats here too, some sighted right in parks in town, and all over the outskirts on a regular basis.

Most of the guys that hunt them here use 22 WMR's, just like Wyo above mentioned. Any centerfire rifle will kill one of those kitties for sure. As we can't now use hounds to hunt them, due to the bleeding heart liberals in Portland that voted that out (should be a Wildlife Dept issue NOT voters....), we now have more cats than we should, and pets are disappearing, our deer and elk are being decimated as a result.

I'd not hesitate for a second to pop one with my 204 any day. And Wyo is right too, most people that talk about not enough gun for a cat, have never even seen one. (a la our liberals that live in town...Portland)

Rant over.

[WyoVarmiter]

Thanks Rick! I guess you will be my hero too! LOL

[flunkedchemistry]

I had thought about posting about my uncle who hunted mountain lionss using hounds and a 22 magnum when I was growing up. But I thought I would get laughed at and told I was reading bad stories on web sites.

He used the 22 magnum for years doing that and never once lost a dog. But he was killed twice by enraged lions who went straight for him since they both knew the dogs didn't shoot them. The third time my aunt said if he couldn't learn to use enough gun to kill mountain lions that she wasn't going to bury him a third time.

So she just left his chewed up remains out in the trees.

[savage12fv]

Glenn , I am an avid bow hunter love my mathews switchback almost as good as my 204. I think all the fuss is because the cats where not here in abundance like they are now. My theory is that they dont know enough about the little kitteys and that is what makes people scared of them. Like snakes I bet 90% of the people on this sight is scared of snakes. Fact is you have a whole lot better chance getting in a wreck in your car than getting mawled by a cougar or bit by a snake. Having said that I personally have seen 2 cougars bowhunting this year I have hunted almost every morning or evening during bowseason for the last 12 years this was the first time I saw any cats in 12 years. This is a great way to keep people out of your hunting area tell them you saw a cougar you have that hunting ground to yourself. I will admit they did make the hair stand up on my back but I know if I dont invade his space he wont invade mine. On the other hand if I were bow hunting these kitteys I would have a back up weapon just like bear hunting.As for shooting one with a 204 better be a good shot. My theory behind this is if it can eat me for supper instead of me eat it I think I will be packin more than my little 204.

[savage12fv]

Scootertrash, If your 204 will only kill yotes 65% of the time I would sell it to me for $100.00. Id be glad to kill 100% with it.

[loud204]

Ok guys and gals, I've been following this thread and trying to stay clear of jummpin in but I really have to now.
I live in north central Alberta in the small town of Whitecourt. If you've lived here for more than a year and NOT seen one of these cats your either blind or don't realize what your seeing. There have been many cougars shot off the doorsteps with 22 mags or even 22 lr in order to get to the truck to get to work. I have personaly shot two cats using my 204. The locals use dogs and 17 hmr's here to kill them as they don't want a large hole to sew up before selling fur. The deer population has sored in to unreal numbers so the fish and wildlife people have twice dropped 15-20 cougars off within 20 miles of us here in the past 6 years.
For the most part people and cats get along as there is plenty of bush here for both but the local pet population has suffered a little.
I will try and post some video of a cat eating dog food off the front deck of my niebours just a couple of weeks ago and this cat was shot with a 22 long rifle, 204 no problem for me.

[Rick in Oregon]

loud204: Thanks, my point exactly.