Handgun vs. Coyote/Bobcat

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Georgia has mountain lions. I have seen way too many video cams and camera photos to believe other wise posted. We have them in my area of NW Florida. State game dept usually like to deny the existence of lost animal species. If they admit to its presence then they have to do something about it. Print policy, regulations, and devote personnel for studies and perhaps control.
For guarding dogs I would want a shotgun loaded with smaller buckshot or heavy turkey loads for moving critters. Drawback is that the shotgun has a pattern that could hit a dog. If a mountain lion can surprise a pit, it could easily take it. A real fighting pit is not a big dog- like 35-65 lbs max. Many dogs do not look up. Mine do, but they are watching out for birds of prey that get them really upset.

I have to correct myself. GA DNR claims no mountain lions; however, the local Game Warden has seen them here. I don't know if GA DNR is still sticking to their story..

My Pitt looks up too.. We get wasps and the cabin has vaulted ceilings.. She'll lookup to point out the wasp; then, when it comes down to flyswatter range wags (beats LOL) her tail. I grew up breeding and training bird dogs; next was Doberman and Rotts; for along time it has been Pitts.
My Pitt is from bear hunting stock; a long legged blue and about 82#.. However, win or lose, I'd prefer killing a bobcat or mountain lion over a fight. I did some research and bobcat can pounce 12' and in a short distance charge, a mountain lion is +30 MPH.
In a shotgun, I prefer an old 1100 with #4 buck and no duck plug; rifles are AK or AK. At the range it would be; even cylinder bore would not open up too much. At roughly 30', cylinder bore patterns at about 19".

Speaking of bobcats:
https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/state/georgia/article213253584.html
https://www.11alive.com/article/new...r-bare-hands-before-help-arrives/85-564665767
 
I live deep in the hill and hollers of the Missouri Ozarks. A coyote ran through my yard yesterday not 30 feet from where I sat on my front porch. Three days ago I heard a deer continually snorting in the woods behind my house. A bobcat came by on the other side of my garage I assume getting away from the snorting deer. I let most critters pass unmolested even tho I usually have a Mini 14 with varmint loads leaning on the railing in front of me. My quarry is armadillos who dig holes in my yard and ground hogs that chew the siding off of my out buildings.The other stuff like coyotes and bob cats are harmless to me so I let them go.
 
Basically anything more than a 22lr will take care of either a Coyote or a Bobcat. Bobcats don't really care about people, they are either shy or just don't care, unless they are rabid. Ditto for coyotes, but they will go after small dogs and cats.

There are hybrid coyote/dogs I've seen that are much larger than a purebred coyote. Say 55-60 libs. But again, anything bigger than a 22lr will do.
 
My Pitts need to take a leak or dump at night. Where we live in the Chattahoochee NF, we have bears, bobcats and mountain lions. Bears are easy or make noise they leave.
According to the internet, a bobcat can pounce 12' to 14' and a mountain lion's charge is over 30 MPH. How do I know they are here? The game cameras took their pictures. GA DNR claims there are no mountain lions here. Should I believe GA DNR or the cameras? Me, myself and I will believe the cameras.
So when the dog's need to do their thing; I have an AK or AR. No thanks on the handgun. My opinion is based on magazine capacity.. :)

I carry a 9mm loaded with Lehigh Xtreme Penetrators at the cabin. Here's a picture of the front door. :)

PICT0037.JPG
 
the mountain lions found east of the Mississippi (save for extreme south Florida) are pets that have been turned or gotten loose. there are no confirmed breeding big cat couples, that's why their cubs are never seen east of the Mississippi. that doesn't mean to go around unarmed in the woods, but the lowly .38 spl from a snub would work on any of those critters.
 
the mountain lions found east of the Mississippi (save for extreme south Florida) are pets that have been turned or gotten loose. there are no confirmed breeding big cat couples, that's why their cubs are never seen east of the Mississippi. that doesn't mean to go around unarmed in the woods, but the lowly .38 spl from a snub would work on any of those critters.
There must be a lot escaped pets. If there are mountain lions on the loose, regardless of the source, if their sex organs function they will breed. In the southeast I could not find any examples of cubs in a quick google search. The original eastern cougar is considered extinct with maybe the exception of the florida subspecies. I say maybe because it now contains genes from other cougar-puma groups.
So I have no proof of breeding. But wildlife organizations of many states claim that the adults are not even there so I am not sure what to say. So maybe their new creed is that they are all escaped pets and do not breed.
Edit to add. What is happening is that cougars are moving from the west to the east.
“There’s very little evidence to suggest that mountain lions have existed in eastern North America outside of Florida for most of the past century, but there has certainly been a trend of cougars moving eastward since the 1990s,” commented Dr. Michelle LaRue, executive director of the Cougar Network and a wildlife ecologist. “The prevailing knowledge is that mountain lion populations currently out West are doing well enough where the subadults have to disperse from their locations because the territorial males kick them out. We don’t have enough information to say that’s a trend or not, but some animals are being seen east of their current range. Close to half of our confirmations are photos. Photos are great, but we can’t tell any other information about the animal or where it originated.”

In 2000, a train killed a lion in southern Illinois. A bowhunter killed one in Mercer County along the Mississippi River in 2004. In 2008, police shot and killed a 150-lb. cougar in Chicago. It came from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Prior to these events, the last cougar confirmation in Illinois occurred in 1864.

In June 2011, a 140-lb. male cougar wandered about 1,500 miles from South Dakota to Greenwich, Conn. where a car hit and killed it. Ironically, this cat died in one of the easternmost states just three months after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proclaimed its intention to declare cougars extinct in the east.

On Nov. 30, 2008, Louisiana confirmed the first indisputable evidence of a cougar in the Bayou State for more than 40 years when a 125-lb. male appeared in Bossier City. Concerned for the safety of people living in the neighborhood, police shot and killed the animal, the first cougar carcass recovered in Louisiana since 1965. The DNA from that cat established that it originated in New Mexico more than 600 miles west.

Earlier that year, trail-camera images of cougars showed up in Winn Parish in north-central Louisiana, plus Vernon and Allen parishes in western Louisiana. State officials could not confirm if the cat killed in Bossier City was the same animal in the photos or not. In August 2011, a trail camera snapped another cougar photo in Vernon Parish. In November 2016, a camera shot an image of a cougar in Morehouse Parish in the extreme northeastern corner of the state. https://www.gon.com/hunting/cougars-move-east
 
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the mountain lions found east of the Mississippi (save for extreme south Florida) are pets that have been turned or gotten loose.
That’s not entirely correct. Hair samples combined with game camera pics and genetic tests have shown that lions making appearances in WI and as far east as Pennsylvania are wandering cats originating from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Populations hit high levels, and juveniles set out to find their fortune.

You’re right about no breeding though. Not enough of them have gone east yet. But I wish them luck.

Agree on the 38 Special too.
 
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JERRY said:
the mountain lions found east of the Mississippi (save for extreme south Florida) are pets that have been turned or gotten loose.
That’s not entirely correct. Hair samples combined with game camera pics and genetic tests have shown that lions making appearances in WI and as far east as Pennsylvania are wandering cats originating from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Populations hit high levels, and juveniles set out to find their fortune.

You’re right about no breeding though. Not enough of them have gone east yet. But I wish them luck.

Agree on the 38 Special too.
There are old stories dating into 18th and possible early 19th century of cats that must have been jaguars showing up in the middle west. I do not have a reference on hand for it. But if cougars can wander so perhaps can jaguars.
Here what wiki says:
The coastal Diegueño (Kumeyaay people) of San Diego and Cahuilla Indians of Palm Springs had words for jaguar and the cats persisted there until about 1860.[22] The only recorded description of an active jaguar den with breeding adults and kittens in the United States was in the Tehachapi Mountains of California, prior to 1860.[21] In 1843, Rufus Sage, an explorer and experienced observer recorded jaguar present on the headwaters of the North Platte River 30–50 mi (48–80 km) north of Longs Peak in Colorado. Cabot's 1544 map has a drawing of jaguar ranging over the Pennsylvania and Ohio valleys. Historically, the jaguar was recorded in far eastern Texas, and the northern parts of Arizona and New Mexico. However, since the 1940s, the jaguar has been limited to the southern parts of these states. Although less reliable than zoological records, Native American artefacts with possible jaguar motifs range from the Pacific Northwest to Pennsylvania and Florida.[23]
 
For years, the most threatening thing I've seen in woods in which I regularly hike have been deer and rabbits. Recently I've seen both coyotes and bobcats.

Fortunately both seemed rather scared of me and scampered off. But it did get me thinking...would the Glock G19 (9mm) I carry be sufficient for self-defense if one of them was not in a friendly mood?

I don't have a dog any more but will again some day...would not like to see him tangle with these sorts of animals either.

If 9mm isn't sufficient, I could carry a G21 instead (45 ACP) if that is a better caliber for this purpose.

To be clear...yes, I understand these creatures typically run away and I'm not going into the woods petrified of being attacked by coyotes, but always better to be prepared. I'm usually more worried about 2-legged varmints.

Thanks for any advice!
In an effort to return to subject ‘ you could just carry a hiking stick. For coyotes & Bobs are heading the opposite direction as a rule, hell my tiny wife can shoo off a coyote with a porch broom. ( her words :D)

Worst case scenario you have an excuse to buy another gun so it’s a win win for you............
 
In an effort to return to subject ‘ you could just carry a hiking stick. For coyotes & Bobs are heading the opposite direction as a rule, hell my tiny wife can shoo off a coyote with a porch broom. ( her words :D)

Worst case scenario you have an excuse to buy another gun so it’s a win win for you............
I could use a good walking stick, perhaps one with a retractable spike. But for general work around the place it is a little bulky to carry. A holstered pistol remains with you all day if you put it one in the morning. While walking in the outdoors a stick is very handy. Good for over turning boards and probing into things without putting your hand in danger.
 
I carry a 9mm loaded with Lehigh Xtreme Penetrators at the cabin. Here's a picture of the front door. :)

Kind of looks similar to this:
cat.JPG
I clipped the picture to remove my latitude and longitude. The Game Warden figures it was about 75-85 pounds. I showed him a picture of a paw print which he estimated to be 120 to 140 pounds.
With us, it is where we live.

As far as these: 37.JPG
We catch them often on camera and even at night, the spots show up.

This is my fishing buddy or so he says:

fishing buddy.jpg
 
Kind of looks similar to this:
View attachment 865304
I clipped the picture to remove my latitude and longitude. The Game Warden figures it was about 75-85 pounds. I showed him a picture of a paw print which he estimated to be 120 to 140 pounds.
With us, it is where we live.

As far as these:View attachment 865310
We catch them often on camera and even at night, the spots show up.

This is my fishing buddy or so he says:

View attachment 865313
Yeah man
He’s ready to go fishin for sure!
 
The wife and daughter and I are wrapping up a weekend in the Smokeys. I have never been so close to black bear.
The condo we rented had a mama and 4 cubs roll up not 50 yards from our door. The condo we are staying in has a fall theme decoration. Stacks of hay with scarecrows and several types of pumpkin/Ford.

The mama would come in each evening around 5 and bust a pumpkin open then walk off. The cubs would need to figure out that the humans put out good for them.

It was a really cool photo opp to see nature in action.

My wife asked the grounds keeper about them messing up the decoration. He simply said that they don't mind putting out more pumpkins/squash each night as a 300lb Daddy near roams through there after.

We saw a few more cubs in the woods while we walked. I felt a lot better packing a .45.
 
Yes on 9mm with 147gr JHP bullets for small/medium coyote or bobcat. Within reasonable range, I'm talking like under 30 feet, for the average handgun shooter. I would opt for neck or head shots, because if you miss, the critter is most likely going to flea from the noise anyway. I have personally shot a coyote in the neck at about 20 feet with 22LR stinger round and it DROPPED DRT which was very surprising. I wouldn't count on that every time, but it's a reference. I leave the 9 at home if I go NORTH where the coyotes are larger and run in more aggressive packs. But for coyote that aren't much larger than a Fox, 9mm all the way. Just be sure it's a heavy hollow point so the energy transfers to the animal.
 
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