20 gauge effectiveness against mountain lions and other dangerous california critters

[Andrew Wyatt]

How tough are mountain lions and brown bears? I know that bears are such that you have to kill them to make them stop attacking, but are mountain lions the same way?


is 20 gauge buck adequite for mountain lion? I've heard they're rather thin skinned, and have no stomach for charging into hostile fire.


I just got back from my backpacking trip, and was wondering if my choice of weapons (a 20 inch barrelled 20 gauge topper) was the right one.


I brought along birdshot, slug, and buckshot, and while i didn't need to do any shooting, I felt glad I had it with me.

 

[Art Eatman]

There have been three attacks by mountain lions in Big Bend National Park. In all cases, the lion did not suddenly leap from above, as in the movies. There was a confrontation, and the lion apparently advanced rather slowly in each case. From the descriptions, I believe that an armed person could easily have shot any of the lions before any mauling occurred.

I would thus believe that a 20-gauge would be effective, if one can wait as long as possible before shooting. At under ten or fifteen yards, I guess it's a tossup between 00 or slug. However, with a single shot, I think I'd get high behind in practicing speedy reloading.

In one attack, although the lion was close enough to claw the woman's hand, her yelling and screaming was enough to discourage the lion. In another attack, upon a child, the father drove the lion away by yelling and clubbing with a stick.

Art

 

[Dr.Rob]

Lions usually attack prey from behind. If you meet one face to face, it probablywasn't planning on eating you.

 

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, it doesn't hurt to check your six, once in a while. Lots of folks around here, out hiking--and particularly toward or during darkness--have had lions follow them. Commonly, it's curiosity.

Most encounters happen when somebody suddenly comes upon a lion coming from the opposite direction, or around a corner in canyon country. Usually, the lion disappears much faster than you can imagine.

An adult, walking erect, is not the usual sort of meal that a lion is interested in. Looks wrong, smells wrong. The last attack in BBNP was by an old, diseased and very skinny female. Starving and desparate and used to having people around.

A lion killed a jogger out west of Denver. It was surmised he knelt down to re-tie a shoe, which sorta brought him down to what the lion thought of a an appropriate prey.

Art

 

[WYO]

A 20 gauge would be plenty of gun for a mountain lion, but I'd prefer a 12 gauge for brown bears. I tend to prefer slugs, but would not feel naked with buck for lions. In a 20, I'd probably take a Remington 870 youth, which is relatively inexpensive, has a 21 inch barrel, and is a pretty light package in a repeater. I agree with Art and Dr.Rob's comments about mountain lion habits.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

I feel better about my choice. The nice thing about the topper is that it breaks down into a 20 inch long package which can be put in side my tent bag with my tent, or inside my canadian parachutists parka when it's stuffed up inside its back pocket; when i was walking through Mc Nally's, no one was the wiser. you can't do that with an 870.

are 20 gauge brenneke slugs adequite for black bear?

 

[H&Hhunter]

are 20 gauge brenneke slugs adequite for black bear?

Yes, 20 GA slugs of any type are adequate for any black bear. And since there haven't been any browns or grizzlies in Ca for nearly 100 years now the 20 GA is a great choice for your locale.

As far as cats go ditto with every one else they'll work just fine.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Just for the record, while no one was killed by a lion in our fair state for something like 100 years, the last 10 or so have not been so good.

Keep an eye on your little ones in the woods. There are plenty of places near civilization where lions are getting too used to people (Boulder Canyon for example) and its causing bad lion/people encounters.

 

[Greybeard]

Aside from slugs, #3 Buck the biggest projectiles I've found recently for 20 gauge. At close range tho, twenty .25 cal. balls per round should still make thin-skin kitties real sick real quick.