Guns for lions ???????

[Tobey]

I have never been on a lion hunt But I have talked to Manny that have.Some I have talked to recommend using a small caliber gun such as a 22 mag. 22 hornet,Or 222.There reasoning has been to shoot the cat in the lungs and it dies in the tree not on the run after bailing from the shock of a big caliber gun.I can only relate this to shooting bear from trees.I know its got a lot to do with shot placement as to how long any animal will live and how much damage they can do before dying.It useto scare me when I had a archer on a dog hunt.All I could think of was that bear was going to come out some ticked of.But after seeing Manny killed with a pointed stick LOL I would rather take one with a bow than a gun.They just sit there and look at the big hole leaking blood till they drop out dead.What are your thought???

------------------
We having fun yet//Tobey

 

[Bear Creek Adventures]

Tobey,

I personally use a .44 pistol. I would not recommend using anything less than a .357 mag. If you are confortable shooting with a pistol you will have the definate advantage of not having to carry a rifle on this type of hunt. I want my hunters to use a gun that kills the lion on the first shot. So what if you shoot him in the lungs and he jumps the tree and runs 100 yards? He will still be just as dead. Most houndsmen I know, myself included, tie the dogs back when shooting so that they don't get torn up if the cat is still alive when he hits the ground.

------------------
"The worst advice you can give a person with a sour attitude is to be himself"
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Bear Creek Adventures (edited 01-22-2001).]

 

[bcat]

Tobey,
In Wyoming anyway they require at least a 223 caliber . Most of the people I take use a pistol , or a 30-30 or a 270 or something like that. I think the best is the 30-30 myself. I have seen alot of lions taken with a pistol 41, 44, 45 etc. Ya always get the lion but I havent seen one yet that dies in the tree. They always jump and run sometimes just a hundred yards, sometimes three or four hundred yards depending on the shot placement. If they dont stop in the first hundred yards I turn the dogs loose again. Most just tree agiain, some end up fighting the dogs a little on the ground until ya can get some more lead in em. I have seen better results as far as a quick kill with a rifle of some kind, or a bow and arrow, but I kinda like the adrenaline rush of the chase after the shot!!! Good for the pups to get scratche dup a little, makes dogs out of them usually!!! bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

 

[Tobey]

BCA
I also carry a pistol when bear hunting,A 41 mag.I have shot bear out of trees with it but mostly us it for back up for hunters.I also will not have a bear shot out of a tree till all the dogs are tied back out of the way.
Bcat I to would rather see a hunter use a rifle than a pistol for some reason the pistol don't have the shocking power of a rifle.A buddy of mine has a 30/30 that he had cut down and lightened up he calls it his (dirty 30)It sure is a good bear gun.


------------------
We having fun yet//Tobey

 

[KW]

When it was legal, I liked my 3lb 22mag pump. I never had lion shot in the neck wih it that went anywhere but down. I also had a hunter miss a big lion with a pistol at 15 ft, ---3 times and the lion got in the bluffs and got away!!! with any kind of rifle that would not have happened, If I carry gun , it is a 30---30winchester, nice and lght KW

 

[Wolfer]

I use a modle 788 remington in 243.short easy to manuver and kills cats dead and coyotes also

I hear alot about bustin bears out of a tree . the biggest thing i have seen is a bear doesnt JUMP a tree he climbs down and then fights or runs (my experience) a cat just decides its time to take flight and Jumps...Bcat How many have you had come out at ya from tree.Or any other cat hunters for that matter


------------------
If there isn't any dogs in heaven .....IAINT GOIN

[This message has been edited by Wolfer (edited 01-23-2001).]

 

[Tanglefoot]

Check out my post "Tanglefoots Lion Pics" One of the pics shows all three 44 mag bullets I took out of my lion. One went clean thru his heart , the small fragment was all that was left of one and it blew up on his shoulder.
I think I would like to try one with my bow, but I can attest to what kinda walking can be involved in a cat hunt and am not so sure I would like to be carrying a bow while walking 5 or more miles in snow shoes. The cats do not run thru the prairies where the walking is easy, you can pretty much count on them going right to the thick stuff and the cliffy areas,depending on the terrain you are hunting.The guy I hunted with told me a story about shooting one with a .22. 14 shots later he got that lion, but what a fiasco it was, he told me. Goood luck. TF