I may be grossly overestimating my ability to survive, but this is how I look at it: Even on a good day in running shoes, with the wind at my back and going downhill I couldn't out run a cougar. I may as well paint a target on my back as I scamper away. If it were to come down to it I would rather stand my ground with a knife drawn (if I have time) and make the cat work for his food.

I had always heard to stand your ground and fight. Mountain lions are more likely to attack if they think you are week or injured ( aka an easy meal ). The are less likely to attack if you stand your ground look them in the eye and try and make yourself as loud as you can and as big as you can. I can tell you this much, If you ever comes after me I am not going down with out a fight.

I have always tried to act as big, loud, and mean as possible when having encounters where a cat or bear has made eye contact and come inside my comfort range. Pick up and use tree limbs for clubs, throw rocks, etc... I think this the best way to let them know you are not an easy prey target. The only exception would be an animal that has young or you have accidental cornered, you may want to back out slowly and calmly to try and un-fuse the situation.

OK, I'm fast. Really fast. In 8th grade, I broke all the sprint records. I spent high school running over hurdles faster than everyone else. Colleges recruited me, but I was too lazy to run anymore, and wanted to have time for fun and hunting and fishing outside of the time I spent getting an "education".

Even with all this, I would not even consider, for one second, trying to run from a cougar. That is 100% suicidal.

Mountain Lions can run 50mph+, can jump 19 feet vertically, and leap almost 40 feet horizontally. Not even an Olympian can come even remotely close to this kind of athleticism. If you try to run from a catamount, he will run you down and spill your intestines faster than you can imagine.

You have to try to defend yourself and get big and noisy. Try to grab a big stick or something you can use as a weapon. You have no chance if you run away. If you want to live, fight.

Think about where this information to run rather than fight came from, a college professor in CALIFORNIA! I'll fight, club, stab, or shoot, but running sounds bad. The cat didn't confront you to get petted.

I only have to run faster than all of you other guys so sorry Shane you hunt alone. Besides if I ran i would trip and break a leg with my luck I will take my chances with a fight besides I always have .44 reasons why I don't have to run. I did have an encounter with a Co bear a while back he came in when I was predator calling he got to within 40-50 yds and I figured it would not be a good idea to stay hidden when he saw me he left with a grumble. I will choose to keep an eye out and not either of us be surprised.

fordcountryboy1983:

hollow points will not penetrate the cat's skull, unless you hit him in the eye, which is a narrow chance. Always use solids in a wilderness self-defense gun. ALWAYS.

And as to running or fighting:

Only somebody with the intelligence of a prey animal (which, to be honest, is not that high) would run from a cougar. Not only do they run 45+ mph, jump higher than pole vaulters and more than 35 horizontal feet, they are also the equivalent of Olympic weight lifters.

Case in point: I know a rancher who had a couple of yearling pack mules he was going to use for backcountry hunting trips. They weighed in at 900+ pounds apiece. A 190 pound cat killed one by jumping on its back and reaching around and grabbing it by the muzzle and snapping its neck in one stroke. Here's the best part; the cat dragged the thing whole 25 feet up into a pine and wedged it there between the branched trunk. The reason this is known for a fact is because the rancher turned his dogs on the cat's scent only an hour later, and found his mule there before the cat had come back to feed, and got the thing out of the tree and did a field biopsy.

So, I'm gonna try to back away slowly, trying to keep from getting cornered, and avoid actual combat. But I'll take my chances with whatever weapon I have at hand, whether thats a .45, my hunting knife, a club or a rock. And if it comes down to where I get cornered, I'm gonna be the one to start the fight. That way, it will at least be on my terms.

If he's gonna eat me, I'm gonna make damn sure he has a real hard time doing it.

I figure if I was every in mountain lion country I would either be fishing or hunting. If I was hunting the solution would be easy. If I was fishing I'd wiggle my fly line in front of his face. Cats can't resist playing with a string on a stick. I know it sounds dumb but not as dumb as running.

I coach a couple of AAU basketball teams and we play attack defense.

The 'ol addage of, "the best defense is a good offense!"

The only real defense is active defense, meaning defense for the purpose of counter-attacking and taking the offensive.
Often success rests on destroying the enemy's ability to attack. It’s important to pre-emptively strike at those who intend to do us harm.

The hand which strikes, also blocks!

Good observation dickgun.

I'd face the cougar and shoot it. We've had way too many close calls with cougars in CA lately. It's a matter of time till another person gets killed by one. It's time they should be unprotected in CA.

to idduckhntr

My point was that hollow points lose their mass too quickly to be your first choice in wilderness self-defense. Your revolver may be able to fire a 250 or 300 grain slug, and that's good for you. But the fact is that many handguns are not capable of firing such a big slug.

Moreover, hollow point slugs fragment or shatter on impact, reducing the slug's capacity to penetrate. I myself would much rather be sure of getting the bone-crunching knockdown power (which also delivers quite a shock to any organ tissues it comes in contact with) I needed from solid slugs than getting the mainly tissue-damaging effect of fluid-shockwave producing hollow point slugs.

Re-check your physics, man.

I have a young son; running away is not an option. I'd stand my ground and if the cat closed in I'd shoot it.

If it was coming at me, I'd draw my knife and raise my left arm out in front of me parallel to the ground. The cat would instinctively go for my arm, and as as he latches on, I would drive my knife through the bottom of his jaw and neck with my other hand.

Problem is Jordy, you've now just driven your knife through your arm as well, stick with the belly.
As for running(as the "educated Calf." suggested, sure you "two legged deer" take off. The thing that gets me is that they give advice like this then wonder why more people are being attacked/killed. Espiecaly after stoping hunting them. As for me, if I'm packing, I'm toting (him out). If not then he can try to eat me "Clod Steel tanto first !