Mt. Lion Hunters - What's your pick in a rifle?

[THO Game Calls]

Serious question - not meant to start a My 17 HMR will kill a lion thing.

I have little if any experience with Mt Lions, but will be hunting them this year and am wondering if the 243 is enough, or take a 270, 308 or what? 

My 270 is too long in the barrel to be a good brush gun, the 308 is a carbine.  The 243 is also a short barreled gun.  I wont consider an AR type weapon just because I get too many flash backs from the old days in the Corps   

But what ever one I choose, unless of course it is the 243 I want to start doing a bit more shooting with it this summer to be ready.  I honestly do not shoot anything other than the 243 and 12 gauge on a regular basis so I want to get in some quality range time with what I am going to be using. 

Any help would be appreciated.

Al

[pitw]

I haven't shot a mountain lion but do beleive that what ever gun you are comfortable with is the best one to take.  I have shot all my moose, two elk and well over hundred deer and maybe 500 coyotes with my savage 243.  I have a lot of guns but when I want to make sure of my shot I take the gun that I am the most familiar with.  Played with pretty much all the 22 caliber rifles for coyotes and missed a lot in the field and a good hunting buddy said one day "go get your damb 243 so we can kill something".

[THO Game Calls]

Well I am pretty comforatable with the 243 but I darn sure would not shoot a moose with it.  Nor would I shoot a black bear with it, unless I had too.  I am sure it might kill one, but there are better choices, and chosies are what I am looking for. 

Thank for the input

Al

[HaMeR]

I'm not a Lion hunter but I do know they are thin skinned animals. A 223 will take one out easily if it is treed. I would probably opt for more gun on a calling trip tho. 

[FinsnFur]

I would definitely think a 243 would take care of any mountain lion. I have never tried but I think I'd be pretty confident with it.

I'm not a real 243 fan because I want a flatter trajectory for a longer range but I shot a lot of deer with a Remington 243 on factory loads in my years

[pitw]

I wouldn't shoot a bear with the 243 either.  The moose I shoot are all headshots under aa hundred yards[they really are a dumb animal].  If I don't have a good clean shot at anything I plain old just don't shoot.

[KySongDog]

My vote would go to my 30-06.  But I've never hunted mountain lion so what do I know.   

Based on that, I'd say go with the .308.  It's kinda similar to the 30-06. 

[Coulter]

What I want to know is if your gonnna finish the cat off with one of them bonkers

I would think the .243 is plenty of gun for a cat. A buddy I work with shot one a few years ago, I'll ask him what he used. Are ya hunting with hounds?

Steve

[Kuipdog]

Robert Ruark said it best "Use enough gun". I would rather be over gunned than undergunned. My choice would be the .308, it shoots flat and should get the job done very nicely. If it was a gun from my collection, I would use my .45-70 marlin guide gun, but thats me.
Kuipdog

[3 Toes]

My Bowtech seems to work, but seriously, for calling a .243 with 80 grain or heavier bullets will work fine. They aren't hard to kill, just hard to find.

[THO Game Calls]

Thanks for the help.

3 Toes - If I can help it, I am not going to let them get close enough to hit with a bow  - -   That is a trophy though - congrats!

45 - 70?  Hmmm - recovering from a separated shoulder, so I dont think I will go that route.

The 308 seems a little large, but what do I know, and the 243 seems a bit light - but again what do I know.

What I really need is a short barreled 270 - guess this might be an excuse to go shopping.


Thanks again

Al

[FinsnFur]

I just sold a Ruger stainless MII 270 for $250 bucks....you woulda loved

[THO Game Calls]

Oh sure - NOW you tell me LOL

Al

[HaMeR]

I just sold a Ruger stainless MII 270 for $250 bucks....you woulda loved

And Jim paid the transfer fees for me too!! 


NOT!!


:roflmao: :roflmao:

[THO Game Calls]

It's OK, keep rubing it in LOL.  I have to paint the front porch today, and with the points I score from doing that, a new rifle seems like a done deal.  But I am going to do a bit more research yet, and see what other info I can find about this.  Just figured I would start here.  Got some gppd advice, and I appreciate the folks who took the time to reply

thank you

Al

[Hawks Feather]

Al,

First off, I have never shot a cat, better make that I have never shot a BIG cat.  While I am not sure, I think it might make a difference if you are going to be calling for the cat or using dogs.  From what I have read on using dogs, the shooter is usually fairly close and in that case I think your .243 would be fine.  If you are calling and the cat hangs up "out a ways" then the .270 might be a better one to use.  Having shot your .243 for a few years, you know the knockdown power that it has.  Saying that, and since you are painting today, I would get a new rifle - even if it is a .243 or .270.   

Jerry

P.S.  Where are you going for this hunt?

[Bofire]

The great caller Steve Craig uses a 222, he gets a LOT of lions. He says they are not hard to kill at all. Over dogs dang near anything will work.
I would use a fast opening bullet, I think over penetration is real likely with the big calibers and tough bullets.
I agree with the guy that said 'finding them is the hard part'.  I would not hesitate for a second to use my 243 on a lion, it knocks the crap out of deer.
Carl

[vvarmitr]

Heck, if you're going to call'em to w/in bow range I'd use my 45LC Ruger Bisley Blackhawk.   

[ohiobob]

If I were buying a NEW rifle, I would go with a 25-06, it is a very versatile caliber so you can load up, load down, with heavy or light bullets, it is flat shooting and hard hitting.
Bob

[Okanagan]

Just found this place.

I hunt cougars by calling them, and my deliberate choice of caliber is .243., so I think it's a good choice.  I just prefer a little more oomph than a .22 bore if I have a longer shot, and I do want an exit as I explain below.  I have called a dozen or so, not shot any myself.  My son shot one that I called with a hand call, and he used his 30-06 with his elk load, because it was sighted in and familiar.  At that time he was using 180 grain Core-lokt's.  It hit the 90 lb. six year old healthy female at mid ribs angling back and out behind the ribs on the other side with a silver dollar sized exit hole.  The cat went about 60 yards, exit plugged with innards, and was hard to find on a carpet of unbroken moss.  Virtually no blood trail ten feet past the hit, and we found it by circling in the general direction it went, in a patch of fairly open timber.  In heavy brush it would have been very hard to find. 

I hang with some cougar hunters and they use various .22 center fires almost all of the time, usually .223.  Among them they have shot several.   If the cat is called or treed, it's true that you don't need much power to kill them.  Old time hound hunters often used a .22 pistol when I was growing up.  On called cats, the main factor may be threading a hole through the brush to shoot at a small portion of the cat.  Did that on a bobcat at 15 yards awhile back, though it was through a soccer ball sized hole.   So I opt for a tack driver I shoot well, sighted to keep the bullet as close to line of sight as possible for the first 75 yards.   As a bit of compromise to that, I have mine sighted a scant I inch high at 100 yards, maybe actually 3/4 inch high.  With a low mounted 2-7 scope it isn't much over an inch off line of my eye out to about 150.

My son has gone to a 6mm, same bore diameter and virtually identical to a .243 as you know .  For now, we are both using 95 grain Nosler Partitions as our one load that fits anything we might shoot with the .243.  It penetrates through for an exit, but usually leaves a fairly small exit hole in the hide, and we want both:  exit in hope of blood trail, yet little hide damage.  Those two criteria are in conflict with one another a bit.  The 95 grain is a compromise, may not be for anyone else to choose.   

My intention is to work up a Barnes TSX 80 or 85 grain load.  Again, I would use one load for anything from fox up to deer that I might choose to hunt with this rifle, and I take it with me on multi-day hunts as a backup for big game if something goes wonky on my 30-06.  FWIW I agree with you on not deliberately using a .243 for black bears, due to experience in killing a few with it when that was the rifle in hand.   We lost one that was hit hard in the shoulder in rain forest and heavy rain.  I want a big enough hole to leave a blood trail not plugged by fat when I trail a wounded bear in heavy cover.  I've shot a few coyotes and bobcats with the 95 grain Nosler Partition and it usually leaves a smallish exit hole. 

If you have generally good tracking surface, I'd go with a light frangible bullet as someone above suggested, whether in .243 or .223 or your .308, to open quickly and not exit.  If you hunt an endless carpet of moss with no snow,  or endless forest duff etc, places that don't show tracks, pick a bullet that will exit.