He needed it for a mountain lion the second day he carried

[Okanagan]

At a retirement party for a mutual friend, I asked an acquaintance about his encounter with a mountain lion I'd heard about. 

He said that he used to seldom carry though he was legal to do so.  Then one day on an isolated stretch of a rural/suburban hiking/biking trail, he changed his mind.  He saw a young woman alone, was concerned for her vulnerability, and realized that he had no way to protect her.  He decided on the spot to start carrying and beginning the next morning when he dressed, he added his .38 revolver with a two inch barrel.  He is a retired LEO.

Two days later, on the same trail, he came on a cougar in the path.  It looked at him and stepped off of the trail.  Cool.  My friend reached down and got his .38 from the saddle bag, stuck it in his waist band and rode on past where the cougar had been.  Doggone, it started chasing him.  He had heard not to run because it would trigger the cat to pursue, so he turned to face it, raised the bike in his arms and yelled.  The lion crouched and did a rapid low crawl toward him.  At 16-18 feet he shot and killed it.

[Hawks Feather]

At 20 feet there would have been an accident on my part.

Jerry

[pitw]

That cat woulda bee slipping in something smelly had it been me.

[FinsnFur]

Me three.
I woulda soiled me self 

[nastygunz]

I always have carried everywhere my whole life.  It amazes me the people that go out in the mountains unarmed and most of them aren't really outdoors people there just flatlanders trying to get a taste of the wilderness and completely clueless on how to react with the animals, weather etc.

Fish and Game had to rescue at least five people this weekend already from getting lost in the mountains.  New Hampshire passed a law now that NHFG can bill the people for the cost of the rescue unless they already bought a hike safe card which is kind of like an insurance card if you get lost in the wilderness it pays for the rescue. And those rescues are not cheap.

I have spent my whole life out in the field and in that time have had two aggressive bear encounters and one moose encounter. 2 out of 3 I bullied on their way and one very ballsy bear got a face full of dirt from a .357 magnum shot into the ground in front of him which caused him to seize and desist.

I often wonder what would have happened with that bear if I had not been packing a firearm.  They seem to be a lot more aggressive and ballsy then they used to be.

[nastygunz]

2 lions !

[Okanagan]

Nasty, excellent videos.  On the bear in the first one, I think that man was lucky.  It appears to me that for some unknown reason the bear broke off the attack even though it started out to eat him. 

The man who shot the lion spent his career as a big city cop and retired from that to do some teaching in a small northwest town.  My first comment was that it was excellent shooting.  He replied that he has always been a good shot.  I commented that short pieces are harder to hit with and he basically said that they are as accurate if the shooter does his part.  He said that he did not get the least excited, was calm.  Interesting from a pro.  I suspect that he has been in stressful situations before.

FWIW a third party mentioned the cougar incident and he was obviously reluctant to talk about it till I told him I hunted them and was interested in how it unfolded. 

While fishing shad recently with my BIL, he showed me a chest harness rig for a compact auto pistol that he wears when fishing, hiking, picking berries etc.  The pistol rides right on his sternum with grip at a down angle, instantly handy yet out of the way compared to a hip holster.

I've been threatened by grizzles, black bears, moose, mountain goat, cougars, mule deer; by armed men and disarming women...     and so far none have carried through and I haven't shot any of them.

The mountain goat was way the worst and if I'd been carrying I would have killed it.  I probably should have shot one of the grizzlies, inside of 40 feet, but didn't and got away with it.  (Edited later:  oops, I shot the mule deer, a wounded buck that attacked me and had to be wrestled down and shot again).

[nastygunz]

I carry in a chest rig also! I always said if we had grizzly and brown bears up here youd never catch me out in the woods at all ha ha. The last few years I have swapped my .357 magnum out and now carry a Glock 17 in 9mm.  Sometimes I carry it with a 32 round magazine just to look like a bad ass 

[FinsnFur]

Yah, a badass