Did anyone see that video of the guy that shot that Leopard in the cave? He shoots the cat with a handgun not sure of the caliber but it looked like it was a ruger sinle shot pistol, any way he thinks that it is all over and turns around to walk away when the cat charges him from the cave. To me it looked like he got off two more shots and at least one of those hit before the cat tackled him. If he didn't have his friends there to save his butt, he might have well died, in my opinion that is. Anyway that right there should prove that in no way should you expect a handgun to be much good at defending your behind against a good sized bear, a bear is way bigger than a leopard.

No just proves he was over confident with his shot. Any thing that could bit me I am really careful with should have shot the thing at least one more before turning his back.

Only things it proves is that the shooter was a "dickhead" for turning his back on something that could eat him before he knew the leopard had decided that he was really dead. I keep saying over and over that even though these beasts are dead they can kill you. Don't really matter what you shoot unless you make it so they can't move (CNS or major frontbones broken (shoulders both)) they will get you if they really want to. I have even seen it happen with gray (cat) squirrels.

There is also a vedio of a guy shooting a lion with a rifle. With about the same results. It was lucky no one was hurt or killed when the lion charged the group.

Using your hypothesis, It could be said that rifles are not enough for big cats and bears.

It is the shooter that is the problem not the weapon.

If I ever run into a big cat or bear,I would rather have a handgun on my hip than a rifle leaning against a tree.

Jeff

I agree with you guys that the idiot should have fired more shots to be sure the fight was over, maybe he thought the dogs would take care of the rest of the problem, or he might have thought the cat would just lie there and bleed out. I have never fired a weapon at a dangerous animal, but I think I might have fired the rest of the cylinder into it to make sure the situation was ended. But my inexperienced opinion is that if you needed to rely on a handgun to stop a much larger creature like a bear I think there is probably a 99 percent chance that you are in for some pretty bad hurting. You just had to see the video, it was like the leopard suddenly after a few seconds thought to itself, that sonofagun just shot me I'm gonna kill him. So what I am saying is you have a creature that has been seriously hurt deciding to take you out, and you get two more shots at him and he still gets you, how effective are you going to be with a 1,000lb bear not yet hurt coming at you with a hand gun. I wish I could give information on that video it was one of the most amazing animal displays I have ever seen, but I was just flipping through the channels when I saw something that I thought was a cougar hunt with dogs. I would like to see it again so that I could pay a little closer attention.

If you're talking about the tape that was released a while back, then the dumb-ass was only using a 45 Colt with regular loads. I remember seeing the Blackhawk and saw how it recoiled and it had to be low velocity factory or reloads. Definitely the wrong ammo for the job, in fact it was the wrong man for the job.

I'd like to see that. Where can I find a copy?

I agree with the others here as he was the idiot. When you hunt dangerous game that can hurt you or really any game for that matter you ALWAYS make sure the game is down before approaching and only from behind. But after I through a stick at it or even a rock. JMHO.

But I would have no problem hunting any cat with my 445 supermag dan Wesson. For a cat I would use a nice expanding bullet like a 240 gr sierra or a XTP at 1600+fps. That should take the fight out of that kitty.

It really comes down to the person behind the gun.

Brian

tech, he was probably shooting a factory round nose at very low velocities. Most likely effective on treed coons but not for big game. I take that back, a coon can be awful hard to kill also.
I would trust my loads and boolits on ANY game.
That guy belongs on the Darwin list of stupid people. He was NOT a handgun hunter and would have done better with a squirt gun full of ammonia. I blame him for his stupidity.

LAR, if you try to find that site sells videos, you'll find it. I don't remember where the tape came from as I've got terminal CRS from lighting off way too many big boys.