Hello from the UK, Pub talk here folks. Your out with your 12g on ducks/geese. What shells do/would you carry for a couger/lynx encounter. we are arguing in the pub about it and could do with a view from across the pond. ATB

Anything you have in the shotgun will drop a cat if you're close enough. If you're not close enough then it's not really self defense is it? It's important to be able to prove a case of self defense if you actually do shoot an animal without a liscence. That's how it works in Canada anyway. I know most people will stand up and say SSS or shoot shovel and shut up but it seems ones sins always have a way of getting out.

I know a guy who had one getting too frisky with him and he popped him in the head with an arrow. To be really safe a couple of rounds of buckshot will kill most animals dead. buckshot will drop a black bear in its tracks at 40 yards although I think even that is too far out to be called self defense.

I called in a cougar a few years back while moose hunting, I guess I sound pretty sexy to a cougar! It was within 20 yards before we noticed it, he came in hungry and looking for food but took off in a flash when it realized we weren't supper.

Lynx aren't a threat in any way.

At less then 20 feet almost any load out of your 12 bore will mush the head of a cat for sure.

Thanks for your reply's folks.

for lynx wich is not very robustly built i shoot them with a 22 mag/17 hmr or if i dont have any ammo i hit them with the back end of my axe..

moutain like to hunt with anything .223 and up there not very hard to kill either.. thera bit more stout but nothing a nice 22 centerfire wont handle

Thanks Nitro, if you read the OP, it was shotgun specific. We don't have cats here, and the 'Pub' argument was about that.It went along the lines of, 'Armed with a shotgun out on duck/pheasant, would you need to carry specific shells in case you met a cat etc etc etc'.
Thanks anyway. ATB

Lynx are pretty safe, never heard of anyone being attacked by a lynx. Cougar however, a load of birdshot up close leaves a big hole, like a slug with loose parts up close lol.

I would carry some No1, or some Single O [ought]. or just some Double Ought [easiest to find] buck shot.

quote:

Originally posted by macberran:
Hello from the UK, Pub talk here folks. Your out with your 12g on ducks/geese. What shells do/would you carry for a couger/lynx encounter. we are arguing in the pub about it and could do with a view from across the pond. ATB

Gotta love the beliefs some Europeans have about Canada. Lynx is a medium dog sized cat , very rare and would never attack humans. Shoot one and you're probably headed for the slammer. Cougar may have designs on you, very very rarely, usually cause they're called in by hunters calling other game. At the range you're likely to become aware of the cat, blast of bird shot would do the job. Sheesh, Just so you know, we stopped paying the bounty on Indian scalps a few months ago.

Grizz

Grizz, it's really strange here. Because there are no large "dangerous" animals there is a huge fascination about them. I often hear of people mentioning badgers as being the biggest baddest animal to encounter, I'd be more nervous of a cow. Also the first line of questioning I get as a Canadian is about bears and my little grizz encounter story goes over pretty well.

We're lucky in Alberta to still have some nasties to keep things interesting.

shit then what am i gonna do with the 200 scalps i took damn i new i should of sold them sooner

and grizz shooting a lynx is ok on your trap line or any line your registered with or on privet property you have permission to set traps on and you have your trappers lic