Shooting a Cougar? Legal?
- Thread starter Tango2
- Start date
troutseeker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Prince George, BC
If it is stalking you the onus is on you to try and scare it away. Killing the animal is only as a last resort in actual self defense at very close proximity. A CO might check on your kill site and if the evidence (tracks, distance you shot from, etc) do not indicate you where in actual danger you will probably be charged... Same goes for bears, shoot one without a tag you better be able to prove it was close to getting you.
Troutseeker.
Troutseeker.
Coyote Ugly
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Tango2 said:
Shoot the Cougar or Bear, but good luck as the Cougar will sneak up from behind.
If the Cougar should happen to kill you, there are no legal repercussions as you won't be able to make it to court!
This is a good question for "The Fruit Cake Lady" on Jay Leno!
John Spartan
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Just a little more to the right...
Had a situation earlier this year where my sister was in hunting camp by herself and a cougar came from behind our tent 10-12 feet away from her - she fired a shot near the big cat which got it running for the hills.
Why use the gun? - it was 2 feet away from her and the bear spray was further away and she'd have had to turn her back on the cougar to fetch it. Not something you'd willingly do with one of Nature's apex preditors in very close proximity.
The manner of the cougar was such that both it and my sister were surprised by the other's presence. If it had been behaving as if it were stalking my sister for food, I'd have had no problem with her shooting it and would dare any CO to demonstrate a need to do otherwise.
The paw prints I saw, the gunshot I heard, confirmed her story and were I in the same situation, I'd do exactly the same that she did.
Why use the gun? - it was 2 feet away from her and the bear spray was further away and she'd have had to turn her back on the cougar to fetch it. Not something you'd willingly do with one of Nature's apex preditors in very close proximity.
The manner of the cougar was such that both it and my sister were surprised by the other's presence. If it had been behaving as if it were stalking my sister for food, I'd have had no problem with her shooting it and would dare any CO to demonstrate a need to do otherwise.
The paw prints I saw, the gunshot I heard, confirmed her story and were I in the same situation, I'd do exactly the same that she did.
A friend had that very thing happen and the first time he backed away. As he backed up the cat crept foreward. This went on until the cat backed off but when the same thing happened the next day in the same area and he gave it the 3 S treatment.
death-junky
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Moose Jaw SK
X2 but i can see that if you shot it at like 150 yards then i would see you geting charged.Doug said:
talk to ya all later
Riley
This is not meant as a slag on anybody!!!
I think it is a shame that we even need to discuss this nad that we have urbanized to the point where we consider how much our lives must be at risk before we end an animal's life.
A cougar is an animal, granted a noble one, but still an animal. If it poses a possibility of a threat to a human it should die. That is the natural way of things. You come first and any predator that isn't wary enough to stay away should die.
I live on an acreage in the bush and I am surronded by wildlife. If I see a bear, wolf or coyote anywhere near my yardsite, it dies no questions asked. I have children, they come first and as far as I am concerned my daughters kitties come before an coyote or wolf. When a coyote gets a kitty, my girls cry, that equals dead coyotes.
No regrets here, and no room for chances. Predators die if they come close to me.
I think it is a shame that we even need to discuss this nad that we have urbanized to the point where we consider how much our lives must be at risk before we end an animal's life.
A cougar is an animal, granted a noble one, but still an animal. If it poses a possibility of a threat to a human it should die. That is the natural way of things. You come first and any predator that isn't wary enough to stay away should die.
I live on an acreage in the bush and I am surronded by wildlife. If I see a bear, wolf or coyote anywhere near my yardsite, it dies no questions asked. I have children, they come first and as far as I am concerned my daughters kitties come before an coyote or wolf. When a coyote gets a kitty, my girls cry, that equals dead coyotes.
No regrets here, and no room for chances. Predators die if they come close to me.
A cougar can be on you in a millisecond, you know how hard it is to hang on to a pissed off house cat. Well try a 160 lb house cat that wants to make you into poo.
Shoot, Shovel and Shut-up
You can, of course try and do the "easy kitty kitty" or "I don't taste that well kitty kitty"
But I bet you wish you'd have pulled the trigger when his hot breath is bouncing off your throat.
Your choice, make it wisely
Shoot, Shovel and Shut-up
You can, of course try and do the "easy kitty kitty" or "I don't taste that well kitty kitty"
But I bet you wish you'd have pulled the trigger when his hot breath is bouncing off your throat.
Your choice, make it wisely
Myself and Chappy once had a big Tom about 40 ft from us on a trail we were taking back to the truck. It was a tense few minutes. Luckily for the cat he left. We both were ready to drop him if he moved in any other direction but away!! This scenario lets us talk about the ordeal, any other would be shared secret!!!
A totally different scenareo was a few years ago my son and I were hunting a scrape when from up wind I saw what I thought was a small deer. It turned out to be a cougar and walked to within 30 ft of where we were. I knew it didn't know we were there so when it finally saw us it froze for a few seconds and then took off like a rocket. That cat was well within my comfort zone but I think we have to evaluate each chance encounter individually and to have shot that cat would have been, in my opinion, totally unnecessary.
There seem to be a couple of different scenerios here.
1. The fellows who live in the country. I agree completely with the shoot, shovel and shut up philosophy. Protection of family and human life is paramount. I have kids too, and I would not hesitate to shoot a predator if it came into the yard or near the house.
2. The other is when in the bush while hunting. In this scenerio, I think a little more thought is required. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to defend myself, but the animal would definately have to pose a threat. I have seen large black bears, one time in particular, quite close. I did not shoot it, however, as it took off running in the other direction. It is amazing how close two creatures, myself and a bear, can get to one another in dense bush without seeing one another (about 30 feet). I did manage to see it first and was ready to fire if it made any move towrds me, but when it saw me, it took off at full speed away from me.
1. The fellows who live in the country. I agree completely with the shoot, shovel and shut up philosophy. Protection of family and human life is paramount. I have kids too, and I would not hesitate to shoot a predator if it came into the yard or near the house.
2. The other is when in the bush while hunting. In this scenerio, I think a little more thought is required. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to defend myself, but the animal would definately have to pose a threat. I have seen large black bears, one time in particular, quite close. I did not shoot it, however, as it took off running in the other direction. It is amazing how close two creatures, myself and a bear, can get to one another in dense bush without seeing one another (about 30 feet). I did manage to see it first and was ready to fire if it made any move towrds me, but when it saw me, it took off at full speed away from me.
we were rounding up cattle once and had a cougar get too close on an overhanging limb- sss- the tail is hanging in the main house - that's what the winchester is for- must be the smell in calving season- they're a plague at that time of the year- never see them the rest of the year
