Mountain lion hunt with revolver

[greenchile]

The dogs were the real highlight. Let me introduce you to Grizzly. He’s a Corgi/Australian shepherd mix and he thinks he’s the baddest dog on the planet. He’s not a “real lion dog” but you can’t tell him that. He went with us everywhere and treed the cat too (after the big boys did their job). We let him bite the cat afterwards and he shook that cat like he had killed it all by himself. He’s a little beast that’s built like a brick. He would push snow with his chest and drag his nuts through it all. He could jump from the ground with his little beefy legs and go through the open window to land on the truck seat...and he owned the right hand side of the truck.  What a heart. Love that dog!

[flyingzebra]

Dec 24, 2022 12:49:41 GMT -5 greenchile said:

The dogs were the real highlight.

I love hunting over hounds

[flyingzebra]

Also can you share the load and speed of that 180gr bullet?

[greenchile]

Here are the real stars…Fire, Ice, Uzi and Charm. They were very impressive and went after that cat with real courage. Every time the wounded cat grabbed one the others would bite the piss out of it. Nobody (including the cat) was playing around. If you’ve ever seen coon dogs go after a coon on the ground…well just imagine the coon being way over 100# and the noise to go with it.  Notice there's not an ounce of fat on these dogs.  They run cats more days than not during the long season.  Their longest trail so far was 47 miles in 2 days (out overnight).  

[greenchile]

Dec 24, 2022 13:10:49 GMT -5 flyingzebra said:

Also can you share the load and speed of that 180gr bullet?

Good question.  I recently moved and couldn't get all of my reloading setup back together before the hunt.  I ended up buying the semi-custom loads from HSM.  I believe the 180 XTP's are going 1150fps.  

[flyingzebra]

Thanks

By the looks of the recovered bullets, I wouldn't want to send them at any higher velocity that whatever you got from your revolver

Also I wouldn't want to get in front of them

[x101airborne]

Congratulations and thank you for the story and pictures! That is one HUGE cat!

[greenchile]

One thing that can't be neglected on any strenuous hunt in mountains or canyons are your boots! I've used Lowes, Meindls, and Russells with good success but on this hunt I was glad to have Kennetrek Extremes with 400 grams of Thinsulate. I got them a few weeks before the hunt and broke my rule of never hunting in new boots. I wore them around the house a few days and then took them on the hunt with Super Feet insoles from another set of boots. They worked perfectly with no hot spots or issues and they were light on the feet.  I really don't like heavy boots on vertical hunts.  I did waterproof them before the hunt and used gaiters and lightweight crampons on the ascents out of the canyons in the loose snow and ice.  I wouldn't change anything about the boots and was warm and dry in varied cold and wet conditions.  That reminds me...socks are hugely important!  I almost always use Smartwool or some type of high performance merino wool blend.  As always, they worked perfectly and good socks last a long time.  Don't get cheap on socks as you will regret it!

[jpw480]

congrats on your cat and thanks for sharing your story