Fatal Mountain Lion Attack in California!

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
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My goodness! Two young men out shed hunting... Only one survived. :(

I'm surprised that neither of them seems to have had a firearm. Perhaps legally carrying a gun in California is more difficult than I knew.


Guy
 
Wow! Authorities fired shots to scare off the beast! They didn't kill the animal! Was that a statement of the state's desire to void killing a predator? How tragic for the brothers. And, yes, Guy, it is legitimate to wonder how difficult it is to carry a gun in California.
 
Wow! Authorities fired shots to scare off the beast! They didn't kill the animal! Was that a statement of the state's desire to void killing a predator? How tragic for the brothers. And, yes, Guy, it is legitimate to wonder how difficult it is to carry a gun in California.
Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are working to locate the mountain lion.
They had the opportunity to take care of it.
 
It is so rare to have wild animal attacks in CA that a gun or spray seems like dead weight. The bears behave like big chipmunks. However if you are doing some activity that makes you look like prey to a cat that's another thing. Bending down to berry pick, or take water samples, solo Trail running or Mtn biking, calling turkey. I imagine shed hunting would be like that.

California gun laws are Byzantine. Even buying ammo requires you to be a resident, buy a permit, have a background check etc. and the 18 year old can't buy pistol ammo. Transporting or wearing a firearm has their own set of rules based on location and activity. The only people who get a pass for all this are LEO, even if from another state and retired. (last time I checked, don't live there now.)
 
I had seen this. Very sad situation. I'm sure those young fellas were somewhat limited to carrying a sidearm due to CA bureaucracy. And then the cops shoot to scare it off. That cat needs to go. Hope you heard correct Guy and the cat was found and terminated.
Thoughts and prayers to the victims and their family.

JD338
 
Wild animals are still wild animals no matter how acclimated they become to people. Instincts still exist and as they become old or injured they become unpredictable around humans. Tragic for sure and who knows how fast the young man fell to his injuries. As my state pushes more and more to get rid of predator hunting I think there will be more tragic encounters in the future.
 
When you stop hunting a species of animal, they quickly learn that they have nothing to fear from humans, and become more bold and aggressive, and in times of hunger, the predators may look upon people as another food source; after all we are slower and smaller than the prey species they usually dine on.
People forget that we are only at the top of the food chain because of advent and use of weapons! Without them, we slide far down that chain!
Around the world, polar bears, jaguars, lions, hyenas, leopards, and tigers still hunt and prey on humans. Most people easily forget these facts, because we do not live with it day-to-day as the people who live in such places do.
 
Not to take this off topic but back in the 1970s while scouting for deer and looking for a coyote to shoot to judge hide quality I was stalked by a Mountain Lion that I believe had me on her menu. After several attempts to drive her off I shot her with my .243. I reported th ekill to the local Game warden who took the lion's corpse into custody. Seems about a week before a bow hunter had a similar incident with another lion, also a female. He killed it with an arrow. Living in a small town, everybody knows everybody so it wasn't hrd to get the results of the autopsy. Both cast were of the same age abe believed to be twins from the same mother. Both cats had totally empty stomachs and apparently been unable to kill game to feed. AFAIK, the age of a mountain lion is not all that important if the cat is hungry.
Growing up I spent a lot of time in the boonies and when I moved first to Nevada, then on toArizona literally became a desert rat, spending as much time as I could get away with "out there". I saw a few Mountain Lions and Black Bears wandering out in the desert but never was bothered by them. Usually it looked like they were going from one mountain range to one on the horizon.
Only one problem with a bear and that was on a campout Labor Day weekend 1959. The bear did not survive.

California has become Bizzarro World in more ways than one. A guy who worked for Fish and Game did a Mountain Lion hunt IN ANOTHER STATE and was fired from his job when found out. I heard he was trying to sue but never heard the outcome.
Paul B.
 
Yes, you can carry a firearm in the National Forest in California, I wonder why they didn't?

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said the mountain lion was euthanized near the scene of the attack. The lion was sent to the CDFW forensics laboratory for analysis.
Really hard to just get a gun or ammo. If I remember right you have to have a hunting or fishing license and be doing those activities to carry unless you are one of the lucky few from a Northern County that will allow a concealed permit.
The 18 year old may be SOL to carry anything for most places in CA.
 
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