Quote:
Careful googling "hunting cougar"
- you will find a couple of categories of information there, one of which is NOT safe for work or small children.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/dangerous_NA_game.htm
"Cougar are faster, tougher, and stronger than deer, but not much larger. So it stands to reason that any respectable deer rifle should also prove satisfactory for hunting cougar. Leaving aside the marginal deer calibers, including handgun cartridges adapted to rifles, the list of suitable cougar cartridges reads much like the list of black bear cartridges mentioned above. Because cougar do not attain the size of large black bears, the medium bore magnums need not be employed. Calibers such as the 6.5x55, .260 Remington, .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, .30-30, .300 Savage, .303 British, .308 Winchester, .30-06, .32 Special, .35 Remington, and .358 Winchester are all that is required."
As others said, take a safety course first. Go shopping and look at different rifles. Get an idea of the weight of them. Here's the criteria I would recommend keeping in mind:
Mechanically simple/rugged
Easy to clean
comfortable to shoot
good open sights
I think a lever-action 30-30 without a scope would be a good choice for you. The bullet is powerful enough to put down a larger animal (not great for hunting elk and way too small for moose) and it's not overly powerful. Auto-loading rifles are more complex internally than lever or bolt actions. With a bit of practice you can cycle a bolt action pretty quickly for a second shot, and levers are even quicker.
You can also get lever action rifles in .38/.357 (pistol bullets). That would be powerful enough and a lot cheaper to practice with, plus you can get a pistol that takes the same ammo. The kick will be more manageable than larger rifle bullets. The rifles are not as cheap and plentiful as the 30-30, though.
I have a .30-06 bolt-action with a nice scope - a pawn-shop special. The caliber was designed for military use, and it kicks hard. Left bruises on my buddy's shoulder last weekend.
I'm recommending open sights for you for this reason: A cougar is going to be dangerous to you and yours at a closer distance. A scope is great, but you need to have it zero'd for the distance you're shooting at, and know how to compensate for rise/fall at different ranges. Once the scope is set to zero, it's a bit delicate - you don't want to bonk it out of adjustment. Spend the price of a scope on practice ammo.
In the Army we train to shoot with iron sights out to 300m (almost 1000'). Target acquisition is faster than with a scope. Measure out your land and get an idea of some of the distances you might have to shoot at, and practice hitting paper-plate sized targets at those distances. If you can hit a paper plate consistently, you should be fine.
Keep in mind that cougar is a game animal. If you shoot one to protect your family, make sure you call your local fish-and-game department right away and report it. They'll probably be mad at you, but not reporting it will cost you a LOT when they find out.
In fact, you should call them and find out if the cougar could be relocated.
Careful googling "hunting cougar"
http://www.chuckhawks.com/dangerous_NA_game.htm
"Cougar are faster, tougher, and stronger than deer, but not much larger. So it stands to reason that any respectable deer rifle should also prove satisfactory for hunting cougar. Leaving aside the marginal deer calibers, including handgun cartridges adapted to rifles, the list of suitable cougar cartridges reads much like the list of black bear cartridges mentioned above. Because cougar do not attain the size of large black bears, the medium bore magnums need not be employed. Calibers such as the 6.5x55, .260 Remington, .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, .30-30, .300 Savage, .303 British, .308 Winchester, .30-06, .32 Special, .35 Remington, and .358 Winchester are all that is required."
As others said, take a safety course first. Go shopping and look at different rifles. Get an idea of the weight of them. Here's the criteria I would recommend keeping in mind:
Mechanically simple/rugged
Easy to clean
comfortable to shoot
good open sights
I think a lever-action 30-30 without a scope would be a good choice for you. The bullet is powerful enough to put down a larger animal (not great for hunting elk and way too small for moose) and it's not overly powerful. Auto-loading rifles are more complex internally than lever or bolt actions. With a bit of practice you can cycle a bolt action pretty quickly for a second shot, and levers are even quicker.
You can also get lever action rifles in .38/.357 (pistol bullets). That would be powerful enough and a lot cheaper to practice with, plus you can get a pistol that takes the same ammo. The kick will be more manageable than larger rifle bullets. The rifles are not as cheap and plentiful as the 30-30, though.
I have a .30-06 bolt-action with a nice scope - a pawn-shop special. The caliber was designed for military use, and it kicks hard. Left bruises on my buddy's shoulder last weekend.
I'm recommending open sights for you for this reason: A cougar is going to be dangerous to you and yours at a closer distance. A scope is great, but you need to have it zero'd for the distance you're shooting at, and know how to compensate for rise/fall at different ranges. Once the scope is set to zero, it's a bit delicate - you don't want to bonk it out of adjustment. Spend the price of a scope on practice ammo.
In the Army we train to shoot with iron sights out to 300m (almost 1000'). Target acquisition is faster than with a scope. Measure out your land and get an idea of some of the distances you might have to shoot at, and practice hitting paper-plate sized targets at those distances. If you can hit a paper plate consistently, you should be fine.
Keep in mind that cougar is a game animal. If you shoot one to protect your family, make sure you call your local fish-and-game department right away and report it. They'll probably be mad at you, but not reporting it will cost you a LOT when they find out.
In fact, you should call them and find out if the cougar could be relocated.
