Cougar Rifle?

[HuskyMusky]

Have a .243 win, and 300 mag,

this is mostly hypothetical at the moment but do plan to hunt cougar sooner than later, and well any excuse for a new rifle isn't a bad reason right?

Had planned to pick up a 270 or 280 type rifle eventually, and or possibly a 7mm-08.

I have been thinking less is more lately, ie. a few good rifles, small med large is more ideal than 15.

I was thinking a short action 7mm-08 and a 22 or 20inch barrel might be perfect for cougar? although you may be in grizz country right, so then....? would you want to be hunting with something bigger?

on a side note, if I had a 270/280, would that leave me wanting a 7mm-08?

7mm-08, SA, 20/22"
270/280, LA, 22/24"..............??

 

[swampokie]

243 may be the perfect caliber. If your looking for an excuse for a new rifle you could always go with the 257 Roberts a lota folks on here really like it. I think a lot of people that hunt them with hounds don't go much more than a 30-30 or 223. Calling one in might require a little more gun. But I doubt it.

 

[mntnguide]

I carried a .22 mag pistol for lions. . puts a tiny hole in hide, they die in the tree then fall out. No risk of dogs getting chewed up. Big calibers will basically shoot the lion out of the tree and risk dogs getting chewed up while its still alive. That being said, any houndsmen that respects his dogs will have them tied up before the shot anyway. . Lions arent hard to kill

 

[HuskyMusky]

actually do have a 30.30 that always thought would be perfect for cougars. thought the 7mm08 could be pretty ideal too.

 

[Tim McCoy]

If behind dogs, the best cougar hunter I know prefers a 22 mag pistol. Not sure what bullet. They are not difficult to kill. I've used a 30/30 on them, and carried a Marlin 1894 in .357 as well. Either suits me fine, as would many pistols. If in Grizz country and worried about it during Cougar season, make the 1894 a 44 mag.

As far as rifles go, get what ever you prefer to have after the cougar hunt, as any you mentioned will kill em good. Actually, if I cougar hunt again behind dogs, it is likely I'll carry my Rem pump model 14 or 14 1/2, forget which it is, take down, in 35 Rem.

 

[JimP]

Thinking out of the box for you and I don't know how you feel about a single shot pistol but how about a Thompson Center G2 Contender or a used Contender in your caliber of choice that they can be had in? You can start out with a 17 HRM and go all the way up to a .45 Colt/410 barrel and if you go to the custom barrel makers you can get just about anything out there.

For me if I was just starting out with one I think that I would go with a .204 Ruger in a 14" barrel. Put a 4x scope on it and it would be deadly.

As you quite possibly learned, cats are not hard to kill if they are sitting in a tree.

 

[Tim McCoy]

...on a side note, if I had a 270/280, would that leave me wanting a 7mm-08?

7mm-08, SA, 20/22"
270/280, LA, 22/24"..............??

Tough one, have multiples of each and love them all! But, if your shooting to "normal" hunting ranges, 400 ish max or so, they are fairly interchangeable, in terms of effect on game with similarly constructed bullets with close SD's. Pick your fav, SA short barrel, LA maybe same or longer barrel....

Where the 270 and 280 separate from the 7mm-08 is heavy for caliber bullets. 150-160+ in the 270, 160-175+ in the 280. The COAL restriction for the 7mm-08 reduces powder capacity in this case. If shooting at longer ranges, the 280 may have the edge over the 270 due to higher BC bullets being available vs the 270. That only works if you have a 280 with a faster twist barrel, which many who use custom barrels have. If one had faster twist .277 barrels and enough bullets to match, would be no detectable difference between the 270 and 280 IMO, at longer ranges.

 

[kidoggy]

killed mine with a .223 45gr hollow point. it was about 150 yards running directly away from me. hit it right where base of spine meets skull. it did not twitch.

 

[fackelberry]

Alot will depend on which state you hunt in and what the legal minimum caliber is. Like here in Wyoming, the .22 centerfire, (excluding .22 Hornet) with a minimum of a 60gr bullet is minimum caliber! So the .22 Mag. is not legal here to use like a few people above have said works.

 

[SGM]

Since you have a 243 that is what I would use.The cat in my photo was taken with a 243.