longbough

Haven't you seen Talladega Nights? You have to slow your heart rate and befriend the cougar. (just kidding)

Let's get to the point. A 9mm won't stop a cougar.

We're talking about an animal that is a big fur bag of muscle and bone. A 9mm can barely stop a human. I like .45 for fighting people but I'd rather have a .357 at least against this animal. On another forum I read someone's anecdote about a cougar encounter in Oregon where the animal took 6 rounds of .357 to his body and was still attacking!

So I'd get a .357 or bigger revolver with the heaviest bullets I can find.

Also a semiauto isn't the answer here. The speed of followup shots and reloading magazines is more of an issue if your targets are going to shoot back. Last I checked cougars don't pack heat.

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"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi