00 buck vs mountain lion?

S

Super-Dave

New member
Is 00 buck sufficient to kill mountain lion at less than 25 yards? Or would you be cat food?

How about grizzly bear?

or the elusive Yeti?

Over all what game here in America would you be unwilling to shoot with 00 Buck at less than 25 yards?
 
I would think 00 buck should be sufficient on mountain lion @ 25 yards. I wouldn't want to try it, but it would be one of my first choices of gun/ammo if I had to be that close. Grizzly? No. I don't want to be within 100 yards of a grizzly much less 25. I'm pretty sure it could absorb a round or 2 of buckshot before it went down for the count.
 
The only Buckshot I would trust is -

If I had to face a charging Grizzly:

Dixie Tri-Ball is the only buckshot load I would trust to put a big bruin down. That load in the 3 inch version, launches three hard cast .602" three-fourth ounce (315 grain) lead pellets at 1050fps. The 3.5" version fires the same payload at 1125fps. Patterns from full choke 12 gauge guns run 4 to 5 inches at 40 yards.

I would even prefer Dixie Tri-Ball buckshot for stoping a Mountain Lion.

That said, if faced with either situation with a 12 bore loaded with those little 00B pellets (.33 inch / 54 grain pellets), you can bet I would be firing at the animal's face and eyes as fast as I could.
 
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00 Buck wil certainly do in a mountain lion at 25 yards. Be aware that at 25 yards it is very likely that some of the 00 pellets will completely miss the lion, due to shot spread. Tighter chokes give tighter patterns, but at that range they will still spread out enough to miss a lion. For griz I'd go with slugs, and try for longer ranges, say 50-100 yards. For Yeti, I'd go with a good quality 35 mm camera, or a digital movie camera with auto focus.
 
Mountain lions are relatively small thin-skinned and lightly boned compared to some other critters you might name. The only problem I'd think might come up was the lion being attached to your back before you knew it was in the area. If you saw it coming, I'd think a good reliable shotgun and good 00 loads would settle it pronto within 25 yards or so if it refused to retreat. My pet 870 with an 18" CYL bore Police barrel will deliver about 4" patterns at 25 yards with its favorite 00 load, and I think that would work.

Grizzly bears are a different deal. Ever seen one up close? My only experience with them has been with a full body mount in a museum, but even that made chills go down my back. No, I'd be afraid 00 would only irritate Mr. Bear. Brenneke 3" slugs or the offerings from Dixie might work OK, but anything less than that in a shotgun... no thanks.

lpl
 
Pour Mountain Lion... The 00 Buck will put it down for sure. They can put down human for sure, so if you can shoot it, you will probably will it.

Bear is another story. Maybe you should buy some slugs for it.

Yeti... You mean the Himalayan Bigfoot equivalent? Better to take some serius firepower for this one...


But aren't the Mountain Lions And Grizzly Bears endangered species and because of that, under protection?
 
Mountain lion..............12g 00 buck is fine.
Grizzly bear.................12g 00 buck is a NO ! Try 12g Brenneke 3''.
Yeti.............................Digital camera:D
 
Mountain lion..............12g 00 buck is fine.
Grizzly bear.................12g 00 buck is a NO ! Try 12g Brenneke 3''.
Yeti.............................Digital camera
Click to expand...

Not the way I would have worded it but my conclusions exactly. Choke has a lot to do with the spread of your shot at 25 yards, anything but cylinder should keep most shot on the lion and I would want the tightest choke I had available for grizzly but if I was in grizzly country it would be slugs not shot in the gun. However you uses what you gots and you uses as much of it as you have in the gun. Then you hits your partner in the leg and run like the wind.
 
25 yard pattern?

The minimum acceptable pattern size for deer hunting with buckshot in the Deep South is 100% in 9 inches (paper plate size) at 25 yards.
 
Is 00 buck sufficient to kill mountain lion at less than 25 yards?

Easily.

How about grizzly bear?

Not recommended.
 
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i have seen park service rangers carry 12 ga shotguns in alaska for the big bears. i am not sure if they use OO buck or slugs or a combination of both.
 
you could use a 22 if u put the shot in the right place. if you are close enough with 00 you could blow the head right off the bear. as long as u penitrate skin ud be fine
 
I wouldn't want to bet my life by facing a grizzly bear inside 25 yards with any kind of gun, and I try to live life in such a way so that I can be pretty sure that I won't have to.

But, I would be willing to bet my MONEY on you if YOU went up against a griz inside of 25 yards with a couple of rounds of 12 guage 00 buckshot.
 
The grizz is still federally protected but we have quite a liberal season on the cats. For cats your 00 would be fine but I would look for a slug if your thinking grizz. And by the way the average bear attack is about 30 seconds, so if you shoot one it better die in less than 30 seconds, remember we are talking about an animal that can out sprint a quarter horse inside 100 yards, so think how much ground it can cover while you are waiting for it to die. Unless you dome shoot it and drop it in its tracks you better be prepared for one heck of a ride. And you better be able to prove that you were on the menu, most fish and wild life does not count tracks at 40 yards as good enough, they better be within a few feet.
 
Big grizzlies have been known to take a half-dozen, or more, heavy rifle rounds into the lungs and heart and still wreak havoc on the shooter(s). Yes, 00 buck packs a wallop, but it is still very marginal for big grizzley and you will not find many experienced hunters recommending it as the best solution. 00 buck's power is at relatively close range, and if that bear is coming, you'd better be able to get it all done in about 5 seconds, literally, or you're probably going to be dead while you're still wondering why he didn't stop. He'll kill you easily if he gets to you. It's gonna depend on the situation, though, and how high the adrenaline is running in the bear. If he gets focused on you and decides he wants to kill you, 00 buck is going to be iffy. Very iffy. My experience is with African game...which most agree is generally tougher to kill. But I suspect a big male grizzley with his adrenaline up is comparable to a lion in his desire to "get there" and I've seen, first hand, what a lion can still do, and how far he can come, with 3 .375s in him, any one of which was shortly going to be a killing shot. At that point, you realize how relative "shortly" can be.
 
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There's a big difference in "can" and "appropriately" take an animal.
How long do you think it takes a lion or bear to cover 25 yds ??
Stopping an animal takes a hit in vital organs and a big bear has lots of muscle and bone to stop 00 buck. So for either a good slug is much better..
Experiences of African PHs shows that 00 buck is not effective in going through heavy muscle and bone of a leopard. A slug is then better but cats are more influenced by velocity so a rifle round is better than a slug.
Your choice , your life !!
 
you could use a 22 if u put the shot in the right place.
Click to expand...

Well, if YOU want to try that, be my guest. No sense in trying to play baseball with a fishing rod.

I just read in the Feb. 2010 issue of G&A that a 12ga. 00 buck load is the backup gun of choice for things such as leopard. I would want something bigger for say, lion, but mountain lion should succumb to it.

A good 3" magnum 00 buck for bear should be potent enough, I would use it. Either that or a .375 Ultra Mag ;)
 
bear loads

I knew a NPS ranger who was detailed to Alaska for security detail vs. grizzlies at a major oil spill. He was told to bring a duty shotgun. On site, he was issued brenneke's
 
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