ran into mountain lion

I also work in Colorado. Have been alone and encountered bear, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes. The risk of falling and hurting a leg, knee, etc. is magnitudes greater than your exposure to wildlife. Possibly you would feel more comfortable carrying a can of "Bear Spray". If I were to refuse to go back alone, it wouldn't be because of the potential risk of exposure to wildlife.

I have carried my 357 or 45 for years when working remote. When you have a corner that takes 12 or 14 hours to find and tie, you don't go back to the truck without a good reason.

Can of 9 lives, and a can opener.....

(Works every time!)

N

I consider my self lucky any time I run into wild life. I really enjoy seeing critters and I've never felt threatened. On the other hand if you're by yourself and you get bitten by a rattler, you are in rather deep doo-doo. All that said if I was out in lion country, I probably would refrain from practicing my turkey calls. Whenever I'm in bear country which is right off the road where I'm working right now, I pack a 44 Anaconda in a chest holster and make plenty of noise. See sign all over but rarely see them, and I'm okay with that.?ÿ

I've seen lion tracks often, seldom see the cats. If you see one you can figure there have been 10 that you didn't see. What I dislike about them is that they trail you. I've watched them follow hunters that never knew there was a cat behind them. And I know they have done the same to me. However, it would never stop me from working, just be aware. If you want to carry go ahead, I don't but it's not a bad Idea. Firing off a shot?ÿtends to clear out any trouble.

Moose worry me more than cats.

12 Gauge, slug, buckshot, slug, buckshot with extended magazine. I do not think the new buck and ball loads are powerful enough for cats.?ÿ All you can do with a 357 is shoot the rodman to distract the cat.

Paul in PA

If I worked near brown bears the shotgun would be the weapon of choice. We have smaller blacks and cats. The 357 will handily dispatch either and is easier to carry and maneuver in brush.

Working "solo" (or very near so) in REMOTE areas for most of my life, I have [pretty much] always carried a firearm. The choice of firearm varies with the area in which I am working, but even a .22 is better than a police whistle (although less than ideal).?ÿ

I've had brown bear trail me, double back and find their tracks over mine. Carnivores are curious. To each their own on choice of firearms. With all the stuff I'm already carrying, anything slung over my shoulder will impede my mobility climbing over windfall and snag. I like my hands as free as possible. Only incident I've ever had that might have led to my demise was a cow moose that came inches from tap dancing on my coconut. Bears are generally very cordial when you respect their space. Always have to be prepared for the one that didn't get the memo though.

I have more worry about urban predators and meth heads than I do wildlife however when I go off the beaten path I tend to carry. If I am in the woods I carry one of my 22's, usually the Ruger. If I am in a area with meth heads one of my 9mm's is fine. I rarely carry the 45.

I've seen big cat tracks (not bobcat) in the soft creek bottoms but never laid my eyes on one here in Oklahoma.?ÿ I carry a sidearm in the truck but rarely on me when I'm on other folks' private property.

I did come upon a bow hunter sitting on the section line road at a creek that was sitting on his tail-gate and he shaking like a dog passing a peach pit.?ÿ The man was scared to death sucking on his third cigarette.?ÿ He had apparently bagged a small buck from about 50 yards, but a full-growed cougar rushed from the brush not far from him, grabbed the deer by the neck and drug it back into the brush.?ÿ He said it happened in a heart beat.?ÿ He was pretty sure the deer was still moving when the cat got to him.?ÿ

We all walked a few hundred yards into the thick to where he said it had happened.?ÿ Sure enough there was a blood spot with a trail where something was dragged into the timber.?ÿ The hair on the back of my neck was standing up.?ÿ The hunter was contemplating going into the timber to see if he could at least find the cat.?ÿ I told him he would be on his own.?ÿ We all high-tailed it back to the road.

A few days later in the same area we found some BIG cat tracks in the dried mud.?ÿ I know animal tracks in mud can appear a lot larger than normal, but this cat's paw was a good 4 or 5 inches across.?ÿ And according to the hunter the cat was big enough to drag a small buck with no trouble.?ÿ Gives me the willies to think there's something that big and that?ÿquick?ÿthat can hide so well in tall grass.?ÿ?ÿ

I've heard that if a big cat decides that you're dinner, you're not going to know he's around until he's biting through your neck, so I'm not sure a sidearm is going to help.

I never used to worry about cats in the Sierra, the conventional wisdom being that they're just curious and aren't interested in eating people.?ÿ Then they started eating people.?ÿ Not often, but often enough to deter me from hiking alone.

Give me lions and bears over meth heads and gang bangers any day. I'm far more scared of texting teenage girl drivers and red light runners moving up my meet Jesus appointment. If you're worried and your employer won't allow you to carry, an air horn and can of pepper spray will send just about any critter fleeing. Flare guns work good to but you might start a forest fire and that won't look good on a resume. 

We have a huge population of coyotes and now a large population of coywolves. The are at least 3 to 4?ÿ times larger than your normal 20 pound coyotes and they do not behave as coyotes do. Coyotes tend to run, while these coywolves they are sizing you up and you can see them thinking. And they have combined the yip of the yote with the howl of the wolf.

A mountain lion is more predictable than a crackheaded urban outdoorsman. Also the gun thing can get complicated.?ÿ

i know its more dangerous to drive to the work site than anything, next probably falls since i work in mountains, then prob a nasty old property owner, then finally wildlife.?ÿ but its still unsettling to be walking around remote areas alone with no phone service when you know there is a cougar. a gun or spray might make me feel better. i wear snake gaiters every day so i feel a little better about that. i loved seeing the thing, it was a beautiful animal. a little unerving it let me see him, hes apparently not scared of me. i might go with the bear spray, that way if i shoot myself on accident it will be a funny story one day, rather than a tragedy.?ÿ

IMHO, all surveyors are responsible for their own safety.  If it's not safe pull out.  Surveyors have to be extra cautious as many times you're working alone.  Working in remote areas with big game around (yes moose are probably more dangerous than cats) you should probably have a sidearm.  You don't have to plug the animal but a shot in the ground will probably be enough to scare them off.

Posted by: True Corner

IMHO, all surveyors are responsible for their own safety.?ÿ If it's not safe pull out...

Truer words were never spoken.?ÿ No job is worth compromising your safety. Sh*t does happen.

There are lots of dead pilots that ventured into poor conditions with the mindset that "they've always made it out in the past".?ÿ Same goes for surveying.?ÿ Safety is also a mindset...it just happens to be a positive one.