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Frontal shot on a mountain lion?

I'm a taxidermist as well as an outfitter. I understand the skeleton of most animals and that target you ask of, gets smaller with the smaller the animal gets. I bet that hole is not 2" in diameter at best and with the bottom of the scapula very likely protecting part of that hole when it moves into a crouched position, why chance it? Most cats will let you move into a position where the lungs are exposed from what I understand.

Queue Hollywood's pic

Nothing wrong with a full frontal if you are perfectly square to the animal. A upwards shot will hit spine and arteries a very deadly combination. A quartering to front is a no no in my books.

My buddy shot one stalking him in Co 2 years ago right in the collar- not much choice as the cat was 20' from him.....shocked him when he glanced around as he did not expect the cat to get that close so silently.

I assume you'll be hunting with an outfitter and hounds? So your lion will be treed. That means two things. One you are looking up from underneath so a true frontal is not very likely... or at least easy to avoid. The other thing is that unlike most every other hunt you have lots of time to so shoot. Yes the cat could climb higher which can create a problem in a thick tree with a bow. Or it could jump tree and run but that's life. But for the most part you are going to be able to have your weapon ready and wait for one of many good shot angles.

Finding and treeing a cat is the biggest part of the hunt and can be tough in steep terrain and deep snow. The shooting isn't usually the hard part and can be a bit anti climatic.

This is pretty much the angle I had. Maybe a bit more to the left in the photo. More of a bottom than a frontal, but definitely NOT broadside. We took our time, but it didn't look like the angle would or even could improve. One shot from my recurve that passed through and he came out of the tree backwards and never even twitched after hitting the ground. Agreed, very good eating. Why shouldn't it be? It's basically reprocessed deer. ;-)

Yeah, that's the one :)

Randy is spot on. the meat is tops just forget is a cat

Thanks for bringing up that Hollywood thread, Ike. Had to bring that one back up....such a great thread.

At my link...

Couple of points to add. A cat treed like the one Ziek posted is probably not going to move when you get there. He's secure and can't get any higher. One that is standing on a branch twenty feet off the ground in that perfect shooting position is much more likely to move. The way you approach a treed cat can make a good tree and easy shot or make it much tougher. Generally speaking, if a cat is going to jump tree, it's most often when the hunter is approaching the tree. Walk in quietly and approach from downhill. The dogs will usually be on the uphill side of the cat trying to get closer. Coming in above the cat adds pressure and may be more than the cat can take. As a general rule when a cat jumps it's downhill as he's trying to put as much distance as he can between himself and the dogs. I've observed that once everyone is around the tree and the cat can keep track of things they usually relax a lot more. At that point unless it starts getting fidgety and nervous you have plenty of time. Get some good pics and video, praise the dogs, help get them tied off and calm down before you shoot. Spend some time in the moment.

As others have said, make sure you take the meat. Our family likes lion ahead of most other wild game. It's very similar to lean pork.

Keep the meat and enjoy it. It's pretty damn good!

I took it all even after the guides told me it wasn't worth eating. They were wrong.

Backstraps cut as chops and pan fried in bacon grease. Breakfast sausage out of the rest, although I once tasted a brined and smoked hindquarter that was excellent!

Check out my video posted here. Frontal is very deadly. My cat was dead in the tree. It is however a small target.

Mt lions give up ghost rather quickly suprise to me because feral cats are harder than hell to kill. Govt trappers dispatched lot treed lions with 22

Yea lions die very quick with a good shot. And they are very good eating!

I have eaten mountain lion several times and other than one time it was the back loin. It was very much like a pork loin. The other time it was from a hind quarter and it too was very good, just not as tender. Shawn

I can tell you now that quartering away is darn deadly....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=0O6YlJH0KGk

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