Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 223 on cougar.

I was just over at the deer hunting forum of this site and read about these guys using 223 on deer. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Thing is I have been thinking on using my 223 this winter on Cougar. I have a one in nine twist barrel so a 65-70 grain soft point is easy to stabalize. Anyone here use 223 on Cougar? I dont think I would ever shoot past 250 yards and most shots would be under 150.

Never done it, but sure dont know why it wouldnt work....


Ingwe

There was a video on U-tube with a guy shooting a treed Cougar with an AR rifle. He was not very happy. Search for it, it is pretty exciting. The animal deserves proper dispatching. And they move real fast. Use something more substantial. A majestic animal like that deserves better. Just an opinion. Tom.

You will do a lot better with a 55gr TTSX moving fast. Lots of Cougar get shot each year with a 22 Magnum, but that is out of trees. With a close enough range, and a good .224 bullet well placed, no reason it will not work just fine.

my choice in a 223 would be a 63g Sierra semi point, I want some tissue damage inside.

If you shoot one through the lungs, wait a while before you go stalking after him.

Rainshadow1 is giving a talk on cougar hunting on Nov. 14th at the Lacy Cabellas. See his post below. I am coming as well as several others who are local. You might want to check it out.

Hmmmmmm Nov 14th, eh? Might have to schedule some biz ness over there.

There was a article in the small caliber news were a guy killed a called cougar with a 17 tactical (30 grain bullet) with no problems.

Dink

I sure hope you could make it. Would love to have a face to face with you after all these years.

Cougars, like bobcats, are thin skinned and not hard to kill. You will do fine with a .223 and a good bullet. With that said, if I was specifially going for a cougar, I would personally take my 7mm-08.

Good hunting!

Bob

the guys I know who run dogs for mountain lions would tell you only if you take a head shot, otherwise no way. if you shoot em through the ribs and it takes them a little time to die, they can make an awful mess of dogs in a short period of time.

if you're calling them in, a 223 will work but as mentioned, I would give them some time before going looking for them.

A buddy of mine shot a cougar with a .17 Mach IV a few years back. He was hunting Bobs when he stumbled into the cougar and took an easy broadside shot. He returned home for his .270 before following the cat into the brush where he found it dead. He knew he was under-gunned, but wasn't going to pass up an easy cougar.

I take my .223rem with me when I try and go calling. However if I go after where I know a Cougar has been sighted I will grab the .243win.

I don't doubt the killing power of the .223rem, I have seen it do just fine on deer. But I still wouldn't pass up on a shot just because I had a .223

I would just use a standard soft point 55 grainer. Lions are very easy to kill. Whether called or treed, lions are usually a short range affair. 22 LRs and 17 HMRs kill they very well, as does most anything. If you do use a lesser expanding bullet, take advice from above and wait a while before finding him. I've killed a fair number of cats, but the most trouble I have seen is from stout buulets blowing right through the animal and not doing a lot of damage. FMJs out of a 38 special have caused 2 expensive vet bills in my presence.

If it can kill a insurgent

It can kill a cougar.

Whether a .223 is a good choice for cougars depends more on how you plan to hunt than on that caliber or the bullet in it.

.223 will kill cougars well, no doubt, especially with frangible bullets if the cat offers a shot into its chest cavity. But it is not only how easy lions are to kill but how hard they are to find after the killing shot if they run.

Unless there are dogs along to follow up the shot, wounded cougars can be extremely difficult to trail or blood trail unless you have snow. For bare ground in brush etc. my own choice is to make sure I have an exit wound and hope it bleeds enough to follow. On moss or duff, a soft footed animal like a cougar leaves nothing to trail unless there is blood.

My son shot one with a 180 grain Core-lokt in 30-06 and we had a hard time finding the dead cat on moss in timber. The lion was hit mid ribs, angling back to exit behind the last rib. Intestine plugged the exit hole so no blood came out. After the spot of the hit, we only found a few drops in his first jumps, none after that. We found the cougar dead within 100 yards as I recall, by circling the direction it ran. In thick brush we might not have found it.

A list of factors that drive my choice of lion rifle start with tack driving accuracy to thread a shot through a small hole in brush at a cougar sneaking in on the call. Such cats often give little choice in selecton of bullet placement, so a robust bullet up to less than ideal shot angles is next. An exit hole to leak more blood is important, but not a big hole to damage the hide too much. Those last two preferences are in conflict.

For now, my compromise on all points is a 95 grain Nosler Partition in a .243, and I keep planning to try some solid copper bullets. Fairly tough bullets in moderate velocity .24, .25, 6.5's and 7mm's seem to fit our style of lion hunting. They are cheerfully more than needed, and with the right bullets give consistent exits (I.e. probable blood trail) without massive damage to the hide.

This post dittos Bobcat's comment, only he said with fewer words! Good luck with whatever you use.

I would think the 223 with the 64 grain PowerPoint would be about right.

I killed a couger with an AR-15 in 223 with a hand loaded 55 grain Ballistic tip. It was a small cougar, about 35-40 pounds. Hit it back in the ribs kinda high, as it was running away at about 75 yards. It made it 10-15 yards and piled up.
When I go back out and courgar are around while I call, I take my DPMS AP-4 in 308 with 125 BT's. I'm not concerned with fur though.

Read an article once by the late Bob Milek, he preferred a Ruger Single Six .22 mag for treed cats, apparently they are not hard to kill.

As long as they don't jump on top your head after you fire that shot! I know an outfitter (Boykin) who lives in Wyoming and hunts cats. He once had a hot-shot hunter, walk up to a treed lion and then lay down his 35-Remington rirle, only to pull out his carry pistol and try to dispatch a treed mountain lion. The shot was not perfect and the cat pounced on him tearing off his ear, and scalping him to boot. Then it ran off in a hurry, dogs giving chase. The best dog got sliced open and died later. The .223 is a VARMINT ROUND!!! Not a big game round suited for big game animals. You can use your car as a truck to haul light loads but that does not make it a truck people.

I suppose that .223 with FMJ could kill an elephant too but I sure don't want to be the one behind the trigger. The animal deserves a clean fast kill and therefore I say to you and others, use a bigger caliber. Remember these animals can kill you if backed into a corner or given the chance. Something like a .308 Winchester or even a plan 30-30 would be better than a light bullet. I would use my .444 Marlin with a 265 grain "leverevolution" bullet, its lethal medication for any cougar.