Watched a mature lion dispatched cleanly with a .17HMR through the ribs recently and know some guys use a .22 Mag.
Anyone routinely using a .22 LR? Bullet preference? Shot placement?
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.22 LR for Dispatch
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- Babble Mouth
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Re: .22 LR for Dispatch
Many people do with a simple 39 Gr. high speed hollow point to the lung/heart region.
Many of the most famous lion hunters of the past used nothing but the 22. Read Jay Bruce's great book ( Cougar Killer) and he will explain how after using a Colt 38-40 revolver for some years he switched to a 22 Colt Woodsmen and found it far superior. Rather than knocking the lion out of the tree with a heavy bullet , pop them in the lungs, wait a few seconds and they fold up and tumble out dead. He killed over 600 lion with his little gun. Dale Lee while bounty hunting also carried a 22 Colt woodsmen until he lost it on a wild horseback ride due to a crappy leather holster. A lot of others such as Merril Van, Wiley Carroll and others used their trap-line 22 to kill many lions. A 30-30 saddle gun was probably used more in the west just because so many of the hunters were horse or muleback hunting, and the old 30 was just sort of a natural thing to carry.
All this being said I consider the 22 LR the expert's gun and in many states it is not legal , so check your state laws.
Most people wish to carry a bigger weapon and it is probably advisable due to the fact so few people in the excitement of the moment can place their shots with great certainty even at close range. It must be remembered that these experts I spoke of had no nerves involved after seeing hundreds of lions fall before their hounds.
Lions are not hard to kill and they die very quickly with lung shot. their lungs are very undersized for their overall body weight. That being said I have seen some knocked out with big magnum calibers run a good ways , and still have enough gas to tear some hounds up. So be smart , tie them back get a good rest if possible , take their lungs out and let them plop out dead.
Many of the most famous lion hunters of the past used nothing but the 22. Read Jay Bruce's great book ( Cougar Killer) and he will explain how after using a Colt 38-40 revolver for some years he switched to a 22 Colt Woodsmen and found it far superior. Rather than knocking the lion out of the tree with a heavy bullet , pop them in the lungs, wait a few seconds and they fold up and tumble out dead. He killed over 600 lion with his little gun. Dale Lee while bounty hunting also carried a 22 Colt woodsmen until he lost it on a wild horseback ride due to a crappy leather holster. A lot of others such as Merril Van, Wiley Carroll and others used their trap-line 22 to kill many lions. A 30-30 saddle gun was probably used more in the west just because so many of the hunters were horse or muleback hunting, and the old 30 was just sort of a natural thing to carry.
All this being said I consider the 22 LR the expert's gun and in many states it is not legal , so check your state laws.
Most people wish to carry a bigger weapon and it is probably advisable due to the fact so few people in the excitement of the moment can place their shots with great certainty even at close range. It must be remembered that these experts I spoke of had no nerves involved after seeing hundreds of lions fall before their hounds.
Lions are not hard to kill and they die very quickly with lung shot. their lungs are very undersized for their overall body weight. That being said I have seen some knocked out with big magnum calibers run a good ways , and still have enough gas to tear some hounds up. So be smart , tie them back get a good rest if possible , take their lungs out and let them plop out dead.
MIKE LEONARD
Somewhere out there.............
Somewhere out there.............
Re: .22 LR for Dispatch
Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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- Babble Mouth
- Posts: 2778
- Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:30 pm
- Location: State of Bliss
- Location: Reservation
Re: .22 LR for Dispatch
You bet, and you are good to go with a 22 LR in Montana as there are no caliber limitations or magazine capacity limitations in Big Sky country.
MIKE LEONARD
Somewhere out there.............
Somewhere out there.............
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