Unorthodox shooting position-mountain bike?

[PegLeg45]

Black cats and other chimermas aside, I think the soluyion here is simple. Forget what I and every other arm chair quarterback has posted (badshotomen excepted as he seems to have experience here). Here is the real deal. You and your biking buddies need three things:
1) A type A, hyper competative guy who has to be first. Let him lead the the way.
2) A slightly out of shape "Hey guys, wait up" type to bring up the rear, at some distance.
3) a bit of "cat reppellant" (aka doe urine) liberally sprayed on his and alpha guy's packs.
The rest of you ride in formation in the middle and it should be no worries!
FQ13 who is a very, very bad person.

WTF are you talking about, FQ?

Chimeras?
The best 'soluyion' would be to rent a dictionary.  

I've seen some large dark bobcats that, if I didn't know better, could have easily been called a panther.  Also, their bobbed tails are fairly long.

Black panthers are like Santa Claus; you have to believe in them to see them.

Back to the original topic, I kind of like the high riding backpack and sharp knife approach.  I think that once you're in hand to paw combat (assuming you make it that far) that a knife would be more affective.  You have to be able to get the gun into a position where it is safely pointed at the cat.  A knife can be swung wildly and land damaging blows.

Agreed on all points.....both cats and blades.  

If I were fighting for my life in CQB with a good sized animal, having been unable to dispatch it before it got on me, IMHO the knife is the best bet. As long as the animal has the greater element of surprise, the firearm on the bike issue is going to be a tough solution.

FWIW

[Pathfinder]

I was wondering that also.  Don't know how hard it would be for a cat to get ahead of a fast moving rider to lay an ambush.

If they prefer to attack from behind that would mean pursuing a fast moving target or getting ahead and executing a precise pounce.

Don't know of what feats these cats are capable.

Yeah, well, it's not like they run down deer or antelope or anything!   

Big cats like the mountain lions (a misnomer as they dwell very nicely on the plains thank you) can cover hundreds of miles in a few days. They are fast predators but "prefer" the ambush attack after a stalk ("prefer" because they are hard-wired for that to save energy, but if they are desperate for food or otherwise can't ambush, they will chase). So they will cover a lot of ground to set up that ambush, and do so very quickly.

If the lead rider in a group is far enough ahead, he might get jumped. If there are others close behind, likely as not the lead rider will be left alone and the trailing rider jumped. From what I know of these cats, they would need to be more than just a little hungry to jump a moving cyclist. Stopped, however, changes your odds of getting jumped - in the lion's favor.

And, all of the above and everything in this thread depends solely on the cat. That is the sobering reality.

[Dakotaranger]

On the trail I carry at least three blades, The K-Bar on my pack, a four inch fixed blade on weakside and A SOG Fixation folder on my strong side with my .45.  I realize there is a good possibility that I'll get to one of my blades quicker than the .45 IF I get ambushed

[PegLeg45]

And, all of the above and everything in this thread depends solely on the cat. That is the sobering reality.

Yep, you are in his world.

[badshotomen]

Thanks for the welcome aboard!

Sorry about the scare, though there are times after calling at sun down that I don't feel too comfortable walking back to camp either...

Here in Montana I have not seen any all black ones but have seen a two females with black feet (dark rusty fur color) and one tawny male with half his tail black. Apparently this occurs more the further north you go. Never have seen this before in either CA or AZ.

As far as the Florida cats, they transplanted some from Texas a few years back and they're interbreeding. I lived in Bonita Springs in the 90's and the Everglades is a good fit for them, though their numbers probably won't exceed 300.  FYI: Mountain Lion is one of the few species that is self regulating. Meaning if there are too many for the food supply, they'll kill each other. Some of Arizona's Fish and Game research papers have evidence of this, including photos.(New Mexico too).

With all that said (with the exception of some areas in CA and Tucson) they'll generally avoid you. Yes, some may follow you around, generally out of curiosity...or their trying to decide if you'll taste good and how much of a fight you'll put up lol

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