Unorthodox shooting position-mountain bike?

[PegLeg45]

We "don't have them" in NH too.
Thing is, They are endangered,  in the East any way. If they are here, then the Feds mandate all kinds of managment crap, spend money, get every one PO'd, and probably kill off the animals, If there are "none here", every one is happier, including the animals.

A game warden told my son last week that they have a $10,000 reward for a picture of a 'live' black one.

[mkm]

A game warden told my son last week that they have a $10,000 reward for a picture of a 'live' black one.

That's the safest $10,000 on the planet because a black morph of Puma concolor does not exist.  I won't say there couldn't be a few normal ones roaming around south Georgia, but definitely not any black ones.  For the record, large black cats exist, outside the US, just not black Puma concolor.

[PegLeg45]

Always heard it as old wives tales. Never heard of an actual black one either, just repeating what the DNR ranger said (I guess they can be just as prone to spreading rumors as anyone  ).
I've heard that, like deer, in certain areas the animals have much darker brown fur than normal and may contribute to the legend.

[Solus]

Always heard it as old wives tales. Never heard of an actual black one either, just repeating what the DNR ranger said (I guess they can be just as prone to spreading rumors as anyone  ).
I've heard that, like deer, in certain areas the animals have much darker brown fur than normal and may contribute to the legend.

He was probably giving your son Rainbows to chase and dream about or was chuckling over his new version of a Snipe Hunt

[PegLeg45]

Iteresting reading:

Cougars
There are no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars (pumas). Melanistic cougars have never been photographed or shot in the wild and none have ever been bred. There is wide consensus among breeders and biologists that the animal does not exist.[citation needed]

Black cougars have been reported in Kentucky and in the Carolinas. There have also been reports of glossy black cougars from Kansas, Texas and eastern Nebraska. These have come to be known as the "North American black panther". Sightings are currently attributed to errors in species identification by non-experts, and by the memetic exaggeration of size.

Black panthers in the American Southeast feature prominently in Choctaw folklore where, along with the owl, they are often thought to symbolize Death.

Reports of "black panthers" in the United States

In Florida, a few melanistic bobcats have been captured; these have also apparently been mistaken for panthers. Ulmer (1941) presents photographs and descriptions of two animals captured in Martin County in 1939 and 1940. In the photographs, they appear black, and one of the hunters called them black. Many "black panther" sightings have also come from Georgia and South Carolina as recent as 2006. Sightings have also been recorded in parts of Texas and Southern Oklahoma, and scattered throughout the eastern U.S.

    The Academy specimen, upon close examination, is far from black. The most heavily pigmented portions are the crown and dorsal area. In most lights these areas appear black, but at certain angles the dorsal strip has a decidedly mahogany tint. The mahogany coloring becomes lighter and richer on the sides. The underparts are lightest, being almost ferruginous in color. The chin, throat and cheeks are dark chocolate-brown, but the facial stripes can be seen clearly. The limbs are dark mahogany. In certain lights the typical spot-pattern of the Florida bobcat can be distinctly seen on the side, underparts and limbs. The Bronx Park animal appears darker and the spots are not visible, although the poor light in the quarantine cage may have been the reason.[8]

Adult male bobcats are 28–47 inches (71–120 cm) long, with a short, bobbed tail, and are 18–24 inches (46–61 cm) tall at the shoulder. Females are slightly smaller. Florida panthers are 23–32 inches (58–81 cm) at the shoulder and 5–7 feet (1.5–2.1 m) long, including the tail. Bobcats weigh 16–30 pounds (7.3–14 kg) while Florida panthers are 50–150 pounds (23–68 kg).

Another possible explanation for black panther sightings is the jaguarundi, a cat very similar genetically to the cougar, which grows to around 30 inches (76 cm) long with an additional 20 inches (51 cm) of tail. Their coat occurs in a reddish-brown phase and a dark grey phase. While their acknowledged natural range ends in southern Texas, a small breeding population was introduced to Florida in the 1940s, and there are rumors of people breeding them as pets there as well. In Central America, they are known as relatively docile pets, as far as non-domesticated animals go. The male jaguarundi's home range can be up to 100 square kilometres (40 sq mi) while the female's home range can be up to 20 square kilometres (8 sq mi). It has been suggested that very small populations of jaguarundi, which rarely venture out of deep forests, are responsible for many or most of the supposed black cougar sightings. While they are significantly smaller than a cougar, differently colored, and much lower to the ground (many note a resemblance to the weasel), memory bias could explain many of the sightings in the southeastern U.S.

Another possibility would be the black jaguar, which ranged into North America in historical memory. Melanistic jaguars are uncommon in nature and, significantly, jaguars in general were persecuted to near-extinction in the 1960s. Though they do not look exactly like cougars, they have the requisite size. The jaguar has had several (photographically) confirmed, and many unconfirmed, sightings in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and southwest Texas, but not beyond that region.

Calls to Florida wildlife agencies also include house cats (video or photographs make size determination difficult) and river otters (especially at a distance) which are dark brown and can grow to approximately 5 feet in length and move with a gait that people associate with cats.

[Sponsor]

[mkm]

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.

[fightingquaker13]

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.

[Dakotaranger]

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.

Yes you are a very bad person because I'm the guy that was riding point when we did the Mickelson Trail this summer.  *snicker 

Seriously, though, I'm still hoping to find a legit stradegy for this.  It would be easier if we were backpacking, but stopping is THE major problem I keep stumbling over

[tombogan03884]

Just a thought, maybe stopping isn't the answer, maybe a burst of speed to buy a little more distance ?

[Solus]

Just a thought, maybe stopping isn't the answer, maybe a burst of speed to buy a little more distance ?

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.