[Anticonn]

This isn't exactly a hunting question, but bear with me, I'll try to make a long story short. My parents live in the mountains outside Boulder, CO, their 2 year old dog was recently killed and dragged off by what is believed to be a very large mountain lion.

My mom is pretty torn up about it, and despite my father insisting it's a bad idea (I agree) she is determined to follow to tracks into the wood to find at least the dog's collars, if not a body they can bury. I realize it's a bad idea, but she's not hearing it, if she's going to do it I'm going with her, armed.

My first thought it to pick up some Buffalo Bore 180gr hard-cast for my 2¼" .357mag revolver; it's quick out of the holster, DA, and will work all the way down to point-blank. So my question is simply this: will that stop a fully grown cougar?

The only larger option I have is a 12-gauge, 18" barrel and I have a box of 1oz slugs as well as a lot of 3½" 00B. I would rather not carry it through the woods, it's not drop-safe so I would need time and space to chamber a round and shoulder the weapon if I need it.

And just to be clear, we're not looking for the cougar, I'd die a happy man if I never saw one face to face again. The question is: do I have what I need to defend myself and my mother? I'm going to work on talking her out of it, but I wouldn't put it past her to just start walking one day, so if she really feels she has to do it, I would prefer to do it right.