What caliber for tiger (not Woods)

[paull]

This is in my "neighborhood".

Oyster Creek officers look for tiger

By Nathaniel Lukefahr
The Facts

Published December 18, 2009

OYSTER CREEK — Authorities on Thursday searched for a tiger a man had said was roaming Oyster Creek, but they never found the animal, its tracks or signs of damage to property or livestock.

Oyster Creek Police Chief Tim Bradberry, however, said the lack of evidence confirming a tiger in the area will not stop the search and police officers have been advised to be alert when on regular patrols.

“It bothers me because it’s something that can hurt someone,” Bradberry said. “But so far we’ve not personally seen any sign of it or its tracks.”

Police officers began searching for the tiger about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after a man called the police station and said he had seen an “orange-and-black striped tiger” walking toward Oyster Creek about a quarter-mile away from the Buc-ee’s in the 4200 block of Highway 332, Bradberry said.

“The guy seemed pretty sure that it was a tiger,” Bradberry said.

But the search yielded nothing but the occasional tracks of small coyotes, which are common to the area, Bradberry said.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens assisted the search using night vision technology, but found no traces of the animal, Bradberry said. Freeport police officers also searched the area around the convenience store, but came up empty, a Freeport police spokeswoman said.

“The only tracks we could find were coyote,” Bradberry said. “We couldn’t find any big cat tracks.”

Bradberry said he did not know of anyone in area who has tigers as pets. So if there is one roaming the area, it probably came from someone who possessed it illegally.

Were police officers to find proof of a tiger roaming the area, it would be the second found in the greater Houston area since 2008.

In the days following Hurricane Ike, a lion and tiger escaped from their enclosures at an exotic pets center on Crystal Beach, which is on the Bolivar Peninsula.



Nathaniel Lukefahr covers Freeport for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0151.

Maybe BS, but who knows.

My dogs had a loud night and the crows are upset today.
They tend to NOT crow at people, they fly away quickly at the sight of humans.

Seriously, to keep this gun related...

I spent some time out on the back forty this morning, filling the bird feeders and "Amdro-ing" fire-ants.
I generally tote a .22 with me, just for fun.

Any opinions on the tiger-stopping ability of the .22LR on big cats?
p

[Chief Engineer]

Is suicide legal in Texas?

[svaz]

Well, if you shoot it from the inside you won't miss, will you?

[noyes]

Aim for ;



and do not miss....
And Happy hunting.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

This is a serious issue - when we had a flood here - the fence on the wildlife rescue place nearby went down and the lion got out. It ate the ostrich and went down the highway. The distance it went could have gotten it to my house if it turned the other direction.

However, we have more than 22s in the neighborhood. They tranked it.

Svaz - great line -

[azredhawk44]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu9xx5Ri278

Hit it there.

[paull]

My neighbor says to save the last round for myself...
"They usually start to eat you from the "bottom", so to speak."

[Chief Engineer]

Actually, they will clamp down on your throat or back of your neck till you stop kicking! Oh what fun!!

[elkman06]

Well, if you shoot it from the inside you won't miss, will you?

Hmm, Kinda reminds me of the time I popped a couple 38spl's off in the vicinity (NOT AT) of a 500lb bear. He didn't run away. My Dad leaned over and said "Save the other 4 for when he's biting your hand off".......
elkman06

[ClayInTx]

Chief Engineer & svaz

Great lines, both of you.

***
Watching Animal Kingdom and seeing the cheetah knock down a gazelle, I gather that the cheetah begins eating before the gazelle is dead and eats the fatty parts as quickly as she can because the lion is on his way to take it away from her.

So, if you have a weight problem this might be vindication for it. The tiger will start on your butt while you scramble to get your 22 out of the holster.

The good news is you’ll be close enough to place your shot where it counts. Just hope there’s no lion on the loose too.

[Buzzcook]

Tigers are one of god's creatures where it is appropriate to invoke the 4 bore rule. Simply put some animals are so scary that only the largest imaginable cartridge will do.

[tet4]

Wasn't it last summer that a few lions were wandering around Chicago's suburbs? Apparently, they get loose somewhere in wisconsin or mn and made their way into the city. It was quite a trek, and I think an officer ended up shooting one in self defense.

Anyway, a 22 isn't going to save you unless you hit the CNS - it will have your neck broken within a few seconds if it decides to come after you.

I kid you not, but big cats don't like getting hit on the nose, and don't like things shoved down their throats.

[Tamara]

This was totally my justification for getting a .405 Winchester barrel for my Encore.

[Christchild]

At the range yesterday, one guy had a nice looking little TC Encore. After I heard (felt, from 15 feet away) a few rounds, we got to talkin'. .375 H&H Magnum, factory loads. He offered to let me shoot it, but strangely, I declined... I don't think I'd want anything LESS than that for Tigger.

[Mello2u]

I would think a .450 Marlin or a 45-70 loaded to the same level in a Marlin lever action would work well out to 200 yards.

It works well on the largest bears with hard cast bullets in weights over 400 grains. I would think it would be good against a tiger or lion as well.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Christchild

At the range yesterday, one guy had a nice looking little TC Encore. After I heard (felt, from 15 feet away) a few rounds, we got to talkin'. .375 H&H Magnum, factory loads. He offered to let me shoot it, but strangely, I declined...

The .405 Winchester in the lightweight Encore kicks like a beast, especially with all that drop in the stock. Shooting it is like getting a good punch in the nose.

It's throwing a 300gr bullet at about 2200fps; the .375 tosses the same weight bullet 300fps faster. That guy was crazy. (They even offer a barrel in .416 Rigby. 410gr/2350+fps in an Encore? Not with your shoulder and someone else pulling the trigger. )

[Doublestack]

45-70 300 gr. JHPs at 1400 fps would pretty much do in a big cat I would think. The 405-520 grain solids would most likely do the trick as well. An 1886 Winchester would make a pretty good launching platform. All of this is assuming that you see the cat before it sees you. If you don't, you will instantly become Purina Tiger Chow.


I think it was Jeff Cooper who wa describing an event that occurred in Africa where a nightime horseback trek was being done. The tourists were on horses behind the guide that was on the lead horse. He had a rifle. All the people heard was that rifle hitting the ground. It seems that leopard took out the guide and probably dragged him up a tree for supper.

The Colonels final line in that article went something like this.

" A leopard moving at night is like smoke moving through fog!"


DS

[Elvishead]

Any opinions on the tiger-stopping ability of the .22LR on big cats?

If they can't get to you, you're golden. But than again, it might hurt (Pain from the 22) to much were they might leave you alone. I guess I consider a lion being shot with a 22 is like a man being shot with a Red Ryder. I would avoid being shot with a Red Ryder, and it might shoot my eyeball out.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Doublestack

45-70 300 gr. JHPs at 1400 fps would pretty much do in a big cat I would think.

I dunno, a 300gr .452" projectile is awfully light-for-caliber to be shooting at a quarter-ton carnivore with great tenacity of life, especially if it's only moving at 1400 fps. That's barely hotter than .454 Casull pistol loads.

If you're going to shoot it with a .45-70, at least load it with something heavier than the big-three stuff you can buy at Wally World, which is downloaded to keep from blowing up great-grandpa's Flop-top Springfield.

[Elvishead]

If you're going to shoot it with a .45-70, at least load it with something heavier than the big-three stuff you can buy at Wally World,

You can buy .45-70 at WW? Well, maybe not in Vegas!