Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
What would you do if a mountain lion started stalking you on a hiking trail?
That’s the question at the center of a viral video that has sparked thousands of comments online and plenty of disagreement. In a recent breakdown, Colion Noir dissected the encounter, using it to explore a much bigger discussion about wildlife, self-defense and what people expect someone to do when an apex predator decides they’re on the menu.
The video shows a hiker backing away while a mountain lion follows him through the woods. The cat repeatedly closes the distance as the man tries to scare it off. Eventually, he fires his handgun.
The comments split almost immediately.
Some argued the lion was simply in its natural habitat and shouldn’t have been shot. Others countered that once a predator begins stalking a person, the conversation changes from wildlife appreciation to survival.
Noir didn’t hide where he stood.
He joked that the hiker deserved credit for filming the encounter at all, since the footage is the only reason viewers know exactly what happened. But his bigger point was simple: nobody should be expected to gamble their life trying to read the intentions of a wild predator.
Yes, mountain lions can be curious. They don’t attack every person they see. But there’s no way to know when curiosity becomes an attack, and betting your life on reading the mood of a cougar isn’t a decision most people want to make.
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Noir also pushed back on commenters who insisted a warning shot would have solved everything.
According to Noir, that assumes the animal understands what a gunshot means. A mountain lion doesn’t know what a firearm is, and there’s no guarantee a warning shot scares it away. Depending on where you are, firing a round without a target could even create legal problems, though Noir acknowledged there’s room for discussion about whether wildlife encounters deserve different treatment than human self-defense cases.
His biggest criticism wasn’t about the shooting. It was about the hiker’s reaction beforehand.
Rather than calmly talking to the cat, Noir said he’d rather see someone get loud, make themselves look bigger and convince the animal they’re not an easy meal. Wildlife experts generally recommend making noise, maintaining eye contact, avoiding running and attempting to intimidate a mountain lion if one appears aggressive.
Still, the bottom line was straightforward: if it ultimately comes down to your life or the animal’s, he’s choosing to go home to his family.
What do you think? Did the hiker make the right call? Should he have waited longer, tried something different or fired a warning shot first?
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is a seasoned outdoorsman, lifelong hunter, and the kind of guy who’d rather track whitetails than scroll social media. As an editor for GunsAmerica, he’s got a sharp eye for spotting both solid gear and bad gun laws. Whether he’s deep in the woods or deep in editorial deadlines, Larry brings a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach to firearms, hunting, and the great American tradition of self-reliance. If there’s a hot debate on gun rights or the latest in hunting tech, you can bet Larry’s got an opinion—and it’s probably backed up with both facts and field experience.
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Context needed. Are we seeing this several minutes into the encounter? What I mean is, was there a point where the hiker tried to back away slowly? As you rightly pointed out, Colin, the ML “doesn’t know what a firearm is.” Could we have been viewing a ML that was indeed curious? Hey, I get it…it’s an APEX predator, but are we seeing the entire encounter or only a shortened portion. I have seen multiple brown bear encounters (Scary Bear Attacks) where a few encounters were resolved by holding your ground a SLOWLY backing away. That’s not evident on this video – doesn’t mean it wasn’t attempted – but unclear. If the hiker had indeed tried slowly backing away WHILE keeping the firearm pointed at the ML but the predator kept moving towards him – then completely understandable. But, again, you’re asking for comments and I feel one must view all the footage/facts before settling on opinions. All of that said, I would have been terrified (inborn fear of pumas / big cats), but would have tried backing away (to avoid the predatory response). And yes, if the ML continued coming toward me, we’ll, all bets are off. My life comes first.
Let’s review a little publicized fact about accuracy with a pistol. In real defensive shooting situations police generally MISS their target around 70% of the time. Look it up. Some people think police will be good and accurate shooters. They generally shoot a more accurate sidearm. Have to qualify each year and can probably practice free with or without instructors as much as they want. Throw in a very high stress situation with a mountain lion who could charge at any second and turn into a blur of speed flying directly at you how accurate do you think the average shooter would be? I think most citizen CCW carriers have a smaller (less accurate) pistol than a LEO or Wildlife Officer on duty. Less rounds. My personal concealed carry weapon has 7 rounds. LEO’s duty weapon might be 15-17 rounds and easier to shoot accurately. So, here we have a mountain lion that has closed the distance to you and is focused on you entirely. Do you shoot while the mountain lion is still and is crouched or do you wait until it is a blur of speed? Remember mountain lions are predators. We could be prey very easily and very quickly. Mountain lions take down full size deer regularly. How resilient is a human compared to a full-sized deer? Hunters and hikers are attacked by mountain lions every year. Let’s go back to the 70% miss rate. By statistics my hit rate may be 2 rounds from my 7 round pistol. How long does it take me to empty the gun at a charging mountain lion and hope my shots are good? Good chance I would be supper. You are betting your life on this situation. There are no do-overs. You have to be right the first time.
That did not appear to be stalking. More likely just curious. If the cat charged him he should have shot. If not a warning shot may have been enough. I personally think he just wanted to kill it.
Everyone makes their own choices in situations like that. Personally I would’ve fired around into the ground to scare the lion off because it was not acting in an aggressive manner but in a curious one. If that didn’t work then killing would be my second choice.
This is just plain stupid it is even an issue. Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.
well if you really feel bad about it you can call a social worker to diffuse the situation or give it a big hug…….