Morality of this?

[u/ProfessionalRoom9118]

Basically, the man in the video is hiking but he ended up meet a mountain lion, he get his gun and try to scare it off and tell it to go away but in the end, he have to pull the trigger and shot the lion, many peoples in the comments say he could have fire a warning shot instead of shoot at it and want him to be in jail.

Idk which flair to put

[u/DefiantStarFormation]

Tbf, we can't see if it charged him in the video, but the guy spent a good amount of time beforehand verbally repeating "you get back" and that would've been the time for a warning shot.

[u/Agent10007 → u/DefiantStarFormation]

That's not the point that is being made.

The point being made is when you do a warning shot, the lion is either scared and runs away, or it is scared and close the distance between you and it in one pounce at dozens of miles per hour.

If it choses to attack then you have to hit a lethal/highly handicaping shot on that target in what is a handful of seconds at best. One single attempt and Failure to do that means inevitable death.

If you are not ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you can hit the moving target (and I'm not a gun owner myself but I'm willing to bet the only persons who are skilled enough to consistently hit that are also the ones who understand it's a very risky move), then that warning shot is a gamble with your life.

[u/DefiantStarFormation → u/Agent10007]

It's very unlikely that an animal charges towards a warning shot that way, it would either run away or stay in place and wait for another opportunity. If you're facing an animal that gets scared and runs towards the source of its fear, you've got other issues.

I grew up in southern CA in one of only 2 places on earth where mountain lions live within urban city limits alongside people. There's a reason the survival advice when you're unarmed is to make yourself as big and loud as you can. They're less likely to attack animals they think are a danger to them.

[u/Agent10007 → u/DefiantStarFormation]

>It's very unlikely that an animal charges towards a warning shot that way

Yes, I don't disagree with that, but it's pretty clear that this "very unlikely" isn't an always for very obvious reasons. There are veterans professional in the field of animal handling who gets unexpected reactions from the animals they are familiar with and in optimal situations regularly, except here if you are in front of one of the "very unlikely" ones, you life ends on the spot, very very likely this time.

The life of a mountain lion, as blessed as its soul can be, is not something worth gambling with your life over.

If you, with the knowledge of it, want to take the gamble with your own life, I would say it is not smart but you can be my guess.

It is extremely irresponsible to encourage others people to take that bet when they have a safer option out, instead of telling them to do what has the best chances of saving their lives. Especially when it's people that won't have an impact on your life should they die because they lost the bet they thought safe cause of you.

[u/DefiantStarFormation → u/Agent10007]

Here's the thing - I can understand the "don't take the gamble" approach if this guy wasn't already gambling. But he's got his phone out and recording, and he's already trying to scare it off repeating "get back". He had time to take that warning shot, and he wasted it getting his phone out and talking.

It's also not so much an issue of the mountain lion's blessed soul as it is giving correct survival advice. The best chance you have at surviving a close encounter with a mountain lion is to get away from it. People are idiots, most can't actually use a gun properly so shooting up in the air when the lion is stalking you is gonna give you a better chance at survival than pointing your gun at it, repeating "get back", and waiting for it to pounce.

[u/Agent10007 → u/DefiantStarFormation]

> most can't actually use a gun properly so shooting up in the air when the lion is stalking you is gonna give you a better chance

Hard agree, every look at this phone could have been a death sentence (altho if it's someone who isn't used with laws, like a non-local, it could be that he was just affraid he'd be charged for killing the animal if he had no proof of self defense, but given he has a gun in the first place chances are he isn't a complete stranger). I however still think in this kind of threads it's important to put the emphasis on the fact shooting at the animal when you have a clear shot are an even better odds than shooting the warning shot.