Originally Posted by
Gconan
I would hate to get in a knife fight with a cougar. I'll bet he is faster and stronger than me. If you had a firearm you could fire a warning shot at its feet. Maybe the noise would send him off. Don't know if bear spray works or not. But if it did I would carry it.
They're generally ambush hunters and on you before you know it's there.
These, luckily, are vanishingly rare events, which is why it's news when an attack happens. In the meantime, always bring a tiny person along when riding in deer country.