In a recent episode I mentioned doing our part as hunters to help mule deer recover from the really low numbers we're currently seeing across the West.

How? By doing more predator hunting, specifically for coyotes and when and wherever possible for mountain lions.

I had a listener request for an episode on the subject so today we're going to

cover the following hunting methods best states, DIY or outfitted hunts, as well as, of course, guns and bows because

we all love the hardware, right?

And in that we'll talk about rifles, handguns, archery gear,

shot angles and kill zones, skinning a cat, can you eat Mountain Lion? And of course,

taxidermy options.

First, though, we're going to address a question that's come from a bunch of

listeners since the last episode in which we detailed Browning Arms introduction

of the new 6.8 Western cartridge and the classic

280-approved cartridge in their X-bolt rifle line. Now basically the

question I've been getting is which should I pick.

So let's talk about the advantages of each. The 6.8 Western, well it's new and cool.

It's got a very modern case design and chamber throat that's

optimized for long-range high-performance projectiles, right? It's an efficient case, so bear life will be good and

consistency will be excellent and especially easy to achieve for handloaders.

The 6.A Western fits into true short action rifles. There's already

an adequate selection of factory loads, and let me digress here for just a moment.

In addition to the two that I detailed in last week's episode,

there are two others.

One is a simple 170 grain, I believe believe soft nose type bullet for use for hunters that

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