hardcastonly

yeah, I just got asked a similar question by a local guy who swears he saw a skunk ape last night , while fishing in the glades
he only had a 22 lr pistol and just took one look and got in his car and drove away
ok, lets assume your out deer hunting and its a typical early morning, or towards dark,
your walking to or maybe just reached your preferred hunt area.
or walking back to your car in the evening,
you hear a noise or see a movement in the near by brush,
your not the type of guy that shoots at sounds or movements
you wait & watch, and are rather amazed when you see,
BIGFOOT or THE BOGGY CREEK CREATURE or SKUNK APE ,
(WHAT EVER THE LOCAL NAME IS WALKING TOWARD YOU)
now my first thought would be,
what kind of certifiable idiot would dress in a monkey/ monster suit,
and go around trying to scare , potentially armed hunters or fishermen ,way out in the boondocks,??
unless he wanted to get blasted!!
now assuming this thing looks to be 7 ft tall and maybe 500 lbs,
and its not a bear, and it walks on two legs, what do you do?
personally I know Id be thinking I stumbled into a movie set!
(but thats mostly because I personally don't think the creature is anything but a myth)
but lets assume you think its a real monster?
do you shoot?, do you try to take pictures with your cell phone?
do you just back out and walk away?
and if it was a monster, and if you shoot it,
do you think you normally carry enough gun to kill it?
I generally hunt locally with a 45/70 or 450 marlin using 405 grain hard cast bullets at near 1900 fps,
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0004482053/single-cavity-rifle-bullet-mould-number-45-405-rn-45-caliber-point458-405-grain-flat-nose

https://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=46-405T
45-50 grains of IMR3031 in my 450 marlins always has been lethal on elk.
and I know from shooting elk that nothing walking is going to shrug off,
several rapidly placed center mass hits if I did decide to shoot?
personally ID be really concerned ID be shooting some lunatics in a monster suit ,
and would be rather reluctant to shoot unless I really felt honestly threatened

YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS ABSURD QUESTION??

Oldtimr

If I see one and it is close to me I would do my best to kill it. However, I doubt I will ever kill an imaginary creature.

CalHunter

I don't think I would shoot one if I saw it since this scenario means I or anybody else in the scenario is not sure of what the target is. Now if the critter in question was attacking you, that would obviously be a different story.

Father Forkhorn

Offer him some beef jerky, but when he goes to take it, put him in a headlock and give him a Dutch rub instead. He'd probably think it was a really neat joke.

Champlain Islander

Unless I was under attack I would try to ease away from it. Pulling out my carry or hunting rifle would be a last resort