Also he's pushing the gun at the cat while shooting. Pitiful technique. Probably no idea where he was backing up. Could have fallen and been dinner.
I agree with your take. The closer the cat got the more committed to a charge it was and less likely to be scared off. I think he was lucky it was deterred after bringing its attack in that close.
“He should have shot way earlier a few feet in front of the cat to spray rocks and dirt at it. The rocks and the noise would probably have ended the encounter.”
Exactly right. They need both audio and physical for their brain to make a connection. Because hunting predators has been discouraged or outlawed there are now generations of predators that have never been shot at. Unless they are hit or sprayed they don’t make the connection or understand the audio is something they need to fear. I have seen coyotes and cats just stand there completely clueless without any fear at all while being shot at. They are just not smart enough to know that a shot equals something physical coming at them.
He would have been better off throwing rocks, at least the cat would have seen the rocks flying towards it. lol