Dinosaur Hunting Guns: Taking Down T-Rex and Other Extinct Reptiles

I don't know much about the anatomy of the T-rex but assuming the brain is a small target id actually make my first shot for the heart/lungs and reserve defensive shots for the head. something else to consider is the animal walks on two legs. this means unlike the 4 legged prey we are used to, taking out a knee could immobilize the animal. so perhaps a better plan might be to take out a knee first then follow with a heart/lung shot.

-matt
 
Death From Above,,I'm not taking any chances
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seems a might unsportsman like to bomb them from high altitude. ;)

i dont think dinosaurs would be any more dangerous to hunt then many of the other DG species we hunt. they can kill you... but so can a bear, lion, hippo, rhino, leopard, buffalo, and elephant. i for one would love to hunt a T-rex!

-matt
 
seems a might unsportsman like to bomb them from high altitude. ;)

i dont think dinosaurs would be any more dangerous to hunt then many of the other DG species we hunt. they can kill you... but so can a bear, lion, hippo, rhino, leopard, buffalo, and elephant. i for one would love to hunt a T-rex!

-matt
Maybe, But you've never seen me shoot
 
I/m trying to figure out how to mount a stock on a 30mm gatling gun. Needs to be light and easy to get through the bush, and need to find a way to set for 100 round bursts.......Gary
 
If you're going to look for miniguns, ask this guy, he may have a few tips.

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I/m trying to figure out how to mount a stock on a 30mm gatling gun. Needs to be light and easy to get through the bush, and need to find a way to set for 100 round bursts.......Gary

Just mount the gatling gun to the bed of a Toyota pickup truck.
 
As stated previously, taking down a T. rex, or even the larger carnosaurs, Gorgosaurus or Spinatosaurus, would have probably required anything much bigger than the weaponry necessary for a bull African elephant. Body shots with solids would be preferable because these animals had very large heads and very small brains. Because of low intellects, they were probably unlikely to charge in retaliation. On the other hand and if they hunted in packs, there could be a real problem. Nowadays virtually all large mammals fear man. During the million or so years of human evolution and big game hunting, we seem to have culled out those beasts that are NOT afraid of man. Even an elephant, rhino, buffalo, large bears etc. are usually terrified of man…we have culled out most the genes for 'fearless' behaviors.

Now, 70,000,000 years ago this wasn't the case. No animal had seen a man and no animal--dinosaur or otherwise--knew our capabilities. It is quite conceivable that a carnosaur who came upon a human time traveler would simply consider him as food. He would approach our armed time traveler exactly as he would any other food of that size. A non-crippling shot might be shrugged off and the hunting behavior might continue. This wouldn't be a charge, it would simply be a hungry approach.

Now, considering a crippling shot--the hungry approach would necessarily cease--but, if the animal were accompanied by others [pack hunting], the others would likely not understand what had happened and would continue their attempt to hunt you down. Then, unless you are a very good shot with a lot of bullets, you might be in a great deal of difficulty.

Now the weaponry to bring down a REALLY big dinosaur like Argentinosaurus [a couple of bones from an even larger sauropod have been found] would need to be substantial--maybe a Barret's .50 caliber with very well constructed solids [heart-lung shot] or perhaps a slightly lesser caliber for a head-high neck shot. The problem would probably be quite similar to shooting a Blue Whale with a rifle. What caliber would you choose to "drop" a Blue Whale [a 200,000 lb animal] if it were legal?
 
That is some great insight, spoonieduck. (y)
 
I'm surprised none of the bow hunters have come out and talked about what draw weight they'd use for t-rex....

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I thought T-Rex was a scavenger and most likely a very dumb animal
 
I thought T-Rex was a scavenger and most likely a very dumb animal
Nope.

1. The whole "T. rex scavanger" has been discredited on several occasions
Example of some evidence http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/16/time-to-slay-the-t-rex-scavenger-debate/

2. The king may have not been the sharpest crayon in the box compared to modern animals, but compared to other carnivores of its size it had a relatively large brain. Definitely witty enough to catch a unwary hunter off guard.
 
I thought T-Rex was a scavenger and most likely a very dumb animal
The idea that T. rex was an obligate scavenger was promoted by a few paleontologists that wanted to get into the spotlight. To my knowledge, the only terrestrial vertebrates that can 'make it' as obligate scavengers are vultures. Vultures, of course, are capable of soaring flight and can scan vast landscapes for carrion. A terrestrial carnivore/scavenger is far more limited in terms of area covered. Therefore, the majority of terrestrial carnivores will capture and/or scavenge whatever they can. Lions and leopards, as only two examples, capture a lot of prey but, on the other hand, will eat carrion so rotten that it would give a vulture pause. Crocs and alligators, of course, are amphibious and will devour whatever they can get. They eat primarily fish but will also capture unwary drinkers and swimmers. They will happily devour a rotten carcass if they can find it.

T. rex [By the way, why is it always T. rex? There were larger and even more fearful dinosaurian predators.] was an elephant-sized carnivore [big, but a mere fraction of the size of the movies' Godzilla] that was probably warm-blooded and likely required a lot of meat. It was also land bound with a good sniffer. If it had relied entirely on dinosaurs that just happened to drop dead, it would likely have starved to death. Therefore it was almost certainly opportunistic. It would happily eat carrion, just as will a wolf, but it would also ambush/run down living prey. It simply had to.

In terms of 'stupid', well, it was smart enough--probably roughly as smart as a turkey or road runner. It was likely a little 'smarter' than most of its prey and probably a little more intelligent than present day alligators and crocs. Some large mammals will 'charge' out of emotions that look like anger and fear. Emotions like this may beyond dinosaurs and birds [although ravens and some parrots, despite small brains, are plenty intelligent], so probably dinosaurs probably didn't charge out of emotion. Some may have quite instinctively defended their ground--their territory--against perceived threats. One example of an unintelligent, but highly instinctive, creature that will defend itself vigorously, is the fire ant. Certain bees, hornets and wasps are also highly defensive/aggressive. These are invertebrates, however, hard-wired for active and aggressive defense. Poisonous snakes--terrestrial vertebrates--will also oftentimes put up a vigorous defense but will almost always crawl away if given the opportunity although I've heard of healthy black mambas running down and biting people and other animals. Every black mamba I've encountered, though, got out of Dodge in a hurry.
 
The idea that T. rex was an obligate scavenger was promoted by a few paleontologists that wanted to get into the spotlight. To my knowledge, the only terrestrial vertebrates that can 'make it' as obligate scavengers are vultures. Vultures, of course, are capable of soaring flight and can scan vast landscapes for carrion. A terrestrial carnivore/scavenger is far more limited in terms of area covered. Therefore, the majority of terrestrial carnivores will capture and/or scavenge whatever they can. Lions and leopards, as only two examples, capture a lot of prey but, on the other hand, will eat carrion so rotten that it would give a vulture pause. Crocs and alligators, of course, are amphibious and will devour whatever they can get. They eat primarily fish but will also capture unwary drinkers and swimmers. They will happily devour a rotten carcass if they can find it.

T. rex [By the way, why is it always T. rex? There were larger and even more fearful dinosaurian predators.] was an elephant-sized carnivore [big, but a mere fraction of the size of the movies' Godzilla] that was probably warm-blooded and likely required a lot of meat. It was also land bound with a good sniffer. If it had relied entirely on dinosaurs that just happened to drop dead, it would likely have starved to death. Therefore it was almost certainly opportunistic. It would happily eat carrion, just as will a wolf, but it would also ambush/run down living prey. It simply had to.

In terms of 'stupid', well, it was smart enough--probably roughly as smart as a turkey or road runner. It was likely a little 'smarter' than most of its prey and probably a little more intelligent than present day alligators and crocs. Some large mammals will 'charge' out of emotions that look like anger and fear. Emotions like this may beyond dinosaurs and birds [although ravens and some parrots, despite small brains, are plenty intelligent], so probably dinosaurs probably didn't charge out of emotion. Some may have quite instinctively defended their ground--their territory--against perceived threats. One example of an unintelligent, but highly instinctive, creature that will defend itself vigorously, is the fire ant. Certain bees, hornets and wasps are also highly defensive/aggressive. These are invertebrates, however, hard-wired for active and aggressive defense. Poisonous snakes--terrestrial vertebrates--will also oftentimes put up a vigorous defense but will almost always crawl away if given the opportunity although I've heard of healthy black mambas running down and biting people and other animals. Every black mamba I've encountered, though, got out of Dodge in a hurry.
I think you got it right about T.Rex. I had a dead cow out in the pasture and even the mighty bald eagles were having a nice meal
 
Ok guys; I've been resisting this thread but here is my Euro mount... Taken cleanly with the 505 Gibbs and Flat Point Solid Brass bullets.
T Rex.jpg
 
Did you take that in Limpopo province or Namibia
 

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