What caliber for dinosaurs?

Have you seen this photo? It’s been widely shared on Facebook, because some ranchers in Florida had what is clearly a dinosaur eating their cattle, so they did what any reasonable person would do in that situation and killed it.

15 foot alligator

And that’s when the drama began, because people On the Internet don’t like it when you kill things, even if those things are an apex predator that lived through the K-T extinction. Physically unchanged for a hundred million years, because it’s the perfect killing machine. A half ton of cold-blooded fury, the bite force of 20,000 Newtons, and stomach acid so strong it can dissolve bones and hoofs.

Sorry, where was I going with all of this? Oh yeah, people are terrible. I actually wanted to use this an example of one of the things that bothers me about the current discussion around hunting. On the one hand, you have hunters, who generally understand that killing stuff is a necessity of continuing to live on this planet. Whether it’s killing a deer for food, a gator that’s eating your cattle, or depleting a wolf population so it doesn’t eat all the deer, sometimes you just need to kill stuff. Sure, sometimes we kill too much stuff or maybe kill stuff that doesn’t necessarily need to be killed, but generally speaking hunters are responsible, ethical people.

Then there’s the other side, which consists of people who have likely never been confronted with the harsh aggression of the real world in any meaningful way. To them, any sort of killing is bad, whether or not it’s completely legal and justified. Unless of course you’re talking about killing hunters, which explains how so many “peace loving” people sent death threats to that poor dentist for shooting a stupid lion. In short, you have a large group of people who have no idea what they’re talking about handed a platform where they think their opinion matters, and shouting down anyone who disagrees with them.

Which brings me around to the actual point of this article, which is why I don’t talk about gun control on the blog any more. Very old readers will remember that I used to be very political. I still am in some ways, I just don’t talk about here because there’s no point to it. If I wanted to get into internet shouting matches with coddled idiots, I’d create a Tumblr account. I don’t want to do that, I want to talk about how awesome it is to shoot guns and stuff. There are plenty of other places to argue, but I’m convinced that 99% of all online “discussions” about deeply held beliefs are nothing more than two people shouting at each other while sticking their fingers in their own ears. It’s not like anyone wants to learn someone else’s point of view or have their mind changed. We’re all just shouting into the void trying to score imaginary internet argument points so we can virtue signal to our like minded friends in the meaningless echo chambers social media allows us to create.

So what caliber for dinosaurs?

25 Comments

  1. A WELL PLACED SHOT TO THE TOP OF IT’S HEAD, STRAIGHT DOWN BETWEEN THE EYES—.38 SP / .357 MAG IS PLENTY. WATCH “SWAMP PEOPLE” ON TV & SEE HOW THEY DO IT—-TYPICALLY USE A .22 LR / .22 MAG @ 2 FT. AWAY—“CHOOT’EM” SAYS MR. TROY LANDRY—-AH—-EEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!!!

  2. .22 LR is what they mostly use on the TV Show ‘Swamp People’ ( but then…They are Pro’s ).

  3. .22 is all you need to the top of the head..
    I have taken 2 this way.. Of course bothhad the a legal FL tag, lottery permit.

    But He’ll let’s go with .50BMG

  4. Gator huntin’ I have no clue what to use, but since this is clearly a splatter contest 12 ga bernikie slug preferably the roitweiller.

  5. .45 from a 1911. That will kill it to its very soul!

    That or everything in the payload of an A-10. You don’t want to take any chances with a prehistoric monster like that…

  6. The Garand plus a bottle of oxygen has a pretty good track record against oversized prehistoric predators.

  7. Nothing smaller than 600 Nitro, according to L. Sprague de Camp’s classic story A Gun for Dinosaur.

  8. Great post Caleb. Proof that most people don’t get beyond the headline, and sharply underscores your main point that most people don’t care about the thoughtful opinions of others.

    I served in the Army for a long time and currently am blessed with a small farm. Both have taught me that some stuff needs to be eradicated if you want to make room for productive activities. There is no way around this is the natural order or natural law articulated by the Enlightenment writers.

    Keep up the good work comforted in knowing that some folks actually consume the entire product.

  9. I read the comments to see if anyone caught your Archer reference. I was disappointed.

  10. There’s a belief outsider have about Florida that every lake, river, pond, and retention area contains an alligator.
    Let me tell you, it’s absolutely true.
    So it’s not like we’re going to run out any time soon.

  11. Would you have volunteered to be in a boat anywhere near that thing? Not me! Apache helo’s 30mm love tap would do it…..

  12. I thought the 45-70 in JURASSIC WORLD was too light, IMHO. Based on what’s in the safe, I’d go with a .450-400, because it’s cooler than the .50BMG. If I thought there was way on God’s Green Earth to talk Holland and Holland into loaning me one of the few .700 Nitro Express double rifles, I’m there!

  13. To the limited extent I post on gun rights, it’s not to change the mind of my opponent; rather, it’s to provide the measured voice of reason for the lurkers.

    And a real man would use the femur of a large herbivore to club it to death.

  14. I have killed a 14 foot Nile crocodile. They are very wary and it’s hard to get close. There are only two vulnerable spots where it will die instantly, each slightly bigger than a golf ball. If you miss these, it will go into the water and you’ll never see it again. You see, reptiles don’t know when they’re dead. I used a .300 Weatherby magnums from 110yards with 180 grain Nosler partition bullets. The bullet did not exit, showing how tough they are. Most Africa hands will tell you to use a .375 H&H Magnum. Forget squib rounds.

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