Yep, still researching my story.
Apparently, shooting an elephant in the head is a bad idea, since its large sinuses will protect it. So, where should a skilled hunter with basic knowledge of a Dinosaur skeleton and a Nitro Express rifle firing an early .620 round?
(Sadly, the fitting .577 Tyrannosaur cartridge was only developed in 1993… The same year the Jurassic Park film came out. Coincidence? I think not.)
Obviously, the aiming would differ with species. First specimen: Allosaurus fragilis.
Looking at this image, it seems that the animal’s head was well-protected. It seems the bones in the skull could take a bullet while allowing the Allosaurus to survive long enough to kill you. While there are big holes in the skull, it seems risky to aim there. Would a better target be the large, seemingly unprotected chest? Or am I missing something here? And in either location, any idea how long till the Allosaur dies? I know we can’t know for sure, since Allosaurus may have been tough or fragile, but as a predatory reptile, I think it would have been at the least as tough as a modern Rhino or Hippo, right?
Next up: Styracosaurus.
The frill looks like it definitely could stop (or at the very least, slow down to a non-fatal range) a bullet, unless it happened to go through one of the openings and strike the back. But what about a head shot? Is the skull thick enough?
Finally, about other dinosaurs:
Stegosaurus and his kin had very small heads. If a high caliber bullet hit a Stegosaur in the head, which seems to be only slightly larger than a human’s, would the dinosaur not be instantly killed?
Hadrosaurs: These animals seem to be relatively defenseless. Bullets to the neck are the best bet here?
Sauropods: How hard would it be to take one in the 10-30 ton range down? Obviously, only very high caliber bullets would do enough damage quickly enough… How about shoulder mounted whaling harpoons, especially those with explosives? (Keep in mind that the year is 1895… No ultra-modern explosives). With a standard gun, any particular place to aim?