# What would be the best way to hunt Brontosaurus? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757 "2007-01-12T21:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/81 "2007-01-16T16:02:43Z")
WWM,W&HD? What would Marshall, Will and Holly do? StG ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/82 "2007-01-16T16:40:24Z")
Find yourself a whole bunch of them and make a noise like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, scaring them into a box canyon where they all mill around in indecision. Then drop rocks on them. Or find yourself a brontosaurus trail and dig a hu_mung_ously deep pit. Or grab an elf longbow and wait in hiding until one comes by, then scamper up its tail, over its back, and up the neck, and fire a double-arrow shot right through the base of its skull… and then go sit on its back until the penny drops. Or find one, jab it in the tail with a pointed stick, wait for twenty minutes until it notices and gets spooked, and then just keep it running until it drops. It’s a reptile, it can’t manage its waste heat as efficiently as a human. In the long run you must be able to run it down. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/83 "2007-01-16T16:51:27Z")
After watching “Futureweapons” on the Discovery Channel last night, I have to think that one of those [Accuracy International AS50s](http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=691) would do the trick nicely. Some kind of 50 cal bonded softpoint would probably do just fine, and with a 5 round semi-auto capability, you can have quick follow-ups. You might have to get kind of close- within 200 yards or so, to make sure you punched a deep enough hole in it though. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/84 "2007-01-16T17:20:45Z")
First off, Tyrannosaurs are Cretaceous. Brontosaurs are Jurassic. Different eras. You meant to say “Allosaurus”. But Allosaurs almost certainly didn’t prey on adult sauropods, any more than lions prey on adult elephants, hippos, rhinos, or cape buffalo. These herbivores have grown so big they have nothing to fear from any predator. They’re more likely to behave aggressively towards predators than fearfully. Or more likely, since they have brains the size of a walnut, not react at all to predators. Or anything. Nobody’s home in that little brain. In a sauropod we have an eating machine that is probably nearly immune to outside stimuli. These things are alien, in a way that predatory dinosaurs aren’t. There’s really nothing even remotely similar to them today. We can pretty easily imagine predator dinosaurs going about their business, but a sauropod? Maybe something like a whale shark? Even the dumbest herbivores today, like sheep, have a brain many times the size of a sauropod’s brain. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/85 "2007-01-16T18:25:08Z")
Would’nt shooting them with nitates used in sausage making kill the beast, but leave the meat useable for food? Most people here are assuming almost no waste to mean we have to eat the meat, which is a fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/86 "2007-01-16T18:38:04Z")
I’m in favor of the old-fashioned approach. Light a grass fire to panic the herd, then run em using noise from bullroarers, horns & etc, then chase em over a cliff edge. Afterwards, we finish em off with our hand axes & flint tipped spears. HEY! It worked with Mammoths, & they had more brains. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/87 "2007-01-16T19:34:19Z")
FWIW John Varley postulated bronto farms (on the moon of all places) in his excellent novel _Steel Beach_. IIRC the concept of harvesting the beasts never comes up but it is shown that brontos are not very fun animals to be around in a stampede… ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/88 "2007-01-16T21:14:44Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] Missiles my ass. I’d use a Swiss Army knife. And not one of those big honking ones, either. The tiny one with just one blade, the scissors, and the toothpick. [/QUOTE] You need the blade and scissors??!?! Punk. -Cem ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/89 "2007-01-16T21:36:31Z")
[QUOTE=Cemetery Savior] You need the blade and scissors??!?! Punk. -Cem [/QUOTE] Oh, please. You’d be lucky to even have the toothpick. When I was a boy, back in Bedrock, we hunted brontos with nothing but balls, brains, and moral superiority. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/90 "2007-01-16T21:41:27Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] Oh, please. You’d be lucky to even have the toothpick. When I was a boy, back in Bedrock, we hunted brontos with nothing but balls, brains, and moral superiority. [/QUOTE] You needed balls and brains??!?? Punk. Remind me to tell all of you kiddies how I once save the King of England with only a safety match, moral superiority, and a picture of Strom Thurmond! -Cem ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/91 "2007-01-16T21:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=Cemetery Savior] Remind me to tell all of you kiddies how I once save the King of England with only a safety match, moral superiority, and a picture of Strom Thurmond! [/QUOTE] You needed Strom Thu… Aw, to hell with it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/92 "2007-01-16T21:57:16Z")
And we were thankful! But if you try to tell that to the young people today, they won’t believe you… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/93 "2007-01-17T00:17:47Z")
Mostly, we were thankful you got rid of the photo of Strom. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/94 "2007-01-17T15:38:47Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] And could this method also be used to settle the dispute over whether the United States is a Republic or a Democracy? [/QUOTE] also good for those who insist the millenium started midnight between 2000 and 2001! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/95 "2007-01-18T18:16:22Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] also good for those who insist the millenium started midnight between 2000 and 2001! [/QUOTE] You’re not bringing _this_ debate back, are you? There are two kinds of people: those who think the 21st century started on 1/1/2000, and those who can count. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/96 "2007-01-18T19:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] 40 watts might do it for hunting those giant dragonflies. If you found a sick one. Or you could ask for the 40 megawatt range model. [/QUOTE] 😛 And I had patted myself on the back all day for thinking I had remembered that line! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757/97 "2007-01-18T19:51:54Z")
You see, this is why I love the SDMB. The finer points of Sauropod anatomy and behaviour juxtaposed with cheesy sci/fi, bliss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-best-way-to-hunt-brontosaurus/387757.md?page=4)