Modern monster hunter weapons

I don’t know, would they? You haven’t really told us how durable a werewolf is yet. I’m basing all this on the assumption they’re more similar to big game than humans, with hide and thick muscle and bone and that kind of thing.

You need very different kinds of ammunition for people and big game, as well as different calibers. Consider that getting close enough to a dangerous wild animal to throw it on the ground and put a pistol against its head is a pretty bad idea in most cases.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 5th 2019 at 8:40:56 AM

Well I said it was shot in the head, I didn't say it was done at point blank range. As for how durable they are, they are only a bit more durable than the human they used to be. Werewolves in this setting aren't overly bulky, capable of being fairly agile for their size.

There’s a 0% chance an inexperienced shooter hopped up on adrenaline from combat could put an entire magazine into a moving head at range. Even trained shooters aren’t particularly good shots in combat for the most part. That’s the kind of shooting you’d expect from hardened and skilled professionals.

Realistically, for someone with little firearms experience and in a panic those shots are going to be all over the place. If the target is inside 15yds you might see the majority of shots land somewhere, but past that you’re gonna have to cross your fingers.

Though, as far as weapons, if these things aren’t really any more durable than people what’s the point in having special weapons? The standard defensive weapons in use against humans will work just fine against these things. For your money a Glock is the best defensive handgun around, it’s easier to shoot than a Hi-Power, has significantly better capacity, and can be kitted out with helpful extras. If you want a more specific answer you’re going to need to provide more details.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 6th 2019 at 7:41:41 AM

@Archon: As for why go in, if the werewolf knows it is being hunted, and heads for the thickest brush it can find, and hides there, what else are you going to do? Like I said, you can't just shrug your shoulders and give it up as a bad job. That thing is for sure going to kill somebody, so someone is going to be given the task of going in there and putting it down.

Now, were it me, I would call the national guard and use explosives on the entire area, but assuming that can't happen in this scenario, then it's up to some haplas monster hunter to go flush it out.

I'm concerned that boar hunting may not be the best analogy here. I don't know how fast boars are, but wounded lions are known to sprint up to 40mph, which would allow one to cover 50 feet in about a second. Are you sure you're going to get that second shot?

BTW- if we take your logic to the ultimate conclusion, why stop at .450 Bushmaster? If penetration and the probability of missing with the first bullet are not concerns, then just take a double barreled .460 Weatherby Magnum in there, and let him have both barrels in the face. That's about 16,000 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle, compared to the roughly 3000 your .450 produces. If there is anything left of his head after that, he can try to eat me with it.

The information that we were just given, that WW's are as vulnerable to damage as ordinary humans, with no healing factor or thick hide, just reaffirms my choice: still sticking with the shotgun. Might go for the autoloading slug gun, though.

@Sifsand: Archon's right, the scenario you describe could only have been by extremely lucky chance, or something stunned the WW long enough to take careful shots. I will say that against a normal human, the first shot that struck the head probably killed him, and the rest were superfluous, so if you rewrite the scene to where your protag missed with most of the shots, that would still be plausible.

I think you might be overestimating the cover provided by your average area of thick brush. A hunter can generally take 25 to 50yd-ish shots in brush. That’s considered short range. There isn’t going to be a realistic scenario with a range of zero.

I also think you might be misunderstanding the application of large-caliber rounds in a hunting setting. Energy transfer to target isn’t the sole deciding factor here, the reason these rounds are used for large or very durable animals is because they can penetrate very deeply to strike a vital. A shotgun does incredible damage to light and midweight game, but against something very large or durable there’s a reason rifles are used almost exclusively. I’ll also point out that I didn’t just pick the largest round I could possibly think of because those rounds are almost exclusively fired from single shot rifles or very heavy manual actions, and quick follow up shots is something I’ve been emphasizing is important. There isn’t a scenario here where you’re only firing one shot, unless you’re killed before you can get a second one off.

Knowing that these things aren’t really any more durable than a person, I’d say just go ahead and take an AR in a popular defensive caliber. That they don’t have enhanced durability kind of makes all this talk of large calibers superfluous. An AR is a much more well-rounded weapon than a shotgun could ever hope to be, and the ultimate lethality isn’t significantly different. This isn’t a home defense scenario, there’s no reason to handicap yourself.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 7th 2019 at 3:09:25 AM

Would poison work?

See here.

@Archon: At 50 yards, a single buckshot round delivers more kinetic energy to the target than a single round of 5.56, and about the same as a single round of .308. It comes down to how many rounds you can fire accurately, and how quickly. I dont think an autoloader shotgun is any slower to cycle than an semi-auto rifle, so it's better than an M-4 and equivalent to an M-14. That leaves it to accuracy. I hold that it's easier to acquire a target at 50 yards or less with expanding shot than with a single bullet. Change the shotgun from shot to slugs, and you lose the expanding pattern but you increase range to about 150-200 yards. A trained soldier isnt expected to hit a moving man-sized target at 125 yards more than 60% of the time, and that's with multiple shots. I think they would increase their score if they used shotguns. So I'll stick with my shotgun, but if you want to tag along with an M-14 I won't complain.

How fast can werewolves sprint? Human normal or super-fast?

I never really considered how fast they can run full sprint, the scene took place in a crowded woods. If I had to guess though I would say roughly within the same range as a wolf would be in real life, just add some extra mass.

That's about 40 mph, or 60 feet per second. A determined wolf can cover 50 meters in about 3 seconds (and then have to stop, because they cant sustain that kind of speed). Think about what that means to a professional monster hunter.

Wolves are designed for stamina running but if you were that close you wouldn't be able to get away quick enough.

Why do you think soldiers carry rifles and not shotguns? I think you may be falling into the classic trap of assuming shotguns are the end-all and be-all of defensive weaponry here.

Even with slugs, a shotgun is unlikely to be able to reach out to 100yds. 150 or 200yd shots are almost out of the question. While it deals incredible damage up close it falls off very quickly, and with shot the effects are even worse. You’re also greatly overrating the expansion of the shot cloud here, which can be as little as a few inches. If you’re a bad shot, that won’t save you. Considering the much slower velocity of the projectiles they’re going to do far worse against moving targets at range too.

There’s also the velocity and shape of the round to consider. A shotgun gets its wounding characteristics from massive crushing of tissue around the entry wound, while a rifle is going to be doing its damage inside the body. A 00 buck pellet strikes with something like 200ish ft-lbs of energy, while a rifle round like 5.56 strikes with over 1000 ft-lbs thanks to its much higher velocity and profile. Since the buckshot deals its damage thanks to massive crushing around the entry wound it’s going to be much more effective than the rifle up close, but once it drops off it drops off hard. The rifle, on the other hand, will retain lethal effects out to several hundred yards.

Even though the actions cycle at the same speed, a rifle is going to be able to follow up quicker thanks to its lighter recoil and ergonomics. It’s got superior capacity too, which means following up with multiple shots is a more realistic prospect.

Your shotgun isn’t going to be significantly more lethal than my rifle in terms of actual lethality anywhere but very close range, and that gap closes up with larger rifle rounds. On the other hand, my rifle is going to continue to be able to make lethal shots at double or more the range of the shotgun. While the shotgun will absolutely be superior for certain situations, the rifle is better all around.

I’ll also add that there’s something I don’t think either of us have considered here yet which is locale. We’re assuming a field scenario where you can carry anything you want, but monsters might not always be found there. In an urban environment you can’t tote around long guns very easily, so considering that these things aren’t really any more durable than a human I’d argue a handgun is probably the best all-around weapon for dealing with them, considering it can be easily concealed on your person.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 10th 2019 at 4:35:21 AM

There's also the issue of cost. The character is practically a kid,AKA not a lot of money. A handgun, albeit a good one, would be something he could reasonably afford being its his first hunt.

I mean, if that’s the case I’d go with the shotgun. You can get a good shotgun for $300-400, a good handgun is going to be in the $700-1000 range, or maybe even more.

Don’t forget that it’s pretty much illegal everywhere for people under 18 to own firearms.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 10th 2019 at 5:56:05 AM

So...kid's parent dies to werewolf, kid goes off on revenge quest with family gun?

No no this is a world where monster hunting is a common sport/job and he bought the gun legally (starting funds so he can afford it)).

Then it's definitely not something an under aged minor should legally be doing. Hell, even buying the gun is basically off the table. You could game the system, the kid fronting the money and an adult buying the gun but even then the kid wouldn't legally be able to participate in a dangerous job like monster hunting. Even the Army requires you to be 18.

Basically, you need some kind of idiot to introduce the kid to monster hunting.

He's not literally a kid, I called him that because he's green, a rookie, brand spanking new.

Edit: In my post I said he was Practically a kid

Edited by sifsand on Jun 12th 2019 at 10:48:06 AM

I was operating under the assumption that monster hunting in this setting was essentially a pastime, like regular hunting, or an underground activity. If it’s a standardized profession there’s no way someone is just going to be able to go out and buy a gun and be a monster hunter like that.

Any profession (hell, even hunting requires courses and permits) that involves carrying a firearm requires a certain amount of training and qualifications, not just to ensure the people carrying the firearms are effective but also for liability purposes. In the vast majority of cases this is also why firearms are provided in by the employer rather than brought from home.

Even assuming it’s something like bounty hunting that’s much more informal, there’s still carry permits that need to be obtained, which involve firearms training, and specialized legal training that needs to be taken. The scenario where a young person goes out and buys a gun and then finds gainful employment as a monster hunter seems implausible at best.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 12th 2019 at 11:14:32 AM

I just went with the willing suspense of disbelief because not everything has to be realistic to move the plot forward

Edited by sifsand on Jun 12th 2019 at 11:38:00 AM

I mean, if these groups are basically militias or something similar then I could see it, but that’s not exactly a job. The idea that there would be official paramilitary organizations in a realistic modern setting that don’t provide any training or material support stretches suspension of disbelief just a little. Like, imagine if you sent in your application to a police department and they were like “great, show up at the station tomorrow with a handgun and you can go to work”.

From what you’re describing it sounds a little like bounty hunting. The state offers courses that you can pay and take on your own, or a larger organization that hires you will pay to send you to the course or get certified to teach it themselves. Smaller organizations or personal operations will necessitate purchasing your own gear, while larger organizations will issue it to you.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 12th 2019 at 11:56:03 AM

I could see a situation in which werewolves were uncommon enough that an actual profession couldn't really arise, but not so rare that people can count on never encountering one. A bit like arming yourself against the chance of burglary: everyone prepares against the chance that one day, their domicile will be invaded by a werewolf.

In this setting All myths are true, so much so that it's integrated into society. The hunters themselves are an unofficial organization funded by citizens like bounty hunters. They've been around since as long as anyone can remember and as a result are an important and well regarded organization.

I mean, even bounty hunters are regulated. And they’re ultimately funded by the state in part. And for monster hunters to be such a respected, established and apparently centralized organization that doesn’t have any formal training or employment process kind of strains credulity to its limit.

I’ll also point out that if all myths are true and monsters are a daily nuisance to society governments would almost certainly have their own monster hunting outfits.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 12th 2019 at 4:21:00 AM

That's the point of ranks, a new face like the main character would get killed easily taking on a dragon for instance.

That sort of makes it even more nonsensical that there’s no training process.

At the very least I’d expect it to be like law enforcement or the military where there’s some sort of training camp or academy at the very beginning to familiarize recruits and provide them with basic skills, with more advanced training provided later on.