I don't know how it happened, and I don't know if I'll ever manage it again, but this was a moment too epic to not document.

A while back, on a whim, I made myself a basic tree fork slingshot (see photo.) I played around with it a bit, but besides knocking some trees between using my regular sling on practice trips, I hadn't done too much with it. But today, on yet another whim, I decided to pit my slingshot against that fell invader, the tree-destroying Spotted Lanternfly. So, I walked out my front door, and after a minute of searching, I saw one, perched in perfect obliviousness on my fence. So I pulled out my slingshot, and POW! I hit it, and it went flying behind some shrubs! (I tracked it down and destroyed it more thoroughly, to make sure it wasn't just injured - They're pretty hardy bugs.) I tried again and again to hit another, but I couldn't manage it. I figure my success was a fluke, but I'm still ecstatic that my slingshot got to see some action. ;D

I'll probably get more chances to try again as autumn approaches. To borrow a phrase from Thorin Oakenshield, May it soon cleave goblins... Er, Spotted Lanternflies once again!

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It's all about the mindgames with aiming. You probably were seriously expecting to hit it the first time but as soon as you knew it was possible your mind consciously tried to aim instead of aiming instinctively. I've made similar difficult shots and it's always when I fully expect to miss and so don't put any thought into it.

That's very possible - I managed to hit one or two more in the span of around 30 tries, and another today, but not as solidly as that first one. I wonder if it'd be possible to  teach someone to consistently aim without thinking, to maximize that mysterious "feeling..." Or maybe just thinking about not thinking about aiming is the same problem, I dunno! Ha ha.

Just in case you haven't seen it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieWrWLjii0

IronGoober wrote on Aug 25^th, 2020 at 7:26pm:

Just in case you haven't seen it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieWrWLjii0

Whaaaaaaaaaaat? Man, that just goes to show ya, there's always someone better lol. That's just incredible.

I guess that tells me whether my idea about aiming without thinking was possible.

https://youtu.be/P3gK1dxH-ko

Here you go.

That's crazy. I wish I had a slingshot and that kind of skill when I was a kid, when carpenter bees would come out and eat our front porch every summer. :o

https://youtu.be/6MBhEETlY78

   Your story doesn't surprise me, CT.  The slingshot is a very accurate weapon.  If I had to choose between a slingshot or sling as a survival tool the slingshot wins.  I'd rather eat small critters than miss big ones. 

That's what I'm finding out very quickly! I wish I could hit things with the sling just as easily sometimes! ::) I wouldn't eat a spotted lanternfly if my life depended on it, though, ha ha.

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Captain_Twine wrote on Aug 30^th, 2020 at 1:15pm:

That's what I'm finding out very quickly! I wish I could hit things with the sling just as easily sometimes! ::) I wouldn't eat a spotted lanternfly if my life depended on it, though, ha ha.

   They don't look appetizing at all and usually bugs that are colored so brightly are poisonous.  Spotted Lanternflies are very far down on my list of emergency foods.