(LONG STORY/RANT WARNING )

so anyway, I was slinging by the river and a few people were going behind me, so i took my last shot and let them pass before resuming. The stones i had grabbed before throwing had been too small, so I threw two at a time, and of course to my luck, they veered off in opposite directions, one a little too close to a flock of geese ( as in, i didn't hit any though). Anyway, i move down by the river ( the river has a small level strip on my side, then like gradual 60 ft bank) and start slinging at trees on the other side. Eventually one ricocheted off a tree and scared off a few geese about 20 m away from where I was slinging  , and again just to my luck, one of the men who had seen me earlier happened to be walking back and proceeded to *try* to cuss me out for attacking geese  (despite immediately pointing out what happened and the fact the geese were fine), saying he had been going up and down the river tryin to borrow a cell phone to call the DEA on me

anyway, about a half hour later a cop calls to me and starts asking me about it, anyway he was very polite about it.  Apparently another cop had seen me slinging at the top of the bank towards the other, and reported me saying i was slinging at cars at the other side of the bank ( that I google mapped at being over 140 m from me ....I am not that good, neither was I using my long sling....) and I got driven home...


anyway, im not in trouble, but seriously pissed that me and my friends can no longer sling down by the river, and the closest spot I know of where i could sling is about an hour away...   

how many members do we have here active? can we get some Spanish interpreters for our Balearic friends?  START A PETITION! i'm serious, but more on the fact that it needs to be that you can argue back to someone being unfair without needing a lawyer (obviously your too stupid to speak for yourself), our just landing yourself in more crap.

now back on topic, you can always find some other place to sling that's nice, maybe for large open areas, possibly a friendly farmer during the months when nothing is growing. also, you could Google "parks near [insert area]"

I wrote a huge rant about this but it's not worth it... Sorry some idiot has to ruin your fun. 

Cthulhu wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2010 at 10:27pm:



That's a good way to look at it Cthulhu. I remember when I went from using whatever rock I could find in a field to cement ammo that was all the exact same shape and size how surprised I was at the difference in accuracy. Maybe some good will come out of this..annoyance. 

Were you given some sort of order by the authorities that you truly are forbidden from slinging where you were slinging? If not, I don't see why you couldn't take a fee weeks hiatus, and then go back there and sling again -- but for christ's sake take some frickin' care about not putting ammo ANYWHERE NEAR wildlife (which I don't know why you weren't doing in the first place).

If the complainer was not there when the cops gave you a talking-to, then IF you coincidentally see him
again by the river, you will (a) not be doing anything antagonistic against the geese (RIGHT?!) and (b) be able to say that no one ever ordered you not to sling there, you're well within your rights, you're not hurting a damned thing, and he should mind his own damned business.

How about a baseball field, a football field, a tennis court or a soccer field.  How about a running track?  How about an SCA chapter, they are usually looking for slingers.  What kind of athletic fields does your school have and will they let you use them?  I will also second the tennis balls, you can get a bag of ten at Wally World for like seven bucks.  Also, you will have to make a couple of new slings, which is not a bad thing.  You can also see if you can beat the 100m mark with a tennis ball.  Bill

 I for one would never be throwing stones where others are near me, or around animals.  If my rocks had any chance of striking a flock of geese I wouldn't be throwing there in the first place, I also wouldn't be throwing rocks within any possible range of cars.  A sling is a powerful thing and if people can imagine you having an accident or being irresponsible with it they will make trouble for you, even if you are being careful.  Where I live there are lots of coves where the only thing is a herring weir that I have to watch out for, so it's good for me.  But if I were on a beach where people are regularly walking by within range of me I would move somewhere else.  You got a bad rap but you also have to be careful what you are doing, dangerous or "seemingly" dangerous.  
 I would think that there must be somewhere further down this river that people do not walk, rivers are large and though I don't know where you are there must be a place you could go habitation is pretty much out of sight.  I live in the country so people are pretty O.K. with me slinging anyway and don't seem to make trouble, (there is no mounty on the island I live on so the neighbor kids are seen daily on one wheel on a dirtbike going donw the yellow line on the road, no kidding).
 The best thing for you to do would be to find someone even who owns a piece of land on the river with no cars on the other side and ask them if it would be O.K. to sling in front of their property maybe?  That way you wouldn't get complained about.  But really you just have to be careful with stuff like this cause it is dangerous and is frightful to someone who knows nothing about it and there is no use stirring up a hornets nest over slings or risking a front page headline "boy kills with sling"!

  Sorry this happened though.  Are there perhaps vacation homes along this river?  

  And as strange as controversial as this might sound, a sling is fun to play around with, and as long as you are throwing soft things like a tennis ball, it is little more than a toy.  But once you begin throwing heavy objects like rocks and clay it becomes a dangerous WEAPON.  While throwing rocks is very fun and is mainly all I do, it can't be done anywhere where you would feel uneasy say, shooting a bow with broadhead arrows, even more so as a sling has a little more unpredictability than a bow.
  Something you might try as long as you are very careful not to come off smartassy, is inviting the cops to throw some TENNIS BALLS from one of your slings and maybe even give them one if they like it.  Like if you see the cop around just invite him in a friendly way to try throwing a few tennis balls in a safe location, or maybe after his shift is over.  The best way to get somewhere is to have the people blocking the way come with you.

  Also, do you have a dog?  If you do you could throw tennis balls for him and have him bring them back, you wouldn't get any trouble there I don't think and you get your ammo returned to you.  You could also try bringing a parent or other adult with you if you are not an adult yourself, (the older looking the better,) with you when you are slinging as you will appear more responsible that way, being a teenager or kid with a dangerous device gets looks without adult supervision.

  If you have a small driving range near your house you could also talk to the owner of it and ask him if it would be O.K. if you went out on the field or wherever and threw some golf balls around after hours, like when it is closed and there is no one around, maybe on sundays it might be closed all day, I dont know.  Theoretically that way you could wander around on a driving range and pick up golf balls and chuck them at the distance targets even as if you were golfing, or he might want you to buy the balls, or even better you could help him collect the golf balls or get a job doing that and just combine slinging with gathering the balls.  Just a thought, you couldn't do it when there are people golfing there though and you would have to clear it with the attendant.  If you do try it bring an extra sling with you and just say what you would like to do and invite the guy/girl to do it with you and show him how, then give him the sling when you are done and you could make a good contact.