I’d like to see a discussion started concerning hunting via the sling.  From what I’ve read on the site thus far, it seems that most of the people here sling recreationally.  That is, slinging with bullets like a tennis ball just for the sake of watching the object fly toward a rooted target.  This of course is a great way to practice.  And I for one will probably stick to this type of slinging until I can get reasonably consistent hits.  

While one can obviously state that the purpose of slinging has changed in our modern era, it could be logically assumed that the purpose of slinging in the past took on more violent undertones.  Aside from building hand eye coordination, the singular purpose of the sling was to kill.  Whether the target was a small fuzzy rodent or a human opponent, the goal of the sling was the same.  Pop it on the head and watch it fall.  Consume the result or give it a funeral.  And what intrigues me is the measure of skill that it took to attain such a result (let’s save the methodology of sling warfare for another post…).

So that brings us to hunting.  Have any of you had any experience slinging at a moving target, perhaps with beady little eyes and swiftly scurrying feet?  Personally, I dislike hunting with guns.  To me it seems a little bit like cheating, a little too easy.  Such a sentiment has left me with two options.  The bow (recurve preferably), and now the sling.

It will be awhile before I will be experienced enough with the sling to hunt.  Even so, I’m curious as to the tactics of the endeavor.  Does the prey typically see and hear the twirl of the sling and decide, before the rock flies mind you, to get the hell out of there?  Or if the technique is correct does the animal not have a chance?  

Anyway, the floor is open.  Stories of bravery, daring, or resounding defeat are most welcome.

Leon  

Ok, most of the scurrying feet I hear when slinging is due to my brother ducking for cover on a misfire.   ::)But I have also been curious as to whether anyone has tried hunting with a sling.  

Historically, it seems to me that I've heard of birds and small mammals being hunted.  Larger animals were normally just scared away from areas (such as lions from herds of sheep).  I would suspect that the whirling motion of a sling would scare game away before you could hit it...but I really have no experience.

I've never hunted with a sling, other than to chase of birds from my folks garden at times. (It was a good excuse at least.)  I have heard a few stories though.

Stealth is important, not only for the approach to the target but during the cast as well.  A stone that "whistles" through the air can cause an animal to start, jump or otherwise move.

Stones that are fairly smooth and round can be very quiet, but then you depend on the impact alone to do the job.

Stones that have an edge may have better penetration, but tend to be rather loud sailing through the air.

I have cast both types and know the sounds they make, which is fun in itself, but for hunting it takes on a new aspect.

I've personally never hunted with it seriously.  My accuracy is nowhere near good enough.

Slings first were developed for hunting purposes.  It’s certainly one of the most ancient projectile weapons, probably predating the bow.  I saw an image of a supposed Neanderthal cave art image from a site I have since forgotten (anyone know the address?)  That puts slings right back at the dawn of man, during the stone age some 7000 years ago (5000 BC).  I can’t verify the accuracy of such a claim since it’s from a single unconfirmed source, but I think it’s very plausible (I have an anthropology background).  Jim Burdine's page mentions a prehistoric sling find in Lovelock Cave possibly dating back before 700 BC.

http://digilander.libero.it/tepec/prehistoric_warfare.htm
This site goes on to suggest the sling emerged as early as 12,000 BC!  

Slings are still used today to hunt small game, although mostly by children.  I have also read that slings were used to hunt large game in some cultures.  I would imagine that special projectiles (not stone unless they were shaped and very dense) would have had any deadly effect on animals bigger than a dog.  Slings were and still are used to scare animals to or from people.  For hunting purposes, you might sling a rock to overshoot the animal and push it closer towards yourself, or maybe scare smaller game out of distant brush to capture them, etc.  Shepherds carry slings to scare off wolves and other predators to protect their flocks.

Buckshot (loading a handful of pebbles into the pouch instead of a single rock) would be effective against birds.  It’s basically an ancient shotgun.  It’s defiantly effective and has a good dispersal.

The sling is a deadly weapon; we know that from hundreds of accounts from the Assyrians, Sumerians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Aztecs, and scores of other cultures.

Chris

Wow, neanderthals aye?  well, that would put it up around as late as 12.000 years ago, if not much earlier.  It's certainly well documented in parts of Europe (the Iberian Penninsula) as early as the neolithic (6000 BC- give or take a couple of thousand years  :) ).  I can't imagine it lasting too much longer as a projectile weapon once the bow and arrow is introduced.  The atlatl is also much more effective as a hunting device for large animals...unless you do get your hands on one of those 15' slings.... ;D

People are always raving about the bow, but the early bows were terrible.  They required great skill to fabricate.  Good materials were not readily available in many regions.  Early strings were not strong enough for heavy draw weights.  Arrows were primitve, hard to make, and were far from accurate.  

A well trained slinger with fairly common rocks (perhaps just river or beach stones) could be deadly.  And a sling is easy to make and replace!  

Check out that site in my previous post.  I think it mentions a few things about the slings advantages over early bows.  

Truthfully I don't practice enough to gain enough accuracy to hunt. I've managed to hit a coke can once in 10 throws one time during a practice. If I can't hit a coke can more often than that then I don't consider it a good option. Your calory used to calories gained makes that a poor option for a hunting weapon for survival. Using rocks you need a stone about golf ball to tennis ball in size to be effective, metal projectiles can be smaller. To reduce the chances of frightening the game off you want to do like folks using the atlatl and so a single stroke with the missle flying toward your target during the stroke. In other words your only stroke is your power stroke. I heard from one guy that hunts raccoons with his sling, it is a 22inch retention cord sling and he holds the loaded pouch in one hand and then uses the resistance of the off hand to allow the throwing hand to give the power to the throw.

It has been a long while, but I used to hunt four things with my sling on a regular basis: squirrel, rabbit, coyote, and birds.

Squirrels were easy enough, they would cuss you out instead of getting out of the way.

Rabbit was different, those you had to lead unless you were fortunate to spot it before it spotted you. Unfortunately, they don't sit still long anyway. However, anyone who's observed or hunted rabbit knows that they tend to run in a set, looping pattern. So, to hunt them, I'd use a dog, an untrained dog actually, that just loved chasing things. Take the dog out in the field, spook a rabbit, and off the dog goes. I'd wait where I was, sling slowly rotating overhead. As the rabbit came back around, I'd gauge the lead and fire. Usually the dog was making enough noise that the rabbit didn't hear the stone coming and made no attempt to avoid it. (Dog was small enough not to be able to actually catch the rabbit, or at least never did, but could give it a good run for it's money.)

Both of these could be taken with 1/4" to 1/2" bearings or similar ammo.

Coyote was different. You could take one with 1/2" bearings if and only if you hit it right. The problem is they're very clever and intelligent animals. In my case, hunting them was more to scare them away or just chase them. (I was a kid at the time.) I never did manage to hit one, which is why they were so much fun to "hunt".

Birds I usually hunted with the shotgun method: a handful of 1/8" bearings or shot near that size in a pouch. Effective enough, but you had to be quick sometimes. Some birds, like sage hens, will just sit there until you either get them or give up in frustration. Others take off, and you have a limited window in which to sling.

Sneakiness is a definite need so to get close enough, especially when hunting birds.

However, I've also been able to approach to within slinging distance with the sling rotating over my head. The key here is to move forward only when the game is not looking at you. Apparently, the rotating sling overhead doesn't spook them that much but the movement of the hunter will. Out of curiosity, I've approached deer this way with success, but for obvious reasons have never tried to take such a large animal with the sling. I have approached and fired at a tree or some such off in another direction just to see what would happen. The results were mixed as described below.

As to noise produced by the missle, I can't address that as I'm completely deaf. But I have noticed that with bearings the animals wouldn't spook when the missle was loosed. The same was true of the smoother stones. Instead of spooking, they'd actually look towards the sound in curiosity. Rougher stones, though, did seem to sometimes spook them, more often than not if I recall correctly, but here again it could go either way.

That was then, this is now. Animals change, too, as man encroaches into their territory, so I don't know if hunting with a sling near human habitation might not be easier now than before or the opposite is true. Up in the wild, I think animals are still very wary, but not as unused to man as before. I believe that they have a sense of hunting seasons now, so the time of the year could also be a factor.

Bill B.

Thanks Bill.  My real interest in slinging is founded on the idea of hunting.  I'm just plain curious as to how difficult it would actually be.  Truthfully, I dislike guns and compound bows for hunting.  Perhaps I'm just a sucker for self punishement.  Perhaps I just enjoy a good challenge.  Either way, I'll take your advice and give it a go.   ;)

Leon

HELLO EVERYBODY IM A NEW MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN SLINGING.IT IS VERY INTERESTING LISTENING TO YALL
TALK ABOUT HUNTING WITH A SLING BECAUSE HUNTING IS THE REASON I GOT INTERESTED IN SLINGING.i HAVE TRIED HITTING SQUIRRELS WITH MY SLING WITH '"BUCKSHOT"  AND I CAME REALLY CLOSE TO HITTING IT. i THINK THAT USING A CUPPED SLING WITH "BUCKSHOT" MIGHT BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN WITH AN OVAL OR LOVELOCK POCKET. BRENT

Welcome Brent.

Jeb's article on cupped slinging is a good place to start, as you mentioned in another thread.  I have used a regular "flat" pouch for buckshot, and it was pretty effective.  

Does anyone know if buckshot would actually disable or kill a bird or small animal?  I've been hit with buckshot from a sling, and it's not even comparable to a bee sting.

Yes, I think your right Brent.  I've tried loading buckshot into my leather pouch with no success.  My pouch is not cupped and the buckshot will fall over the edges before I really get a chance to swing.  I was thinking of sowing leather at 90 degree angles on the edges of the pouch to create a kind of edge so the buckshot won't slip out.  I'm guessing, however, that these edges will grap on larger bullets and lead to less accurate throws.  

Maybe I'll make a sling especially for buckshot.


Leon

hmmmm.......yeah, but just imagine if that bee was the size of your head.  That sting might feel a little more considerable.   :o :o

Leon

if you guy's made a wad like a shotgun it will propably work. I have made them for my slingshot but not my sling. What i did was take the shot and wrap it in toilet then ty it. Most of the time when it was released the toilet paper would tear and the shot scatter. Almost just like a shotgun. If you had proplems maybey a different type of paper could be used.

Well, I've been hit by a shower of buckshot on a number of occasions.  It fans out pretty quick after release; By 150 feet, its about a 3' radius.  I had a helmet on to protect my head.

I've also been hit with rocks up to an inch in diameter going at about 70 mph, and they hurt for a bit.  The force is probably comparable to a twice the force of a paintball.  

Ammunition has to be really dense in order to inflict serious damage.  This is why the romans used lead shot.  The smaller ceramic and stone projectiles found at many archeological sites wouldn't have been a major source of casualties.  

Gun, I think your idea about prefabricating buck shot "packs" would work well.  Just drop it in the pouch and go.  

Chris, Where were you standing that you got hit with 1" diameter pellets!???!  ???   ;D  

Yeah, although never having tried it, I really can't imagine buckshot doing any real damage to anything.  Let me know if you get that squirrel though Brent.  I'd love to hear what affect it had.

Rob

I could see buckshot stunning (maybe temporarily disabling) birds or small game like squirrels.  

As for getting hit with rocks... Let's just say I've had my fair share of sling battles.  We wrote up rules of engagement and slugged away at each other on a gravel path in a near by forest.  Fun fun fun, and also dangerous as hell.  It was like medieval paintball.  We wore bike helmets and safety glasses.  On a few occasions, a shot would completely shatter peoples safety glasses.  No one was ever hurt.  We were very very lucky.  We stopped before out luck ran out.  

Chris

As I'm bored and have currently got bugger all to repair or build and can't go out in case I miss the delivery man I'm going through some old posts.

We don't hear much from chris these days (or me for that matter lol) but check out his slinging game post just above this one.

The man is mad :-) bless him
I love the idea of exploding safety glasses, could this man be a member of jackass ?
:-)

C A,
You must be real bored, seeing the amount of posts you posted today!

How are you, except being bored?

And did you hunt anything (I know it shouldn't be in England but some people still do.)

Willeke

I've never done any serious hunting with a sling, although I have slung in the directions of some animals to see how close I could get and to date, not a single one of them was fast enough to get out of the way until after the projectile was in the air, or had impacted the ground next to them. One bird, don't know the species, but looked to be somewhat meaty(!) actually didn't take off until after the rock passed right in front of it and threw up a shower of leaves. It was looking at me as I whirled the sling around and was staring at me when I released at it,and it was very close to me (a few yards, at most) but just stood there until the rock came almost on top of it, and then exploded off into the air. Some of the area starlings which insist on using our yard and trees as bathrooms don't take off until the tennis ball is right in the middle of them, and my cat used to take off when he see me whirl the sling around, but now that he knows I won't hurt/hunt him with it, he doesn't even flinch when the tennis balls start flying around the yard.

The earliest sling in the European sector evolved in the Anatolia region of Turkey in the Neolithic age. However, it may have evolved earlier, into the Paleolithic age. It spread throughout the Grecian isles.
 it is interesting that the clay  biconal glandes evolves almost as soon as the sling does.. it is thought they were used by shepards to keep wayward sheep in the flock. ( Whack! Baaa!)  However, piles of them have also been found piled up outside caves, and inside in primative hearths.

I wonder if a sheep's thick wool would be any form of protection against a shepherd's ceramic bullets tossed at it to get it back in the flock? I don't know. I'm on a computer at work right now working a split shift later on and I'm bored right now on my break so it's just a random thought that occured to me.

well,

first;
a shepherd will not aim at the sheep itself, but in front of it, scaring it away from the impact in front of it.  if it hit the sheep, it would either run away at full gallop (what do you call it with sheep?) or die.

second;
have you ever felt a sheep's wool? (not meant as a derogatory comment, just a question)  if you ever have, you will most likely have felt how easily it falls flat against the skin when you push on it with your hand.  it is very easily compacted and would not offer any more protection that a down jacket you might wear, if that even.

Yesterday when I was walking, I saw a flock of geese and had an overwhelming urge to just sling stones at them to see what would happen.
But I didnt have my sling.

Theyre lazy, unnmovable and brazen, they'd be easy targets.
Hmmm.

i have had the same feeling about some turkeys that i used to pass everday after school.  but i was afraid of hitting one and killing it, and then having to do something with it.

Well, you can eat a turkey, you don't want to eat the geese I thought about annihilating :P
Cook those turkeys for dinner! ;)

being highly innacurate, and noticing a squirrel on a tree while i had my sling with me...

I though... 'hmm...'

I had found the perfect rock and was saving it untill i was going to leave and use it last, but i couldnt pass it up. I took it out, wound up, and fired!

Smacks the squirrel in the butt, it goes flying off SPINNING! it look hillarious, just imagine a squirrel, all limbs spread, spinning like a helicopter blade :o

After that it got up and ran back up the tree :)

I searched but i could not find the magic stone sadly :'(

;D SlingWolf ;D

I say that we slingers hire ourselves out to the cities, as pigeon slayers. Think about it. We get all the practice we want, and the cities get rid of the rats with wings.

Now, where do we put the carcasses?
Or do city raccoons eat carcass garbage too? :P

Pigeon is rather tasty!
But it might be hard to hit them is such way we can retrieve and use the critters.
If you slay them when in the air they are likely to fall on roofs or behind fences.

Willeke

I've heardthat there are actually pigeon farms where they raise a variety of the bird closely related to the ones you might see in the park. I would not suggest eating anything that you catch behind arby's .

My grandfather had pigeons and he sold them to a guy in the states but they followed his car all 12 hours home.

Well, we can always use scattershot, like BB's or small marbles to hunt with.
Maybe we could train a dog to retrieve them???

Hello, i'm a bit late to the party but i am currently making a sling hunting guide video for Youtube. Unfortunately being in the uk i have no idea if hunting with a sling is actually legal as i've not been able to find a conclusive answer from a reliable source. I am an experienced hunter with an air rifle and sling shot and will be adapting my existing hunting skills and newly aquired sling skills.

Looking forward to it. Would you be actually hunting or just talking about it?

What type of game are you hunting

Morphy wrote on Jul 12^th, 2018 at 1:29pm:

Looking forward to it. Would you be actually hunting or just talking about it?

Due to sling hunting being illegal here(I think) just talking about it, it will be up in the next 24 hours I'll post it to this forum