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Hunting (Read 39867 times)
Corvid
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Slinging Rocks!

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Hunting
Jun 14th, 2009 at 10:04am
 
Greetings - I'm interested in members experience of hunting with a sling or similar old school weapons. I'm wondering how efficiant hunting with a sling is and how "clean" a kill it is. I couldn't hit a rabbit even if it had a barn door tied to its back so for the time being their Safe. Im not really into the idea of hunting just for sport but hunting for food does apeal. So Hunting with a sling, Easy, efficiant, humane or not?
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slinger87
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Re: Hunting
Reply #1 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 10:37am
 
weather or not its a clean kill depends on where you hit it, if you hit it in the head yes, the leg, no. it is humane though, just as much as hunting with a bow or a gun
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when in dought, sling a rock a his head, if you miss, well, good luck!
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Corvid
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Re: Hunting
Reply #2 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 11:19am
 
@ slinger87 - yup what you say makes sense

But how "easy" is it from a distance to hit something the size of a rabbits head and be fairly sure of a straight kill.What kind of wound would a hit from a sling bullett to the torso or leg leave on a rabbit Anyone have experience of hunting with a sling? - cheers
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slangdeg
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Re: Hunting
Reply #3 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 11:51am
 
no first hand experience here, but i read the original hunting use of the sling was shooting at a flock of birds as they pass overhead, a hit would be much easier since your shooting into a large group. for a rabbit id rather use a throwing stick, easier to be accurate with and covers more area.
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Mr. Boss
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Re: Hunting
Reply #4 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 1:07pm
 
Knollslinger hunted a rabbit before with a sling and after he shot it, all that was left were legs and a head.
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kuggur slingdog
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Re: Hunting
Reply #5 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 2:19pm
 
Corvid wrote on Jun 14th, 2009 at 10:04am:
So Hunting with a sling, Easy, efficiant, humane or not?


None of the above, therefor is a sling an unaccaptable hunting weapon in my book.
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Rockman
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Slinging Rocks!

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Re: Hunting
Reply #6 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 3:02pm
 
It couldn't be completley useless, since people from the stone age used it at least for some types of prey.
Flying birds seems like a good target for sling hunting.
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Neander97
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Re: Hunting
Reply #7 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 3:41pm
 
We eat rabbit (snowshoe hare) a couple times a month and I give a lot of rabbits away, so I hunt them frequently.  Mostly I use a .22 rifle as that is simply the most efficient way to harvest rabbits.  But once in awhile I do take a sling and see if I knock one down.

When using a sling I don’t worry about headshots.  A 4oz rock hitting a rabbit in the thorax (at accurate velocities) will knock it down, if it’s not killed on impact a person is right there to dispatch it quickly.

The challenges that I face are:

A).  Stalking the rabbit until I’m in what I feel to be reasonable / responsible range . . . that is, getting close enough so that I’m reasonably confident that if I hit it, it will be knocked down and not merely injured and thus escape.  I follow that same personal rule with a rifle too – if I can’t be pretty darned certain of the shot, I don’t take it.  Stalking rabbit in brushy terrain takes some practice – you not only need to learn how to move through the brush, how to use cover/concealment, you also have to learn a bit about rabbit behavior.  But all of that comes with practice and it’s certainly not an impossible skill set to learn..

B).  The real challenge for me anyway is that I’m in the brush.  Getting close to the rabbits is doable quite a bit of the time.  However, getting close and having brush-free / obstruction free space to sling a rock is a different story.

Obviously it would much easier to sling in open country, but closing on the target is much harder in the open.  Sometimes I walk the trails and come upon rabbits feeding at the brush line along side the trail . . . sometimes I get close enough to sling a rock . . . once in a while I get the rabbit.

As far as the ethics of it goes, my thought is the same standards apply whatever weapons/tools you employ.  And these are just standards I hold for myself, I’m not trying to shove them off on anyone else.

- -Don’t shoot unless your intention is to harvest the animal.
- -If you don’t have a high degree of confidence that you can make the shot, don’t take it.
- -Don’t waste game.  If someone isn’t going to eat what you kill (or utilize the pelt/hide, etc), don’t take the shot.
- - If you hit something and it gets away, be prepared to spend some time and effort to try and find the wounded animal.

Anyway, I personally feel that a person can responsibly and humanely hunt small game with a sling – you just need to think it through and develop some personal standards and hold to them.
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Rat Man
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Re: Hunting
Reply #8 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 6:48pm
 
I couldn't agree more, Neander.  If you kill an animal to put food on your dinner table, fine.  But show the animal the respect it deserves.  We've talked about hunting with the sling quite a bit on this forum. Most of us, myself included,  feel that we lack the skill to hunt humanely so we don't.  If I had to use a sling to hunt I'd try for the same types of targets that slangdeg mentioned like flocks of birds or maybe ducks and/or geese sitting on the water.  A covey of quail might be a good target.  Possibly I could knock a squirrel or two out of a nest.  I'm not talking about any sort of sport here... I'd hunt this way if it were a dire situation and we needed the food. 
   I used to hunt with a single shot 12 gauge shot gun.  My hope is to get as proficient with a sling as a am with a gun like that.  So far I have a very long way to go. 
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Rat Man
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Re: Hunting
Reply #9 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 6:48pm
 
Pleased to meet you, btw.
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Neander97
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Re: Hunting
Reply #10 - Jun 14th, 2009 at 7:52pm
 
Rat Man . . . pleased to meet you as well.

I agree with your emphasis on respect. 

An interesting thread.  I hope to read more comments as folks weigh in with their experiences and take on the subject.
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= = = = =  &&"Time, a maniac scattering dust, &&And Life, a Fury slinging flame."&&--Alfred, Lord Tennyson&&  &&== = = =
 
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Corvid
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Re: Hunting
Reply #11 - Jun 15th, 2009 at 7:17am
 
Hey cool to hear from you all - Interesting that Neander97 speaks of stalking rabbits, where i live the rabbits are everywhere and you can in a lot of cases walk within a few feet of them, There not Horrible swollen eyed Miximtosis rabbits, which i used to see a lot of when i was younger, I think their just used to humans and not being hunted.

I think i agree with Rat man, I dont have the skill, at the moment to feel comfortable using a sling to hunt, but having that skill must be grand. I have very little hunting experience at all but i agree that respect for prey is important - Do you think that respect makes for a better hunter?








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kuggur slingdog
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Re: Hunting
Reply #12 - Jun 15th, 2009 at 8:20am
 
Neander97 wrote on Jun 14th, 2009 at 3:41pm:
- -If you don’t have a high degree of confidence that you can make the shot, don’t take it.


 
And I think that that ´s exactly the problem with a sling, at leatst it is for me. I would never be confident about making the shot with a sling as a weapon. I suspect there are not a lot of members if any on this forum that have slinging skills good enough for hunting.
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Neander97
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Re: Hunting
Reply #13 - Jun 15th, 2009 at 1:02pm
 
I don’t want to go on and on about this and make it sound like I think I own this thread  . . . but I would like to point out that is something else that is very much worth considering.  

Slinging rocks is a great way to pass some time in the great out-of-doors.  Stalking small game is challenging and fun.  

But there’s no rule that says you have to sling rocks at what you stalk.

A person can have a great time in the country slinging rocks, stalking small animals and enjoying being out doors without actually harvesting game.
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= = = = =  &&"Time, a maniac scattering dust, &&And Life, a Fury slinging flame."&&--Alfred, Lord Tennyson&&  &&== = = =
 
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nwmanitou
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Re: Hunting
Reply #14 - Jun 16th, 2009 at 12:58am
 
So what if you are not confident with your shot with a sling? You are hunting a rabbit. Hitting it would be a stroke of amazing luck anyways. And hitting a rabbit pretty much anywhere with a sling stone with average velocity will kill it. I'm not terribly worried about wounding a rabbit with a sling stone. I've killed them with a slingshot easily enough and a sling delivers far more energy to the target in comparison. Even if not immediately dispatched, a hit from a sling stone will stun it long enough for me to run up and finish the job.

So I say sling away, more than likely you are going to miss. But if you do get lucky and nail a bunny, be prepared to dress it out and eat it. (unless you are out doing pest control, then let the coyotes have it)
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