For this episode, we talked about hunting and then had Mersa come join us to give his perspective and talk a bit about the situation in Australia. It's a darn good episode so give it a listen!

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ebt8p-10ed44a
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC27nP0Ik7Ysg0neo_W8rPmg

Now we all know this is a controversial and delicate topic which we cover in the episode, but that extends to the discussion here as well. Please remember to treat this topic with the respect and delicacy it deserves.

Listened to this one on way to work this morning - great episode!

It was good having Mersa join in - the interview approach worked really well if you want my feedback.

Thanks again for all your hard work with this podcast...

I think anyone picking up a sling has to think about what hunting with it would be like - but the last thing we want is idiots out there injuring wildlife for a slow and painful death - well done on your warnings and cautions stressing the risks.

Thank you.

Great episode guys!  I think listening to these is the only time I get sling braiding done anymore. 

I think the interview section worked really well.  Great to hear Mersa's thoughts on everything.  Good stuff man!

I agree to that the subject was covered respectfully.  I think there are people who wouldn't like the anecdote of a rabbit being exploded into bits and pieces, but I also don't think there's anyway to cover that lightly.  At least not without making the point clear about how powerful a sling projectile can be.

Hunting with a sling has been such an integral part of the history of mankind this episode sort of had to happen. Knowing you guys I knew it would be done well and it was.

Well your almost completely correct.

Modern sling hunting isn’t something with any real “superstar “ or any videos etc .

We had a few accounts of  people we know from the forum and I was mainly brought on because I have a story and I have actually hunted (with a bow mainly) so we thought it couldn’t hurt to have me on as a 3rd opinion with some experience. My story is an unknown and if true an absolute fluke.

Hunting is a touchy subject, we’re gonna have people on both sides of the debate because of the nature of the slinging community.
Some people will want to hear everything to do with hunting and others will consider it against their morals

Some people love smashing glasses and throwing rocks at trees and u find people on either side of that debate too.

We won’t be going into hunting a lot just because it’s not what we want to promote. And we have an unlimited amount of  stuff to cover.

I personally have no issues with hunting in general
But I have some issues with Hunting with a sling

We don’t want too much negative attention brought to slinging

I have a project I’m trying to work on that might be a good middle ground way to assess sling hunting but it’s not the goal of the podcast to premote. Sling hunting , if anything we recommend against it.

We appreciate all the feedback, gotta remember that kick and nooc have taken the responsibility of running the podcast , editing , fundraising etc.

I think that they’re doing a great job and applaud their efforts
Both still work and do real life , there’s no money in slinging podcasts.

Hope everyone is enjoying what’s been put together so far

Today I tried again to hunt geese / swan / duck and got a few close calls. Problem every time I experience is that it is just not stealthy enough, so I have to throw from a fair distance and that makes precise accuracy hard for me and a lot of it comes down to luck. I'd imagine bows have this much less and bow hunters can get much closer to their prey without being spotted. Overall the bow would be far better as a reliable hunting tool. I think carrying a sling is good for a oppertunistic hunting (taking a chance at group of fowl or a flock that happens to be near by ) but going out on a dedicated hunt with solely a sling... is not worth my time when I need to survive. Ivé tried this about 25 times now because I really want it to be true, but it never makes up for the loss of calories. Maybe others can but I cannot and I'd have to see it to believe it.   Slingers should become shepherds and live from their sheep and sleep in wool teepees. Sheep milk is good ! Keep the sling for herding, self defense and the occasional (lucky) roast duck

Mersa:
How do you have issues with hunting with the sling if you haven’t seriously committed to it? We already know it’s possible and effective.

And as for negative attention, do firearms and bows get negative attention from hunting? Maybe a little, but at least in the United States it’s not much of an issue as far as I’ve ever heard. The negative press is from when they are used against people. There is the exception of spear hunting, but that was due to some really bad PR incidents. Since this is such a big issue, I’m confident that the slinging community can be more respectful. By removing the sling from a context that would prove itself legitimate to the general public, you’re arguing for keeping it obscure to not rock the boat. Frankly, we’ll still likely be overlooked, but we’d probably get a little more respect and interest.

Joe:
I’m not saying a podcast shouldn’t be done without picture or video evidence, but don’t you find it a little weird that there is absolutely zero pictures of any animal hunted with a sling? You might not find that weird, but I do. You know there’s video out there of bolas being used in a hunt? Of throwing sticks? Both relatively recent. We might make all these claims and speculation, but we would be taken more seriously if we had some solid proof. I know some people don’t really care about that, but it would make a big difference to those unfamiliar with the sling and some doubters who have been using it for years.

And sure, the podcast may be a discussion of concept. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it is clearly lacking without proof of concept. The entire debate around the ethics of sling hunting is almost completely speculative, and it could be completely wrong. What I mean by this is that even within the slinging community that think that slings will leave a bunch of wounded rabbits outrunning around suffering, while others point to an account where a rabbit got exploded. We don’t have good documentation, just speculation and stories. By the way, sword enthusiasts do everything they are really allowed to do to better understand how they were used. That’s why people have done cutting tests, sparring, etc. You have armchair sword experts, but I’d trust more active methods. We have a context we can use the sling in that you can’t  do with swords. I think we’ll get a much better understanding if we do it.

J:
I think you have a classic case of needing to “get good”. That’s not meant to offend, I’m pretty sure most of us here suck. It just means you need to work at it more. People around the world were able to do it, so it’s definitely possible. And if you’re bringing in survival, a completely different topic, what if you don’t have a bow? Slings (and atlatls) are both much harder to use than bows, but from what we know (completely different different topic) they are both older than bows. People survived with them, it’s certainly possible. While you at the present moment might not be good enough for that (I don’t know why you would be trying to survive off it anyways), but you of the future could be.

In my personal experience, I’ve improved many times over since I started focusing on accuracy to hunt. I could probably do it with a lot of time in and a little luck, but I’m far from anything resembling competent. That’s why I will keep working at it. I know it’s possible, I just have to work at it a lot more. As for the stealth, I’ve had similar issues. However, animals I’ve been around get more startled by my lack of stealth skills than the motion and crack of the sling (don’t worry, I haven’t actually tried to kill anything). I still have a lot to learn.

I would make a longer comment, but I would just be repeating Mersa. I attempted to get the opinion of someone that seemingly had a lot of hunting experience with a sling (everything from birds up to a coyote) but I was unable to get in contact with them (read: They never responded to my emails). Who are the other candidates we could have called on exactly for sling hunting? We included accounts of sling hunting from members of the forum that I felt were the most likely to be reliable: Jaegoor's account is old, has been repeated multiple times with little to no variation in the retelling and I can believe, both having seen his videos and seen him sling in person, that he could pull it off. KnollSlinger, likewise, his account has been repeated multiple times and doesn't vary and is entirely within the realm of possibility for a slinger. There are of course other stories and evidence but we have a limited amount of time and, as Joe pointed out, we aren't setting ourselves out as a comprehensive compendium of all sling knowledge. Truly our aim is to get people into slinging safely and legally. Heavily promoting hunting with a sling just does not gel with that aim. We felt we had to talk about hunting because it is historically attested, there are modern accounts and human nature is human nature. "It throw rock hard, what if rock hit tasty animal?" It needed to be addressed as a topic but with respect to how important a subject it is.

I think Mersa nailed every reason I am also iffy on hunting with a sling and especially promoting hunting with a sling on a podcast with an international audience with a wide age range:

Mersa wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2021 at 9:05pm:

We made the disclaimers we did because of these reasons essentially.