Tips on How to Use the Hunting Sling Shot Effectively
Most people look at a sling shot and see a toy. However, it is actually an ancient weapon, designed to work in the same manner as the bow and arrow. It relies on momentum to throw a projectile from a distance, catapult-style. It’s a common sight among young boys during summer, when it’s often used for hunting and target practice. The sling shot is also a remarkable weapon, provided of course it is utilized in a correct and responsibe manner. Here are tips on how to use it effectively and safely:
1. To use the sling shot, grip the vertical part of the ‘Y’-shaped catapult firmly with one hand (usually the less dominant hand). Arm the shot by placing a projectile on the leather pouch. It has to be on the center of the pouch to prevent it from falling or losing momentum at mid-flight. Keep the projectile in place by enclosing it with the fingers of the other hand.
2. Next, raise the hand holding the catapult in front of you, slightly diagonal to your body. Your line of vision if you were looking straight forward and your raised arm should form a 45-degree angle. This will optimize your ability to aim, stretch the bands of the sling shot and release it comfortably.
3. Holding the projectile within the pouch, stretch the bands toward your chin or cheek, depending on how you’re aiming. Use the upper ‘V’ shape of the catapult as a sight to keep your target in view. The target must be at the center of the ‘V’ shape. The bands should form a straight, horizontal line parallel to the ground.
4. Next, release the projectile by letting go of the pouch. Your hand should move backward, allowing the bands to freely stretch back to their original shape so they can push the projectile. Do not attempt to ‘guide’ the projectile by bringing your hand forward prior to the release. This will weaken the stretch and reduce the momentum.
5. Initially, you might not be able to hit the target accurately. To use the sling shot effectively, you will need a few tries. Get to know your sling shot — familiarize yourself with how it ‘behaves’ and compare the distance your projectiles travel as you stretch the bands to different lengths. Most of the time, the longer you stretch the bands, the farther the projectile travels. In time, you will be able to gauge the appropriate force required to hit a target from a certain distance.
6. Be a responsible owner of a hunting sling shot. The force of a projectile can break glass, puncture cardboard, paper or thin wood panels and could hurt a person or an animal. It can even be dangerous, causing unnecessary physical harm. When using for target practice, make sure you are shooting at an inanimate object propped up against a wall or an area where no human or animal passing by will be hurt and cause you legal problems in the future. If you must use it for hunting, make sure you are aware of its power, efficacy and any legal restrictions you might have to conform with.
Tags: self defense weapon, sling shot
June 13th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
In the mornings you should definitely hunt in after them as they will be heading to a day time bedding area. Hopefully it’s not so thick that you have to crawl. A red deer will take the easiest route so stay on the deer trails. Wind in your face, take a few paces, stop look listen, then a few more paces, stop look listen. Don’t bother tippy toeing through rubbish bush, but do sneak through the good stuff. Relax; I reckon deer can almost hear tension! Once you get comfortable in the scrub you will start to notice things of interest, like the deer that is standing still watching you long before you’ve seen it. Fresh wind falls are hot spots but they also mean hard travel so skirt around them with your eyes peeled. Humans naturally head towards the light, in most bush this is a bad move as most of the time the open canopy will most probably mean thick regeneration and old wind fall, not a nice grassy clearing. It is easier travel under the big tree canopy. When climbing or descending bush covered hills stay on the spurs/ridges and poke off either edge for a look here and there especially if there is a nice deer trail and fresh sign. The little creek heads on the sides of the hill are day timehot spots, so are scrubby fringes of slips. Deer don’t often seem to bed down right next to grassy creek flats where they might feed at night, possibly because that is where most hunters look for them? They tend to move about 3/4 up the hill for the day. Here are some wind tips…. walk along any stream and watch the water, when water flows out of a narrow channel and into a wider pool the edges of the top end of the pool have the water flowing upstream and cycling back into the main current (eddy). Wind does the same thing in the hills; the leeward side of a hill will have a wind eddy. You can avoid the eddy by moving back to the main wind current; towards the centre of the valley or up the side of the hill. In calm weather wind will flow down in the early mornings and up after the sun hits the valley floor (late morning). Warm air rises (anabatic wind). The wind will turn down again after the sun leaves the hills, sometimes not until the last hour of the day when it cools off (katabatic). So don’t go for an evening hunt too early or the wind change will catch you out. You can use the anabatic/katabatic winds to plan your whole day of hunting by circling through different country after the wind change.