Posted on 11/17/2012 4:01:21 PM PST by Chuckster
I am considering picking up a slingshot, or wrist rocket for plinking and possibly hunting small game. I thought I would solicit the advice and commentary of my esteemed fellow FReepers on the subject. I am especially interested in your thoughts on the type of device to purchase and on ammo. I am thinking of something a bit more sophisticated than a forked stick, old bike inner tube and rocks.
Get a good air rifle. A gas piston rifle in .22 will take small game. A .25 or larger pneumatic rifle will get bigger stuff. Most of the pneumatics (except the large calibers) have barrel shrouds that make them pretty quiet.Chapman’s guide to airgun hunting is on the web as a pair of PDFs. Do a search, lots of info.
Get a pellet rifle. Cheap ammo. More accurate than a slingshot.
Pellet gun.
.177 cal, break barrels are better than pump.
Sling shots are not very accuarte, require a lot of practice, and in so doing your surgical tubing will tear, it does that fairly quickly too.
For last ditch ranged skill, I recommend learning knife throwing, no spin method is best, but it takes a lot of practice. This would not be good for hunting except perhaps rabbits but even then, but it is fun, could be used for self defense, and is good exercise.
A “Hawaiian Sling” is pretty good too. Basically three steel spikes on a four to six foot fiberglass or bamboo pole with a rubber tubing sling.
Ever the Tom Boy.....BTTT. :)
An air gun like a Gammo is quiet, cheap to shoot and powerful. Also fishing tackle, crawfish traps, fish nets, etc.
Most places sell the same slingshot...has wrist support and the elastic part looks like surgical tubing. They work well. We’ve never ‘shot to kill’ with it; but, we have found large automobile wheel bearings make great ammo.
Problem is, hitting the damn things, especially if moving. I spent many hours with one as a kid, and best I could do was maybe within 6". Would not want to count on one to stay fed.
Wrist-rockets will definitely kill small game. Killed a grouse with one once, had a nice meal while backpacking.
Buy more 22 ammo and if ones wants quite us CBcaps or the new CCI quite 22.
Fishing, trapping, and spearing are definitely better more reliable ways of staying fed.
Get a suppressor for the 22.
Marbles make great ammo for a Whammo or wrist rocket. Easily takes rabbits or squirrels without neighbors or home owners assoc. knowing a thing. My garden is one of the few in my area without a rabbit problem. Dogs and cats seem to stay out of my yard for some reason also.
They work fine but the rubber tubing pieces rot quickly.
I can’t make recommendations—I don’t know much about the different brands either. For me, as a lady, one important criterion is that it should be light.
The issue with a crossbow is that the bolts are expensive, unlike ammunition. You do not want to shoot and lose bolts. But they are very quiet, more so than pellet guns, and they can do some impressive work. You would not believe the size of the buck my son got the other day.
Back in the early 1960s BOW AND ARROW magazine did a test on a slingshot designed to shoot arrows. It worked OK, but was not accurate. It was advertized in the magazine for several years.
I watch “The Walking Dead” — I *know* how much damage a crossbow can do. ;-)
Blow gun.
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