View Full Version : black widow slingshot
hi i am more than likely going to buy the black widow slingshot and will use it for hunting small game
what is the biggest or hardest to kill animal you have bagged with this slingshot?
do you think the slingshot is any good for a first time hunter?
if not what is the best and most powerfull slingshot i should buy for hunting?
leon
Hi leon-b
I've bagged a pigeon in flight with a slingshot before. I seem to remember there was a puff feathers as the bird dropped.
Why not have a look here though http://www.slinging.org/
I'm sure it sould be far more beneficial for your bushcrafting skills, especially if you use your own natrual cordage??
I seem to remember someone doing a sling tutorial on here also....will try and find it.
Tada!: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=9087&highlight=slings
Also check here for some more info on catapults:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=5563&highlight=slingshot
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=804&highlight=slingshot
rapidboy
12-07-2006, 18:50
I don't consider a sling or sling shot to be a suitable weapon for hunting.
I'm not saying that it's not possible to hunt with them but they are hard to master and require a lot of practise and skill to use them effectively.
You owe it to your quarry to kill it quickly and in as humane a way as possible,
Buy an air rifle if you want to kill small game.
i would get an air rifle but i am not allowed
i asked my parents if i could get an air pistol but they said no aswell
the only thing i am allowed is a slingshot so i am buying one of those, its so unfair isnt it
leon
Ogri the trog
12-07-2006, 19:27
Leon,
No matter what you end up buying, you'll still need landowners permission to "take" vermin (in the case of rabbits or pidgeon). I won't even mention game laws for larger prey which are much more tightly controlled.
As RB said, you owe your prey the swiftest end you can, if you can't own an air-r*fle yet, ask around your area for someone who has permission to shoot and go out with them for a few nights - you'll soon see that there is a lot more to it than first meets the eye.
ATB
Ogri the trog
yes i followed the link scruff gave me and read all about game laws, my uncle owns nearly half of a village called waldringfield it is mostly all fields and hedgerows and i will probably use this land, i will be hunting rabbit, pidgeon, hares, squirells and other edible game, i realise that it is my duty to give the prey the fasted death possible and this is why i will practice alot in my garden, i think i will have to get a few sets of bands. does anyone know how long the bands will last if i practice near enough every day
leon
anthonyyy
12-07-2006, 19:55
In my opinon you shouldent use any weapon unless you have a 99% chance of getting a clean kill. Unless your in a survival situation, of course.
That dosent mean you cant have fun using a catapult for target practice.
Why dont you try nature photography?
i like hunting and fishing but i am not going to hunt untill i have practiced loads and that i am sure i will hit the animal in the kill zone and give it a nice clean death
leon
anthonyyy
12-07-2006, 20:18
i like hunting and fishing but i am not going to hunt untill i have practiced loads and that i am sure i will hit the animal in the kill zone and give it a nice clean death
leon
fair enough.
we old people do nag don't we!
no i think its good that you tell us younguns if you dont tell us we wont learn will we
leon
dont get hares mate,they are too nice to kill i think,they are magical creatures.i have been holding my gun with a hare 20 feet away and haven't shot it because they are too beautiful to shoot.stick to rabbits.
wiggles:)
hares are beautifall creatures arent they
leon
i like hunting and fishing but i am not going to hunt untill i have practiced loads and that i am sure i will hit the animal in the kill zone and give it a nice clean death
leon
I think one of the problems with a slingshot, is that even if you practice loads, your chances of getting a flyer (an unexpected shot that goes off target) are too high to make the weapons suitable for hunting under normal circumstances. Too many things can go wrong.
Try this, if you can get 995 shots out of 1000 inside a 50p target from 15 yards, then the weapon is probably good enough to use to kill an animal. But I think anyones chances of ever achieveing that level of reliability from a slingshot are extremely remote.
People do hunt with them, of course, and if you are starving, then all the rules and ethics go out the window. But if you dont have to, then maybe consider more humane alternatives.
It's not pleasant to watch an animal die an ugly and prolonged death, though I doubt you'd actually get to see it. A rabbit for example, would go underground and die an agonising death out of site and away from your ability to put it out of it's misery.
Bow hunting is illegal in the UK for similar reasons, though ironically, you probably stand a better chance of achieveing a reliable kill with a bow than you would with a slingshot.
If I were you, I'd practice with a slingshot against non-living targets and wait till you are old enough to buy an air rifle before you go hunting ...or find an older person willing to go hunting with you, teach you and take responsibility for the gun.
Just something to consider.
dont get hares mate,they are too nice to kill i think,they are magical creatures.i have been holding my gun with a hare 20 feet away and haven't shot it because they are too beautiful to shoot.stick to rabbits.
wiggles:)
Couldn't agree more. My favourite animal.
Spikey DaPikey
13-07-2006, 01:44
Taken a rabbit with catty before, and a few rats, but im soooo out of pratice now tho....
Must pratice again :)
Hawk Hawkins
13-07-2006, 08:16
Ive gotten considerable striking force shooting half inch lead balls...enough to kill a squirrel or rabbit, but (theres always one of those) I have never had confidence in using one to take wild game. I would think the cleanest and most humane harvest would be a head shot with one of these... and take into consideration how small a squirrel or a rabbits brain box is, its unlikely you will get that 100 percent sure shot all the time.
I agree on finding an older adult to show you the finer points in hunting...even if it means walking the woods with them unarmed for the first few times.
Hawk
hi i am more than likely going to buy the black widow slingshot and will use it for hunting small game
Is that legal?
Not saying it isn't, but if it is, it'd be surprising given the fact that bow hunting is illegal. I'd have thought it much too difficult to ensure a clean kill.
Matt
yes it is legal to hunt with a slingshot
leon
longshot
13-07-2006, 22:27
hares are beautifall creatures arent they
leon
good eatin' as well.
yumm
dean
longshot
13-07-2006, 22:32
I think one of the problems with a slingshot, is that even if you practice loads, your chances of getting a flyer (an unexpected shot that goes off target) are too high to make the weapons suitable for hunting under normal circumstances. Too many things can go wrong.
Try this, if you can get 995 shots out of 1000 inside a 50p target from 15 yards, then the weapon is probably good enough to use to kill an animal. But I think anyones chances of ever achieveing that level of reliability from a slingshot are extremely remote.
People do hunt with them, of course, and if you are starving, then all the rules and ethics go out the window. But if you dont have to, then maybe consider more humane alternatives.
It's not pleasant to watch an animal die an ugly and prolonged death, though I doubt you'd actually get to see it. A rabbit for example, would go underground and die an agonising death out of site and away from your ability to put it out of it's misery.
Bow hunting is illegal in the UK for similar reasons, though ironically, you probably stand a better chance of achieveing a reliable kill with a bow than you would with a slingshot.
If I were you, I'd practice with a slingshot against non-living targets and wait till you are old enough to buy an air rifle before you go hunting ...or find an older person willing to go hunting with you, teach you and take responsibility for the gun.
Just something to consider.
trust me on this, learn to hunt with your weapon now not when your in a survival situation. at that point, you have too much on the line to miss or what ever. earn your experience now, when the pressure is off not when the difference between a full belly and hunger is a missed rabbit or small game of some such.
always obey the game laws in your area. they are there for a reason. even if its to keep a beaurocrat in a job. :lmao:
dean :beerchug:
yes i plan to practice alot, i went out today with my mate and his slingshot and we found a few old rusted coke cans so we put them on the ground and fired away, i hit it and the stone went through one side and through the other it was pretty smart
leon
trust me on this, learn to hunt with your weapon now not when your in a survival situation.
I take your point, but it should be noted that in Britain, we dont have any real wilderness. We are never more than 7 miles from a road and in most cases, 7 minutes from a bus stop. Unless you are in the highlands of Scottland, we have almost total coverage of mobile networks. The chances of getting stranded, to the point of hungar, are for all intents and purposes, non-existant. Unless people travel abroad to somewhere they have real wilderness (newfoundland for example), survival situations only really exist as fantasies. :D
But I take your point.
Before you start practising with your slingshot, and I too have a Black Widow :D , see how good you can get at regularly, reliably, getting close to the animals you eventually want to hunt. There is absolutely no point practising at a standard10, 15, 20m or whatever, if you can't get that close to the beast in the first place.
Your elastics will last well with use if you oil them very gently with something like olive oil and store them in a dark glass jar. Light destroys the rubber.
Oh, and aniseed balls make good ammunition :D confuses the h3ll out of the local dog walkers though :lmao:
Cheers,
Toddy
If I remember correctly from what I read,the blackwidow catapult produces over 40ftlbs with the correct steel shot!
yes down our local woods we have loads of muntjak which i could stalk just to practice im obviosly not going to hunt deer with a slingshot, i will also tryand get close to pidgeons and rabbits. actually te other day i saw a groupe of about 10 rabbits over the field and i managed to get very close to them.
leon
Longstrider
14-07-2006, 19:52
Hi Leon, I am a little worried by your insistence that you will be able to hunt live game both effectively and humanely with a catapult. Trust me when I say that it is very, very unlikely that you will achieve either. The Black Widow produces enough power (especially with the "Magnum" bands they sell for it) to despatch small prey but the accuracy that you are likely to achive, even with a whole load of practice, will not be good enough to ensure clean kills. I had a similar catapult, ( a "Wrist Rocket" ) for many years, and a mould to make my own .38" lead balls with to use as ammo. This ammo was far more consistant than any stones could ever be, and I practiced with the thing a lot but would never have considered it a good weapon for hunting humanely.
You would do far better to stick to using the catapult to shoot targets like cans and rocks and to use this excercise to learn from. The catapult will teach you more about the trajectory of a projectile than just about any other weapon. Try shooting at targets at varying distances and you will soon see what I mean. This knowledge will stand you in good stead once your parents decide that you are old enough to have an airgun to hunt with. You will be able to very quickly learn the trajectory curve of your pellet and therefore be better able to judge elevation (also called hold-over or hold-under) for shots at distances other than that at which your sights are set. This in turn will make you a better shot and a better hunter with your airgun in less time than if you had not used the catapult first.
I started out with a "normal" catapult, upgraded to the Wrist Rocket, then, only later did I get permission from my parents to own an airgun. I practiced with the airgun nearly every day for about 3 months before I took a shot at anything living. The lessons I learned with the catapult were ones that helped me a lot with my airgunning, and still help me today when I shoot rabbits with .22" rimfire rifles and larger calibres for foxes and deer.
ok thanks i will bear this in mind
leon
bambodoggy
15-07-2006, 11:30
I don't see a problem hunting small game with a catapult, I've done it for many years now. I use little metal ballbearings as ammo and I either hit the bunnie and kill it dead regardless of where on it's body it hits due to the shear power of the blunt trauma or I miss....either way it's still a fairly humane way to kill imo.
What's more important to me is that you are killing for a reason and not just for the sake of it (whether that reason be food, pest control or anything else you can validate to yourself).....but even that is a path you have to choose or find for yourself. :)
Happy hunting,
Bam. :D
ok thanks for your opinion
leon
longshot
15-07-2006, 15:38
I take your point, but it should be noted that in Britain, we dont have any real wilderness. We are never more than 7 miles from a road and in most cases, 7 minutes from a bus stop. Unless you are in the highlands of Scottland, we have almost total coverage of mobile networks. The chances of getting stranded, to the point of hungar, are for all intents and purposes, non-existant. Unless people travel abroad to somewhere they have real wilderness (newfoundland for example), survival situations only really exist as fantasies. :D
But I take your point.
not to beat a dead horse but i have seen folks lost a mile from home and not be ale to find the way out and not everyone has a cell/mobile phone.
dean
Singeblister
15-07-2006, 17:03
A little bit off topic here , but ,,,,,,, has anyone ever hit the knuckle of their thumb with one of those black widow catapults ? :lmao: A friend of mine had one years ago when we were kids and I tried to fire a ball bearing , don't know how it happened but it hit the knuckle bone closest to my hand ,,,,,,, dam it didn't half hurt I didn't go to hospital or anything with it but it was painful for about a month afterwards, needless to say I never had another go.
Air guns are much better imo although i never hunt with them anymore I used to be a crack shot with my BSA mercury :) .
If you are hunting surely there are 2 most important considerations
- What happens if I miss?
-What happens if I hit?
for missing make sure you're not going to hit something you don't want too. Rifle hunters always aim for a solid background (like a hillside) behind their target.
For hitting it you need to be sure that 99.9% of hits will either kill or completely incapacitate your target.
I remember reading an article on wildfowling where the writer said that he aimed to get as close as possible and use the biggest ammunition to make sure of a quick kill. It's not always seen as sporting but neither is wounding your quarry.
pierre girard
16-07-2006, 02:43
dont get hares mate,they are too nice to kill i think,they are magical creatures.i have been holding my gun with a hare 20 feet away and haven't shot it because they are too beautiful to shoot.stick to rabbits.
wiggles:)
Just the opposite here. Cotton tails (rabbit) are the preferred game, while snowshoes (hare) are disease ridden, stringy, and don't taste very good. Cotton tails are easy to hunt in winter - as they don't turn white - like the snowshoe hare.
Cotton tails are generally in towns - snowshoes are in the woods. When I was young, people generally wouldn't admit they ate rabbit (or hare) as "only poor people eat rabbit."
http://khshawks.org/devilmammals.htm#TAIL
http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/lepus_americanus.html
Jack rabbit, which I believe is another type of hare, is considered a varmint in the western part of our state. They are enormous. The first time I saw one - I thought it was a dog.
http://www.geolit.org/ffhs/rabbit.htm
As to slings - when I was growing up - I had a friend who was very practised with a sling. He was so good with one he could hit a soda can every time - up to about 25 yards. This was a sling, not a slingshot or wrist rocket.
I've got a Barnett Diablo catapult and with magnum bands (or even just surgical tubing from a hospital) the power is incredible,and the accuracy even with weights and sights set up isn't excellent, be very careful Leon, I've fired ball bearings through 50gal steel oil drums and the bearings exited the other side, thats going to kill somebody if you miss.
Matt
this is some good info you lot are posting
leon
Woods Wanderer
17-07-2006, 20:13
i love my caterpult it kills with chest shots on rabbits squirrels and close range pidgeons its made from a forked stick with really thick bands cut down to 5 half inchs long a very light and strong leather pouch uses 50 cal lead balls or large nuts (nuts and bolts) i only try for 10 meters (sittin rabbits or phesant range)
to give you an idea of the power i shot a sqirrel in the chest the ribs on both sides were smashed the lungs were in pieces the diaphram burst and heart split it dyed instantly and was thrown back a foot from were i hit it. i also shot an already dead fox in the head and the ball went through its brain box and hit the atlas bone on its spine so get good and practice until you are comfortable then up the power by shortening the bands
and look at this www.primitivesupply.com
what bands did you put on your slingshot to make it so powerfull woods wanderer
leon
on that website it says that the maxi slingshot can kill deer how would you make the bands that powerful
leon
Colin McGlade
17-07-2006, 23:31
leon.
I have not seen it said in the posts how you are using the Black Widow.
So to get the best accuracy out of the BW is to use it like a bow. That is if you are right handed, hold the BW in your left hand with forks pointing to the right. That is when the folding wrist support comes into it's own. Nipping the leather part of the sling with the ammo between the thumb and the side of first finger. When pulling the bands back, put your thumb into the right side of your lips at the side of your face. That will give a fixed point to aim from.
You only have to move your left arm up/down left/right as a sight.
You can make a simple sight by putting a strip of sticky tape on the top fork (when they are pointing right) Then put a pin (the ones with a plastic ball on the end ) into the the sticky tape , sticking up. Then get a large cardboard box and a old blanket. Put the blanket into the box to stop the ammo from being lost by going through. The best ammo will be all the same shape, weight and size. Put the box obout 10 feet away,this may seem close but it is best to start close than for the ammo to be lost because it is too fare away.
Mark a target about the size of a two pound piece in the centre of one of the sides of the box (open end up) Now with your left arm fully exstended and your right hand at the right hand side of your mouth. Move your left hand until the top of the pin head is on the target. Let loose the sling. Do not worry about hitting the target as long as you hit the box. Just go for the group. just practice untill you can get a group the size of the two pound piece. That is when you start to move the pin up/down left/right until you are hitting the target. Then and only then do you move the boxe back to 15 feet. Hours of fun. With regard to hunting. Only with the confidence of knowing you can hit what you are aiming at. Can you decide if the BW has enugh power to cleanly kill small game.
Hope this is of help
Colin
Woods Wanderer
18-07-2006, 17:24
just got the thickest surgical tubing i could find and cut it really short iv only met one other person who can draw it though i found this last night http://www.melchiormenzel.de/forum/
just keep trying the first sqirrel i shot was with normal elastics and a 50 cal steel ball had to beat the poor thing with a stick a chest shot woulnt have even hurt it so make sure its powerful but first of all accurate cos at least if its not very powerful pidgeons are on the menu
Having done a little bit of hunting online I've found some websites which are about general slingshot hunting.
http://www.gobacktothebasics.com/old_time_hunting_legends__tale s__and_stories.htm
http://www.raycooley.com/26Weapons.html
http://www.execulink.com/~environm/Hunting/slingshots.html
As an aside, why is accuracy such an issue? Your chance of a wounding shot must be lower with a slingshot than an air rifle. :eek:
Yes the accuracy is lower but most air rifles are 12lb/ft or less. If a band could get any where close the the 40lb/ft figure above it would have massively greater thrust.
Secondly, a .22 or .177 air rifle pellet is very small and light. A bigger object would have greater momentum if moving at the same speed.
Also the "footprint" of larger ammunition must have an effect. If you hit a rabbit with an object 6mm across or 12mm across you would be more likely to get part of the shot through the kill zone.
I am aware however that a bigger projectile is likely to be less aerodynamic and therfore harder to judge at longer ranges as it will slow and hence fall more rapidly.
I am also discounting the problem of missing entirely as If a safe shot has been taken this shouldn't be an issue.
This is just me trying to be logical and not based on personal experience (aside form plinking with rifles and breaking windows with a slingshot :rolleyes:.)
If I've just come across as very stupid could people point out why.
As an aside, why is accuracy such an issue?
Hi mate, I think the best way to look at it would be this.
Which would you prefer, a swift surgical shot to the head or someone battering your body with a club breaking bones as they went untill they effectively beat you to death.
A lot of what you said makes a great deal of sense, air rifles are a precision instrument that are used to deliver a smaller lightweight projectile to a specific area normally penetrating both bone and flesh. Slingshots on the other hand deliver a larger heavier weight dispersing massive amounts of kinetic energy to a larger area as the flesh of the prey is forced around it, they are not designed to penetrate flesh they are there to cause massive blunt force trauma in an instant.
The sheer shock of being hit anywhere in the upper torso with a .38 calibre ball bearing (approx 9mm) at 40lb/ft in small prey like a rabbit would kill it, however strikes to the haunches or limbs would break bone and severely injure the animal causing a long lingering and painfull death.
That is the main reason for people talking about accuracy, I hope that explains it some
Woods Wanderer
19-07-2006, 12:29
iv never hit something with a 38 cal cos to me it doesnt really feel powerful with the 50 cal lead as long as you hit the front of the animal it dyes very quickly most the time instantly but it you hit a leg or guts its just gross but you can still normally chase it down
iv never hit something with a 38 cal cos to me it doesnt really feel powerful with the 50 cal lead as long as you hit the front of the animal it dyes very quickly most the time instantly but it you hit a leg or guts its just gross but you can still normally chase it down
My point exactly, how would you like it if someone didn't place a shot correctly and what happens on the occasion where you don't chase it down.
The name of the game is "HUMANE"
A precision shot from a rifle is humane, generically it is more accurate and effective. With modern PCP air rifles the follow up shot will be quick where as a badly placed shot from a slingshot will kill eventually and the follow up could take a long period of time, but death comes after a long and probably agonising wait.
Ogri the trog
19-07-2006, 20:57
Heads Up Gents,
I'd like to inject a modicum of realism for the UK here.
Even though I'm not a moderator, the discussion of the suitability of a slingshot for precuring live prey is getting very close to call.
For day to day use, a slingshot is most definately not suitable for the purpose that this thread is supposing. In a survival situation, the opposite might be true though your chances of a kill would be greatly enhanced by plenty of inanimate target practice.
Further discussion of pest control or meat procuration with air rifles might also be better suited to another forum dedicated to that topic. There are laws in the UK which cover these topics very clearly and the members here should not be advocating the misuse of anything, other than to point the questioner in the right direction of law abiding advice.
Neither Tony, the other members nor the site as a whole wants to be burdened with the bad reputation that such discussions can leave. We all know that in a life or death situation, anyone could justifiably do pretty much anything to stay alive, that is the exception to the norm. That norm, for daily life, says we have to obey the laws that cover the killing of wild animals and the use of weapons on owned land.
Leon, in answer to your original post,
hi i am more than likely going to buy the black widow slingshot and will use it for hunting small game - Don't it is illegal.
what is the biggest or hardest to kill animal you have bagged with this slingshot? A Policeman.
do you think the slingshot is any good for a first time hunter? No, a camera would be much better.
if not what is the best and most powerfull slingshot i should buy for hunting? Don't - you'll get yourself branded a thug, no better than the torturers of pets that make the headlines every so often.
Now here's the crunch - I've shot for a few years with both air and live ammunition - I do it because I can see at least two benefits when I take each life -it keeps my friends livestock safe from broken limbs, and it provides my family with organic meat that does not get passed around from pillar to post before laying on a supermarket shelf for a week.
Ogri the trog
wingstoo
19-07-2006, 21:27
Leon,
Both my Father and his Father (my GrandFather were excellent shots with a catapault/slingshot, in fact my GrandFather used to carry his all the time he was on duty as a Bomb factory Policeman, he would take at least one rabbit a shift when patroling around the storage bunkers, My Father on the other hand could hit a 4X2 target at 25 yards, first shot, you have to be this good because you will only get the one shot. he still has the catapault he cut from a Hazel tree over 60 years ago.
You only get this good with lots of practice, at range, and it is best to use steel ball bearings, don't worry about 995 out of 1000, if we all used that figure then we wouldn't try anything. You are with the Army Cadets? well if they said to you that you had to be that good with the No8 before you could use the L98 would you think that was a good thing, but there again with a catapault you intend to take a life, so start getting some practice, and let us know how you get on...
LS
i spose
i have shot the no.8 rifle but i havent shot the l98 yet
how cum the no.8 doesnt come back on your shoulder at all but it makes one hell of a noise
leon
Is the slingshot illegal for hunting in the UK then?
I was under the impression from both this and other threads that it hadn't been specifically banned as a hunting weapon.
I know people who have used them for a long time for scaring rats and pigeons.
Is this yet another of the nasty grey areas of British law or is there a specific law.
I don't doubt that any policeman would take a very dim view of young people running around armed with a slingshot in the current climate of the ASBO
wingstoo
19-07-2006, 21:37
i spose
i have shot the no.8 rifle but i havent shot the l98 yet
how cum the no.8 doesnt come back on your shoulder at all but it makes one hell of a noise
leon
You should be wearing ear protection Leon, it won't be so loud then, do they not issue you with Peltor ear defenders when you are on the range?
LS (By the way, I was a Range conducting officer and coach, and NOBODY came on my range to shoot or assist without ear defenders)
yes we use ear defenders but they are still pretty loud
leon
wingstoo
19-07-2006, 21:49
Leon, PM sent
LS
Ok, I thought it was illegal to hunt with a slingshot in the UK and because of this I'm going to close the thread until I can find out for sure.
A conversation about the theoretical use of a slingshot is one thing, encouraging the hunting of animals is another (unless it is perfectly legal)
There's nothing wrong with practicing with it and getting familiar with it (although i believe there's a legal age limit on buying one?) so that a high competence is attained, I would encourage anyone to develop hand/eye coordination and this is a good practice.
So, when I find out where things stand I'll reopen this thread, or not.