Atlatls

Anyone here use or hunt with a Atlatl.

 

Make them and sell them. I am no great shakes with them, by my standards, but I think they are cool. Beats trying to build a bow in a short time. My testing gives them about equal power to a 40lb bow with the loadouts I'm running. You?

 

I've tried hunting rabbits with them. Not much luck.
Have only taken one squirrel with it. but that was many moons ago.

I'm better off with a bow.

 

Included a section on them in a paper I wrote.

Most "arrow heads" are more than likly Atlatl Dart Heads since the Atlatl was around for thousands of years before the Bow.

 

It takes time to develop accuracy with an Atlatl, but once you do, it's a point-and-eat tool.

 

Played with one a missionary brought back with him 60 years ago. Didn't get real good with it, but my impression was quick to make and hard to learn to be accurate.
Think old style sling,, think David, while hard to use was more effective and had a longer range for small game and birds, atlatl was more powerful and had greater killing power for larger game. Both easier to make than a bow but a bear to learn how to use effectively. For me, a crossbow was easier to learn to use than any of three, but almost had to be made before you need it. My limited view is that if you wish to do without firearms after TSHTF, you had better get the alternative now and practice now. The chance of developing skills with any simple weapon or technique, bow, atlatl, sling, sling shot, snares, traps, gorilla gardens, finding wild foods, fishing, etc, before you starve to death are nearly 0. I would think that an invader finding one of their crew dead or dying with a 4 foot long spear sticking out of him, would at least get a little upset, so it might not be a bad weapon. Takes quite a bit of room to use either a sling or a atlatl and that could limit its use for defense.

 

I have read that an atlatl dart hits nine times as hard as a thrown spear because it moves so much faster. So it also penetrates a lot more deeply. And the range is far better than a thrown spear, too.

In its way it's the English longbow of spears: takes a lot of practice to learn how to use, but nothing beats it for range and impact.

 

I taken deer hogs coon most before cell phone came out there is a video on YouTube of me throwing one at earth day I don't know how to post the video but it's call what is a Atlatl.

 

Nice shot

 

It looks nice in the picture and it hit the kill spot but it was a bad shot deer was facing to the left when I threw and my dart went right because of to much power the deer spun into the dart if it would have ran straight I would have missed

 

I've never tried one of those throwers. I did hunt rabbits with a hand thrown spear. (Lots of rabbits, lots of misses, only one rabbit to eat when the day was done. You could starve to death that way. )
We tested Spears, woods-built bows and arrows, and slingshots (which I still hunt with.)

 

I usually practice against 2 liters with mine. Or an old boot. I can tell you that an armadillo will usually give you a few tries to dial in the distance. Haha.

 

I personally haven't used an atlatl, and having had some rotator-cuff damage to my right shoulder, am unlikely to be taking it up real soon. There are a number of threads around the site on the subject of atlatls. Making an Atlatl | Survival Monkey Forums I do believe @Kingfish is an avowed enthusiast of this particular kind of hunting technology....I am sure that if you asked him....he would expound at great length on the subject...... YMMV

 

I've played with one but never hunted with it...

 

THERE IS ACTUAL FOOTAGE ON ONE KILL SHOT ON FILM. Taken in a deer farm by a grandfather and grand son team. Looks like fun. Not a serious survival tool in my humble opinion. Like Chel says go to other thread. It has been discussed.

 

Oh @Kingfish you tease....if it's worth mentioning that there is actual footage of this achievement....surely you could provide the link, to the exception that proves the rule.

 

I did in the other thread. You posted a link to it. The kid was was in little more than a petting zoo where he hit a small deer that his grand dad had to finish off. I wasted half a day finding that one kill shot by a 7 year old kid. The spear shot buck was pretty cool. Only took that guy 10 years to get one. Pure waste of time . BOTH SLIGHTLY LESS EFFECTIVE THAN FIELD EXPEDIENT BOWS AND ARROWS. Not even close to well built self bows, long bows , recurves and do not qualify to be on the same discussion board as modern archery or fire arms when talking about survival. Pure romantic fantasy. Fun to watch in movies like predator where Arnold makes a bundle bow to fight the Alien bwwaahahaha . And again I will say there are a handful of people in the world who are capable of doing exceptional things. YOU CAN FIND THEM ALL ON ONE PAGE IN AN INTERNET SEARCH . Remember your statement about professor google. So here we have a guy with a picture of a dead deer with a hole in it. the guy standing next to it has a long dart. I could shoot one with a 30-06 rifle and stand next to it with any type of weapon and fabricate any type of story and put it on the internet where millions will read it I would for a short time be a hero as many would run out and waste time trying out my easy to carve primitive weapon and waste weeks maybe even months or years trying to replicate my story only to fail.

But as I have always said there men and women in the world who can and do accomplish feats of skill that 99% of us are wasting our time trying. They are elite and deserve respect. And most would concede , dont try this at home. Buy a gun stock the ammo deep have a good bow as backup stock your arrows and heads deep. Learn to use snares, traps, bait. Learn to fish, garden, raise animals and harvest plants. Better to catch a deer in a wire snare and kill it with a wood spear. You wont find that one at all on the internet but you will find deer caught in traps and in fences all the time. Deer can be caught in wire snares using bait. Much easier than hunting them with any weapon and you expend no calories and that is why it is illegal in every state. But hey , if you want to run around the woods with a SPEAR THROWING DEVICE . Have at it. Probably lots of fun. Ill spend my time getting better at making 400 yard rifle shots and growing not only food for me but food to bring deer and other animals to me. One must think in terms of calories expended and the best way to skin a cat. As Mr. Rourke would say. SMILES EVERYONE .

 

Here is another fact that really hurts primitive weapons as survival tools. There are more videos of deer with their horns locked together killing themselves then of actual kills shots made with primitive weapons below well made self bows.

 

Honestly, because primitive guys don't care less, and usually have something better than to carry cameras and such...like stalk hunting...

 

I not sure if some of this statement was ment for me but the deer was taken with the Atlatl that is in the picture with me it was not in a high fence and I have taken more game with the Atlatl including fish if you think it's a waste of time so be it it's just another skill that I have to use to get game if you can't do it that's fine to but if the world goes to he'll in a hand bag the gun you have is what will be the end of you because some one will want it.