A DiY Survival Sling Shot with Big Game Capabilities

by Todd Walker

Could you survive in the wilderness with only a sling shot as your weapon?

A DIY Survival Sling Shot with Big Game Capabilities

Lots would depend on your survivability. Having a means to harvest protein and animal fat would surely increase your chances.

In a perfect world, the sling shot would not be my first choice. But having options makes one more robust.

When Dave Canterbury first talked about hunting big game with a sling shot, I thought he’d lost his mind. But then again, I’ve seen him do amazing things with common, everyday items. [Note: Check your local hunting regulations before hunting with a sling shot.]

I first saw his video on his pocket hunter over three years ago before he was co-starring on Dual Survival. I was impressed. So much so that I turned my wrist rocket into a DIY version of his now patented Deluxe Pathfinder Pocket Hunter Kit. 

My version is rough, but functional. I have three points on arrows for my sling shot: fishing tip, broadhead, and judo points. Here’s a look at a judo point on a wooden arrow.

Judo point ready to slay a spud.

The purpose of the judo point is to snag on brush, grass, or the ground and flip the arrow up to make finding a missed shot easier. It’s used for hunting small game animals.

The smallest game I could legally hunt today was Mr. Potato Head. Dirt Road Girl offered up a sacrificial spud. The hunt was on!

Use the same draw technique as you would with a traditional bow.

Dead spud at ten yards!

Both field points and broadheads penetrated this target about 5 inches at ten and 15 yards. Just like finding your anchor point in archery, shooting sling shots are no different. I anchor at the right corner of my mouth and aim instinctively.

Back when I built my pocket hunter, I secured a Whisper Biscuit between the arms of my sling shot with wire ties. I can fold the arrow rest down to shoot ball bearings or pebbles.

My arrow with the fishing tip is carbon. I secured a piece of nylon bank line to the arrow. This line is attached to the line spool on the PVC pipe on the wrist rocket. I mounted the pipe on a piece of aluminum plate screwed into the base of the wrist rocket. When shot, the line peels off the spool perfectly.

Bow fishing set up.

The main drawback of my pocket hunter is carrying full length arrows. Dave fixes that issue with take down arrows.

You can check out his kit at his Pathfinder Store. The Three-Piece Take Down Arrows are sold separately. I’ve added them to my wish list. This allows you to carry a silent, but deadly, weapon in your survival kit – all in one self-contained bag. Brilliant!

I use an old military surplus medic IV bag to store and carry my pocket hunter. Just need those break down arrows to complete the kit.

As I said in the beginning of this article, I would prefer to have a long gun for wilderness survival. But the pocket hunter is another option for redundancy in harvesting game quietly in a survival scenario. Options are good!

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook… and over at the Doing the Stuff Network.

P.P.S – If you find value in our blog, Dirt Road Girl and I would appreciate your vote on Top Prepper Sites! You can vote daily by clicking here or on the image below. Check out all the other value-adding sites while you’re there… 

Thanks for Sharing the Stuff!

Copyright: Content on this site (unless the work of a third-party) may be shared freely in digital form, in part or whole, for non-commercial use with a link back to this site crediting the author. All links in articles must remain intact as originally posted in order to be republished. If you are interested a third-party article, please contact the author directly for republishing information.