Turn an Old Slingshot into an Arrow Shooting Hunting Tool

I came across an old slingshot the other day, and it made a little light go off in my head.  I had thought before about making a slingshot that would shoot an arrow, kind of like an underwater spear gun, and now here was my opportunity.  I thought about it a little while, and decided that the only real change I would have to make to the slingshot would be to put some king of arrow rest on it to hold the arrow.  Pictured below: Materials needed to make an arrow shooting slingshot.

 I dug around in my shop and came up with some heavy gauge solid wire that looked like it would work for the rest.  An old piece of wire coat hanger would probably have done just as well.

A few minutes work with some needle-nose pliers, and I had my arrow rest ready to attach.  I bent a little dip in the center of the rest to hold the arrow shaft, and I bent down the ends of the rest so that I could attack them to the slingshot with a few good wraps of duct-tape.  The main thing I was concerned with was positioning the arrow rest so that it would be the same height as the rubber-bands on the sling shot.  This would help to aim the arrow more accurately, and avoid having the arrow leave the slingshot at a downward angle. Pictured below: top, Wire bent to form arrow rest; middle, arrow rest held in position on slingshot; bottom, Arrow rest duct-taped into place.

 

 

Now all I needed was an arrow. I used a 5/16" dowel rod about 30" long for the arrow shaft, and glued a metal field point on the tip.  Pictured below: Field tip glued onto dowel rod arrow shaft.

I made the arrow fletching by cutting a couple of pieces of duct-tape and pressed the duct tape together on opposite sides of the arrow shaft. Pictured below: top, first piece of duct tape in place; bottom, Second piece of duct tape in place.

 

Then I used scissors to trim the fletching to shape.  I decided to go with just two fletchings instead of three like on a regular arrow.  Most crossbows that I've seen just have two fletchings, and I figured that two fletchings would ride over the arrow rest more smoothly than if the arrows had three fletchings.  No need to cut a nock in the arrow because you are going to pinch it in the leather pocket of the slingshot. Pictured below: Fletching trimmed to shape.

 I took my new arrow shooter out back and did a little field test.  It worked great.  Pictured below: Shooting an arrow with my converted slingshot.

I think with a little practice I should be able to bring down small game without any problem.  I will definitely stick this little arrow shooter in my bug-out-bag along with a couple of glue-on broadheads.  The slingshot doesn't take up hardly any room, and it would be a simple matter to build a hunting arrow in the field. 

Make a Signal Whistle from Bamboo or River Cane

All survival kits should include a whistle to signal for help.  A whistle can be heard farther away than a human voice, and besides it doesn't take long to holler yourself hoarse if you are trying to shout for help. To signal for help with a whistle blow three loud, and distinctly separate blasts on the whistle, pause for ten seconds and repeat, pause another ten seconds and repeat.  If someone is in the vicinity they will hear the first series of three sounds but probably won't be able to establish where they came from.  The next two series of sounds will allow rescuers to zero in on your location.  Perform this nine blast series every ten minutes as it will take rescuers this long to cover ½ mile on foot.  That is if they are making good time.

But let's be honest.  How many times do you go out hiking, or hunting or fishing and don't carry a whistle with you.  Probably a lot.  So what I'm going to show you here is how to make a signal whistle out of bamboo.  No way is it as loud or effective as a 120 decibel survival whistle, but it sure beats hollering yourself hoarse and then having a rescuer pass 200 yards away and never know that you are there.

Here's how you make the whistle:

1.  Start off with a piece of bamboo or river cane that is about as big around as your little finger and a stick of any kind of wood.  The stick should be of a size that will slip tightly into the hole of you cane.

2. Cut a section of the cane that is about three inches long.  Leave a solid joint on one end and the other end should be open.

3.  Now cut a small stick that will fit tightly into the open hole in the cane.  This is a little tricky.  The stick needs to fit tightly, but no so tightly that it will split the cane when you push it into the hole.  You can leave the bark on the stick.  It only needs to be about six inches long because you are really only going to use about an inch of it.

4.  Now you are going to carve a notch in the cane.  Start the notch by making a vertical cut into the cane about ¾ inch from the open end of the cane.  Cut down about half way through the cane.  Now working from the closed end of the cane, carve back at an angle to the bottom of the vertical cut.  You should end up with about a ½ to ¾ inch hole into the inside of the cane.

5. Cut about an inch long piece of your stick and split off about a third of one side of the stick.

6.  Insert the stick into the open end of the cane and push it in flush with the end.  The flat side of the stick should be facing up toward the notch.  You should be able to look down into the notch and see about 1/8 inch of the stick intruding into the notch.

That's it.  Blow into the end of the whistle that you shoved the stick into.  It should make a nice loud tone.  By making the cane different lengths you can very the pitch of the whistle.  The shorter the cane the higher the pitch will be.

We did a little experiment to see how far away you could hear this whistle compared to a regular metal coach’s whistle and a specifically designed survival whistle.  Three of my survival students took the three whistles and walked off through the woods.  They kept track of their distance using a set of ranger beads and blew all three whistles every two hundred meters.  The rest of the class (6 people) stayed in camp and listened for the whistles. Here are the results:

200 meters – all three whistles audible by all listeners

400 meters – all three whistles audible by all listeners

600 meters – cane whistle and survival whistle audible by all listeners with cane whistle being loudest

800 meters – no whistles audible by any listeners

I, for one, was kind of surprised at how well the cane whistle performed.  I really expected the survival whistle to do the best.  Next time I have a class we will try the same experiment in 100 meter increments.

Fire Starter in a Drinking Straw

This is one of the best and most convenient fire starters that I've come across in a long time.  Many of us know that cotton balls rubbed with petroleum jelly make great fire starters, but they are messy and not real convenient to carry.  This method makes it easy to carry these little fire balls and they won't leak and get on your clothing or other gear.  All you need to make these is some cotton balls, petroleum jelly, a plastic drinking straw, a pair of scissors, and a small stick.

Start off by taking a cotton ball or two and rubbing them thoroughly with petroleum jells.  While you're at it go ahead and pull apart the cotton into thin shreds.  Pictured below: top, Rubbing petroleum jelly into cotton balls: bottom, shredded up cotton

Now take the drinking straw and cut it into two 3 inch tubes, and four ½ inch tubes.  Pictured below: Cut up drinking straw

The next part is a little hard to describe, but the pictures should make it easier to understand.

1. Use your thumbnail to crimp across the straw about ¼ inch from one end, then fold that end down.

2. Now use your thumbnail to make a length-wise crease in the part that you folded down. Then pinch the end together.

3. Now take one of the ½ inch pieces of straw and slip it down over the end to hold it closed.

4. Turn up the open end of the straw and start stuffing it with the soaked cotton.  I find that it is easier if I kind of roll the cotton between thumb and fingers to make a string out of it.

5.  Use the stick to tamp the cotton down tight in the straw.

6. Fill the straw to about ½ inch from the top, then fold the top end down the same way you did the bottom.  Crimp it, put a ½” collar on it, and you’re finished.

Wipe off any petroleum jelly that you got on the outside, and you now have a leak proof, waterproof, convenient fire starter that you can add to a survival kit, put in your glove box, or drop in your pocket.  To use the fire starter just cut it open, fluff up the cotton and light it up.  This stuff will ignite easily using a metal match type fire striker.

Make a Throwing Arrow

This is a hunting arrow that my old mentor taught me how to make.  Some people call it a Swiss arrow; others call it a Yorkshire arrow.  He always called it a throwing arrow, so that’s how I refer to it.  The throwing arrow works on the same principle as the atlatl, but instead of using a solid stick as a dart thrower, you use a piece of string.

The arrow or dart is much like a regular arrow except it is a little larger in diameter and a little longer.  The arrow that I am making here is about 3/8 inch on the large end (back), 5/16 inch on the small end, and around 36 inches long.

So, let’s make a throwing arrow.  The first thing that we will need is an arrow shaft.  I found a nice straight shoot of Yaupon Holly that I cut for my arrow shaft, but any good solid, straight wood will do.  If you don’t have access to any wild material, you can buy a 3/8 inch dowel rod at the hardware store.  After removing the bark, I let the shaft dry of a couple of days so that it wouldn’t be too sticky.  I did a little gentle hand straightening to take a couple of small kinks out of the shaft.  Pictured below: Yaupon Holly arrow shaft.

Next is the fletching.  I split a couple of wild turkey wing feathers and cut them to length for fletchings.  I am going to use four fletchings on this arrow.  Don’t ask me why.  That’s the way my mentor did it, so I’m just continuing the tradition.  I’m sure it will work just as well with three fletchings. Pictured below:  Turkey feather fletchings.

 After the fletchings are cut, they need to be attached to the shaft.  In this case I used glue and deer sinew to attach the fletchings.  After the sinew is dry you can cut the fletchings to shape.  Here’s a hint, don’t leave the fletchings too tall or they will slow down the speed of your arrow, kind of like a floofloo arrow.  Pictured below:  Two views of the fletched arrow.

 Because I am going to use this arrow for target practice I attached a commercial field point to the front.  For actual hunting you would want to knap out a nice broadhead from flint or glass.  Pictured below:  Field point attached to front of arrow.

Now the last step.  Come down about an inch below the front of your fletchings and cut a notch in the shaft.  The notch should be cut to a depth of little less than half way through the shaft.  The front side of the notch (the side toward the front of the arrow) should be straight up and down.  The back side of the notch should be sloped back toward the fletchings.  The picture below gives a good illustration of how the finished notch should look.

Now you need a string to throw the arrow with.  I twisted one up out of yucca fiber, but a piece of para-cord or any other similar size string will do.  The string needs to be about one-and-a-half times the length of the arrow.  You will need to tie an overhand knot in each end of the string.

These directions for attaching the string to the arrow are for a right-handed person:

1. Hold the arrow in front of you in right hand with the notch facing you.

2. Lay the knotted end of the string into the notch from the left with the knot ending up about 1/8 inch to the right of the notch.

3. Put your left thumb on top of the string in the notch to hold the string in place.

4. Using your free right hand, wrap the string in back of the arrow and then pass it over the top of the string between the arrow shaft and the notch.

5. Pull the string tight in order to lock it in place in the notch.

6. Use your left hand to keep the string tight while you wrap the loose end of the string around your right hand two or three times.

7. Now pull your right hand to the front of the arrow (keep tension on the string so that it doesn’t fall out of the notch).

8. Grip the arrow shaft between the thumb and fingers of your right hand about three inches back from the point.  You may have to wrap or un-wrap a little more string around your right hand in order to have your hand in the right place on the shaft.  You are now ready to throw.

This process sounds kind of complicated, but it really only takes about three seconds to get the string on the arrow and have it ready to throw.  The pictures below are probably easier to understand than the written explanation.

 Throwing the arrow just takes practice.  You want to throw it with an overhand motion, not side-arm.  Your arm should be fairly straight but not locked at the elbow.  I find that I get the best results if I just forget about the string and act like I’m trying to throw the arrow with my hand; and then keep my throwing hand moving in a follow-through that ends by my knee.  Pictured below: Throwing the arrow.

 I can throw one of these arrows about 40 to 50 yards, but I have to admit that my accuracy is not that great.  It’s like anything else; practice makes perfect, or at least better.

  

Learn to Shoot a Pistol with Accuracy

Many people buy pistols for self defense but few people really know how to shoot a pistol with any kind of accuracy.  The relatively short barrel and the short sight plane make a pistol more difficult to fire accurately than a long gun.  Learning to fire a pistol accurately is basically the same as learning any other physical skill; it takes time, practice, and a methodical approach.

I suggest that you learn to shoot a pistol with a .22 caliber revolver.  There are several reasons for this:

1. The ammo is cheap

2. The recoil is light, so you won’t be as likely to develop a “flinch”

3.  A revolver allows you to load chambers in a random pattern leaving some of them without a cartridge (the reason for this will be explained in a moment)

You will need to use the same size target and shoot from the same distance at every practice session when you are first learning to shoot, so buy or print a pile of targets.  You will also need to record each and every shot that you make, so I recommend that you buy a small notebook and print off a bunch of miniature targets that look like the one that you will be shooting at.  Cut the small targets out and glue them into your notebook, and you will be ready to go to the range.  Be sure and take hearing protection, a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, and if you want to make your targets last longer take a roll of masking tape and a black marker with you.  This way after you fire ten or twelve rounds at your target you can tape over the holes.  If you hit the bull, you can use the black marker to color the tape black.

At the range you want to set up your target in a safe shooting location, then pace off twenty-five yards and draw a shooting line on the ground.  I like to set up a small table to hold my ammo, binoculars, notebook, tape, etc.

The first time that you shoot, you want to do something that is a little unusual but is very effective for teaching proper trigger pull, and this is why I recommend that you use a revolver.  If your revolver holds six rounds, load it with four rounds in a random pattern.  If your revolver holds nine rounds like mine, then load it with six rounds.  Don’t leave the empty chambers right next to each other, space them randomly around the cylinder.  Now spin the cylinder, and without looking at it, close the cylinder.  Now when you thumb the hammer back, you don’t know if it will be falling on a live round or an empty chamber.

When learning to shoot you always want to fire single action, so step up to the line and assume a good shooting stance.  Your feet should be about shoulder width apart facing straight ahead.  Your hips and shoulders should be square to the target.  If you are right handed your left foot should be about 14 to 18 inches in front of your right foot, depending on how tall you are.  Hold the gun with both hands.  The right hand should be wrapped around the grips with the index finger extended.  The left hand should cup under the butt and come up onto the left side of the grips.  Arms should be relaxed and bent slightly at the elbows.

When you are comfortable with your stance, thumb the hammer back and place the first digit of your right index finger on the trigger.  Sight down the barrel so that the top of the front sight fills the slot in the back sight with the top of the front blade dead even with the top of the wings on the rear sight.  The center of the bull should be sitting right on top of the front sight.

Now draw in a breath, exhale half of it, and relax.  Keeping the gun on target squeeze the trigger  slowly.  If you are squeezing the trigger properly you should not know exactly when it is going to fall.  It should be a complete surprise to you.  This is the hardest thing for most people to learn, and this is where the empty chambers in your cylinder will really help you in developing the correct trigger pull.  When you squeeze the trigger the hammer may fall on an empty chamber.  If the happens, take note of your reaction.  Did you jerk when the hammer snapped down?  If you did it means that you knew when the hammer was going to fall, and you jerked in anticipation of the discharge.  If you are squeezing the trigger properly, you should not know the exact moment when the hammer will fall, and so you can’t anticipate the discharge and you won’t flinch.  You should use this method of leaving random chambers empty until you never flinch.  You’ll be surprised at how quickly you will overcome flinching, and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in the accuracy of your shooting.

Each time you discharge a round you should stop, lay your pistol down, look at the target through your binoculars, and mark the target in your notebook at the exact spot the round hit on your target.  Then pick up the pistol and fire another round.  This is very time consuming, but it will make you pause and consider each shot and what you might have done wrong.  In no time at all you will start shooting tighter and tighter groups, even if you don’t know exactly what corrections you are making.  Don’t ask me how it works.  Maybe a brain researcher can explain it.  I just know that it does work.

Please don’t get in a hurry.  When I was learning to shoot, I made it a point not to shoot more than a hundred rounds per practice session.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Just be patient, be methodical, and keep practicing.  The results will be well worth the effort.

Home Preparedness Guidelines

Before you start on a program of home preparedness there are several questions that you need to ask yourself:

(1) What am I preparing for? 

This list could include short-term power outage, seasonal weather like tornadoes or hurricanes, earthquake, unemployment, interruption to the economic system, collapse of the economic system, break-down of the social order, insurrections or riots, nuclear or biological war, electro-magnetic pulse attack, asteroid collision, and who knows what.

(2) Am I currently living in a survivable and defensible location?

Are you in a big city? (not good)  Do you live in a small town? (better)  Do you live in a rural community? (better still)  Do you live on a farm at least two hours from a major metropolitan area? (very good)  Are you well established on your farm with a good support group of like-minded neighbors? (best)

(3) What kind of financial resources do I have to devote to preparedness?

Preparedness is an investment, just like a bank account or stocks and bonds.  Some people live paycheck to paycheck and don't have funds for investment.  Don't let this stop you from preparing to the extent that you can.  Some people have money to invest, but they spend it on things that they want in the here and now.  Not a good approach to home preparedness or to life in general.  If this is you, you're probably not reading this anyway.  Some people invest in bank accounts, stocks, bonds, 401K's, life insurance, health insurance, long-term disability insurance, etc.  A person with this kind of money to invest can easily redirect part of their investment to home preparedness.  The amount would depend entirely on what level of commitment the individual wants to make, but I wouldn't cash in my 401K or cancel my life insurance for the sake of preparedness.  Keep things in perspective.  You're a lot more likely to retire than you are to get hit by an asteroid.  I hope.

So how should you go about preparing?

Home Defense

I believe that no amount of food, water, medical supplies, tools, farming equipment, or coin can save you if someone else can take them away from you.  Of course you can just chalk it up to me being a Texan, but the first thing I would recommend is a weapon to protect yourself, your family, and what you already have.  If you will have only one weapon, I recommend a good reliable 12 ga. pump shotgun and a variety of ammo including bird shot, duck and turkey shot, buckshot, and slugs.  If you want to invest more extensively in home defense and hunting weapons, see my posts on "Five Guns for the Homestead."

Heat

Depending on where you live, and what time of year it is; you could be dead long before you have a chance to die of thirst or starvation.  Hypothermia, or the loss of body heat, can kill you just as dead as a bullet from an AK-47.  You need a source of heat if the power goes out.  It can be as cheap as a propane camping heater for the short term, or it can be as expensive as a high quality wood burning stove that will last for decades.  There are many choices between these extremes so pick one that fits your budget and invest in some heat.

Light

A source of light is not really necessary for survival, but it sure does make it easier.  My power never seems to go out during the daytime.  Getting to the breaker box in a dark closet to flip switches, and going out into the dark night to get the generator running is nearly impossible without some kind of light.  If you're going to use flashlights, make sure that you have fresh batteries.  Mine never did so I bought plug-in rechargeable flashlights that stay plugged into a wall socket until needed.  I also bought several hand cranked flashlights.  Again, light is not absolutely necessary for survival; but it's cheap and very helpful.  Get some flashlights.  I also have kerosene lanterns in every room, a propane camp light, and lots of candles for longer term situations.

Water

Three days is about all that you can survive without drinkable water, and you need a minimum of a quart a day just to stay alive.  A gallon a day per person is more realistic.  Water is cheap.  There's no reason not to lay in a supply of drinking water in plastic bottles.  Several cases will fit under your bed.  For longer term situations you can look into a cistern or a water well.  These are both still very common in rural areas.

Food

Food is where a lot of people start a preparedness program, but as you can see it's way down on my list.  The explanation for this is simple.  The average person can live for three weeks without food.  Of course nobody, including me, wants to go that long without a meal.  How much food to store and what kind of food to store depends on how many people you are feeding and for how long.  I would say that the bare minimum should be one week's food for each person in your family.  This would be for a short-term situation and could be made up of canned goods and dried foods.  The longer that you are planning for, the more thought you will have to put into your food storage program.  One thing I would definitely advise is not to store a bunch of stuff that you don't normally eat.  Keep a rotating stock of items that you already eat and replace them with more as you consume them.  I had a neighbor that bought buckets and buckets of nitrogen packed hard red wheat.  He never ate a tablespoon full of it, and ended up giving it all away just before it expired.  Lots of money down the drain.

Medical Supplies

Most homes have a medicine cabinet with basic first aid supplies and over-the-counter medications.  That's a good thing, but make sure that they are fresh, and if you are running low on anything go ahead and buy a backup.  The rule in my house is, "If you've used half of it, buy a new one."  If you take prescription medications, you should have an extra month's supply of these on hand at all times.  Also, do yourself a favor and buy a good home medical book and a Red Cross first-aid handbook.  There are quiet a few posts on this blog about home medical supplies and it would be worth your time to read them.

A Radio

A good battery powered or hand-cranked radio will keep you informed about weather conditions and other events that may affect your survival.  You can get little battery powered radios for under $20.00.  A good hand cranked radio with AM/FM, short wave, and weather bands can be purchased for under $100.00.  This is money well spent.  The radio that I have can also be used to recharge a cell-phone.

All of these things listed above are the bare minimum preparedness supplies that I would keep on hand.  If you are looking to prepare for longer term situations please scroll through the posts on this blog.  There is a wealth of information based on personal experience about how to prepare for almost any survival situation.

The Tennessee Squirrel Cooker

The Tennessee squirrel cooker is a very handy little cooking devise that I always carry with my trail gear.  It only weighs a few ounces and takes up hardly any space.  I stick mine in under the cords holding my bedroll closed, and I never even know it's there until it's time to cook dinner. Pictured below: top, Tennessee squirrel cooker tucked under bedroll straps (note leather cover over fork tines); bottom, squirrel cooker in hand 

It may be called a squirrel cooker, but you can use it to cook a portion or two of just about any kind of meat. I've cooked squirrel, rabbit, beef, chicken, fish, hotdogs, and sausage to name a few.  I've also been know to stick an ear of corn on it to roast.  Pictured below: top, chicken breast cooking on the squirrel cooker; bottom, how squirrel cooker fits together

A friend of mine who is a blacksmith made my squirrel cooker, but you can buy them at mountainman rendezvous or order them on the internet (Woodenhawk Trading Company at woodenhawk.com has them for $15.00 US).

I actually added another piece to my squirrel cooker so that I can use it like a set of miniature fire irons.  This is real handy for suspending my small cook pot over the fire.  Pictured below:  Squirrel cooker with extra piece used as miniature fire-irons

A squirrel cooker won't do much good if you are cooking dinner for a crowd, but if it's just you, or you and a partner, the squirrel cooker will do the job.