# Introducing American Poacher Style



## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

I have been a big fan of the Brits' pocket-poacher catties for as long as I have been making naturals. There is a certain style and spirit that imbues them that probably comes from their love of the Milbros and square rubber they used to use (and many still do).

The Americans, on the other hand seem to be mostly inspired by Rufus Hussey's simple Dogwood forks and flat gum rubber bands. Only thing is: Rufus-style forks aren't all that pocketable nor concealable. So here I offer and American style poacher whose main influences come from Rufus and Darrell (Dgui).
















It's made from Oak and sports Black Thera flats, doubled and tapered from 1" to 11/16". And set up this way, I'm sure it's good for rabbits with 7/16" steel. Here is why I'm sure. Look at what it did to this strong steel tomato can at 10 yards.








... Right through one side with ease, and put a pretty good dent in the other side, too.
With some 38 or 45 cal. lead, it should be good for squirrels as well.









Nice and small. But the grip is quite adequate for even stronger bands.


















Whaddya think?


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

Cool little poacher Bill! That would fit in a pocket for sure or even a sock.
Nice work! Jim


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## Natty Fork (Jul 18, 2012)

Very cool!

I'm really liking shooting the micro naturals I made. As you've shown, even tho they are small, you can still band them so they are powerful.


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

I like it!
Good to see you embracing the micro-poacher


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

love the look of that one from the carving and the way the bark is part of the finger grooves


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## peakshooter (Dec 27, 2009)

Nice to know we can still do some exports............









Thats a great catty - powerful and very discreet


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## orcrender (Sep 11, 2010)

Very nicely made.


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## Sean (Nov 17, 2011)

I like it very much. Love the natural, rustic look.


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Thanks, fellas, for your kind words. By the way, as for the finish: after carving and some minimal sanding I heated in the toaster oven (NOT the microwave) at 250° F for about 5 minutes to get it nice and warm, then applied some linseed/beeswax paste. The fork sucked it in pretty quick (couple hours). Then I gave it another coat of the same and let it dry overnight. Finished it off by polishing with an old tee shirt.

Note: No band grooves either.


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## harson (Oct 21, 2011)

cool poacher Bill,simple yet efficient , it would be a great hunter.
ps the posties coming soon


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Way cool! Simple is the way to go.


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## crapshot (May 3, 2011)

rock and roll


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

I'm going to try those bands, DH. How long are you cutting them?


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## Sofreto (May 10, 2012)

That is one nice little fork


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## jazz (May 15, 2012)

small and yet powerfull, great!


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

nice! i've always gravitated to palm sized shooters. anything more is just extra fluff


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

harson said:


> nice! i've always gravitated to palm sized shooters. anything more is just extra fluff


The key to these minimal ones, Pop, is that you can't get too artistic with them. You gotta go for function.

Thanks everybody.


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## ValeTudoGuy (Aug 29, 2012)

Interesting little shooter there, I like the finger scoops especially.


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## Stevotattoo (Jun 28, 2012)

Cool little shooter....love it


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Thanks Vale and Stevo!


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## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

PUKKA!


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## Bob Fionda (Apr 6, 2011)

Very well done in classic british style.


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## quarterinmynose (Jan 21, 2012)

Looks great, for some reason the smaller naturals just look cooler. Maybe not super artsy, but cool as all get out.


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## harson (Oct 21, 2011)

Hi Bill thought i might jump on the bandwagon ,here is mine fitted with bootlace tabs and 1842 looped tubes


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

Straight thru with tex heavy and 7/16"


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Thanks for posting those. I'm really into this pocket poacher thing now. I like them small but not too small. Pickle forks are a shade to small for me, but some naturals that are only a little bigger are fine. They just need to be shaped right.


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

nice job DH! I still need to make a simple little poaching catty, I usually spend to much time on my naturals to want to get them dented up, so I'm going to make my self one and what the heck make it all knife too, more traditional


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

pop shot said:


> View attachment 25093
> 
> Straight thru with tex heavy and 7/16"


Steve, what distance did you shoot from. A through and through on an empty soup can is pretty good.

Forget it, I saw on the other post, 15 yards.


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

Honestly, I was surprised myself. But they slap hard enough that I wouldn't shoot them regularly, and hand slap normally doesn't bother me. 5/8" is slap free.


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

harson said:


> Hi Bill thought i might jump on the bandwagon ,here is mine fitted with bootlace tabs and 1842 looped tubes


Wow! Great minds really do think alike...









This is my "micro-poacher" from a couple months ago. I've since integrated the tabs with the forks (drilled the forks and glued them in "Spanish Loop" style). These two could be twins from opposite sides of the pond


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## harson (Oct 21, 2011)

M_J said:


> Hi Bill thought i might jump on the bandwagon ,here is mine fitted with bootlace tabs and 1842 looped tubes


Wow! Great minds really do think alike...

View attachment 25106


This is my "micro-poacher" from a couple months ago. I've since integrated the tabs with the forks (drilled the forks and glued them in "Spanish Loop" style). These two could be twins from opposite sides of the pond








[/quote]Cool ,why dont we get a few more guys into this then get a poacher trade going,or get one of the mods to start a poacher build competition.,i built this on your usual approach MJ cut/sand/band no messin about done and dusted in about 10 mins


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

pop shot said:


> Honestly, I was surprised myself. But they slap hard enough that I wouldn't shoot them regularly, and hand slap normally doesn't bother me. 5/8" is slap free.


They're crazy-strong for single tubes!


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

harson said:


> Hi Bill thought i might jump on the bandwagon ,here is mine fitted with bootlace tabs and 1842 looped tubes


Wow! Great minds really do think alike...

View attachment 25106


This is my "micro-poacher" from a couple months ago. I've since integrated the tabs with the forks (drilled the forks and glued them in "Spanish Loop" style). These two could be twins from opposite sides of the pond









[/quote]Cool ,why dont we get a few more guys into this then get a poacher trade going,or get one of the mods to start a poacher build competition.,i built this on your usual approach MJ cut/sand/band no messin about done and dusted in about 10 mins
[/quote]
Sounds like fun!


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