# general slingshot hunting stories/tips



## canadianhunter204 (Jan 8, 2014)

Hello fellow travelers. I recently got a slingshotas a gift (barnett black widow) and wanted to hear some hunting stories weither they be sucessful in harvest or just having a good time. Im canadian so winter shooting isnt much of an option but I plan to practice until I can get to the praries/forest. Is 1/4 inch steel ballbearings good enough?


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

1/4" steel for hunting ?

Sure, if you plan on hunting butterflies and grasshoppers.

.44 lead is about the most successful ammo for hunting small game.

Welcome to the forum and please, spend some time reading through the hunting section if that's what you're interested in.


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Exactly as Hrawk said; and welcome to the best forum on the planet.
In my opinion at least; a bit biased (?)...likely.
But I am a brain injured Aussie Veteran, who often makes errrors in judgement in post replies.

To date I have not even been officially warned, but try to "warn" myself.

All the best.

Allan Leigh


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## Individual (Nov 6, 2013)

Hex nuts or .44 lead will be close to bare minimum.

People have got succesful hunts with around 5/8" steel.
But you dont wanna only injure the little critter. Make sure if you do hunt you will actually eat what you're after.

I'm not sure what FPS the Black Widow can achieve with .44 lead.

Make sure you practice lot first as well.


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes.

But stuff that; confidence rather than "maybe or might".
You HAVE to know you can and will kill whatever you aim at.

IF any doubt (?)..... do NOT shoot.

It can not be more simple than that Sir.

Cheers Allan (yes, I have had my own small number of "errors",,and regetted every one).


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## canadianhunter204 (Jan 8, 2014)

Are they acceptable as practise rounds? Also where do I acuire such sise ballbearings. Got the bigest I could at my local outdoors store.


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## canadianhunter204 (Jan 8, 2014)

Sorry also im a native american . Whatever I kill I use to the fullest. Took down a wild pig with w 150pound crossbow and my kabar and ever since ive been hooked to the hunt. Any tips for a first tomer slingshot hunter are gladly appreciated and thank you all so far


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Ah, see the vendors section.

All top quality, and the best customer service you could ever hope for.

Okay.

Prices, well ya pay peanuts, and you get monkeys; but very reasonable for making a long term business arrangement.

Who knows, because certain I never know, and I have been at it since 83" but what you maycdesire 6 months or longer down the track of life.

Cheers Allan


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Since you are in Canada, I would suggest this outfit for steel ball:

http://www.bearingscanada.com/servlet/StoreFront

I bought 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch diameter steel balls. Their service was good.

If you have access to scrap lead, you can easily make a simple wooden mold to cast your own ammo. Here is my rig:

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/13778-cast-hunting-ammo-with-simple-wooden-mold/?hl=%2Bwooden+%2Bmold

My 3/8 x 1/2 inch slugs work really well for hunting.

Here is a video of me using such a mold to cast Monster Size ammo ... the big stuff was for Power Rangers competition.

http://slingshotforum.com/videos/view-13-casting-big-ammo/

Cheers ..... Charles


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Regarding Charles advice.

I strongly suggest you heed what he says.
As he Joe in my opion one of the wisest moderators here, with years of experience.

Cheers Allan


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

hey ? the 204 in your username that the 204 ruger


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## canadianhunter204 (Jan 8, 2014)

casting your own lead ammo, thats hard core stufff , any possible environmental hasards such as inhaling 'lead fumes'? no idea just thought id ask. and thank you for the webste store front i think i will be ordering the half inchers, although they are a little pricey would you reccomend glass marbles instead? for hunting. and no ll although i am a fan of ruger that had not ocoured to me.


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## Clever Moniker (May 12, 2013)

canadianhunter204 said:


> casting your own lead ammo, thats hard core stufff , any possible environmental hasards such as inhaling 'lead fumes'? no idea just thought id ask. and thank you for the webste store front i think i will be ordering the half inchers, although they are a little pricey would you reccomend glass marbles instead? for hunting. and no ll although i am a fan of ruger that had not ocoured to me.


Dude, do not inhale that stuff!! You need a mask on for sure and be in a well ventilated area or outside. Google search this big time. There are many safety precautions.

I have used 3/4'' hex nuts lately which you can get pretty much anywhere, and they're very effective.

Cheers,

Clever Moniker


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Just use reasonable precautions when casting lead. Do it outside whenever possible. If you must do it inside, do it with an open window and a fan to take away any fumes. I have been casting lead ammo for many years and have not had a problem. My brain works just as well as ever ... which may not be saying a lot!!!! Personally I think the dangers of casting lead ammo from time to time are somewhat overblown. You are in much greater danger riding down the highway. You will ingest a much higher poison content walking down the sidewalk in a high traffic area. If you are really worried about it, then don't do it.

Personally I am not a fan of glass marbles. I prefer heavier ammo. Having said that, I note that marbles are about the same density as stones. Rather than pay for marbles, I would rather gather some rocks. Get them from a river or creek bed ... the motion of the water will make them more round and smooth. Sort them by size ... shooting the same size will improve your accuracy. Marbles are just very smooth, round stones. And I always say that more game has been taken with stones than with any other ammo.

Cheers ...... Charles


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Yea, 3/4 though.

Try one inch then filled with lead.

Mine weigh in, depending upon the amount of lead and if I mound it both sides, between 30 and 35 grams.

Then added prior the stabilising cotton string tails; and you have heavy steel striking flat side strike guarreteed, breaking any bone known.

Consequently even though I am very accurate, it matters little; given even a "bad"shot, disables totally anything on legs.

Maybe I am a "freak", I care not very much what others think.
But knowing the ability of ones percentage of stretch, and shot weight, will instantly kill, or terribly disable anything.

Is to me a comforting knowledge.

Just my 2 cents worth; although stuff the steel, 20 gram lead cylindrical shot, is my ammo of choice.

Cheers Allan


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## canadianhunter204 (Jan 8, 2014)

well now that i think about it i would proalbly have a hard timing finding the lead itself. also i am just a beginner,quite possibly in the future if i do take slingshot hunting more serioussly as a 'full time' hobby i would definatly refer to your lesson, i appreciate the video posting that is truly amazing. on the other hand i am not rich but i could definatly spare another 20-30 dollers on ammunition. for now i guess i will practise with my 1/4 steel ball ammo but in the future is 1/2 adequite? also how do you guys practise this. my best guess would be to use my home made archery target ( love crossbow shooting) but i fid they tend to bounce back and i lose my ammo. perhaps a thick bed sheet with a paper printed target?


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## leadball (Jan 14, 2014)

9/16 or maybe 5/8 glass marbles are the cheapest thing I have found to practice with. I can get 50 for $1.00 at the dollar general stores we have in the US. 50 marbles will give you maybe a hour worth of fun. I mostly walk along fishing trails along the river and shoot at trash (cans , bottles). Shoot up to three times when I miss then move on to the next target. I don't care if I lose a marble.This wasn't the case when I started. One bounce back. I'll shoot her again..You can google ball bearings. The place I get mine is called royal steel ball product 815 626 2544 or try 815 626 2539. Don't go into shock. A $100. on the debit card will get you about 40 lbs. of 1/2 steel balls. It's a deal. Practice with marbles. It will last you over a year. Even if your like me and send 2 or 3 at a pop can ever once in a while. I agree that 44cal, 45cal , 50cal lead balls would be better in my thinking. Mite not be the the right way, but it's the way I do it.


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## Ole Man Dan (Dec 18, 2013)

Heavier ball bearings, 1/2" hex nuts, large marbles.

Caution with marbles, they bounce everywhere. (Including back at you)

A lot of hardware stores will sell nuts by the pound.

Something about the Hex shape with edges makes nuts seem to hit harder.

I re-load multiple pistol caliburs, so I have a large assortment of .357 to .458 wadcutters and semi-wadcutters. Work great.

Lastly: Garden shops sell deco white stones in 40-50 lb. bags, these are smooth as river rocks.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

canadianhunter204 said:


> well now that i think about it i would proalbly have a hard timing finding the lead itself. also i am just a beginner,quite possibly in the future if i do take slingshot hunting more serioussly as a 'full time' hobby i would definatly refer to your lesson, i appreciate the video posting that is truly amazing. on the other hand i am not rich but i could definatly spare another 20-30 dollers on ammunition. for now i guess i will practise with my 1/4 steel ball ammo but in the future is 1/2 adequite? also how do you guys practise this. my best guess would be to use my home made archery target ( love crossbow shooting) but i fid they tend to bounce back and i lose my ammo. perhaps a thick bed sheet with a paper printed target?


For practice without losing your ammo, most folks use a catch box. Here are a couple of videos which should give you ideas.

http://slingshotforum.com/videos/view-26-lvos-catchbox-and-some-toys/

http://slingshotforum.com/videos/view-12-portable-backstopcatchbox-ideas/

There are many, many different ways to make a catchbox. T shirt material seems to be the best for stopping your ammo. It will absorb a lot of energy without tearing through. Just have a T shirt hanging so the bottom swings free. A single T shirt still gives me some bounce back sometimes, so lately I have used something just a little different. I put 4 or 5 T shirts on a rod, the rod running through the arms of the shirts. Then I squeeze them together so they are bunched up. That way the ammo gets caught in the folds and almost never bounces back. You can see the setup in the following video.






Cheers ....... Charles


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## canadianhunter204 (Jan 8, 2014)

charles you have outstanding aim and thank you for making and posting a video on the topic that gives me a great idea, i have an old field lacrosse net i think i will convert into a catch box this summer, again thank you so much for being so informative and helping me get into the sport, i really do appreciate it . unfourtunatly it is winter and its really cold, im not a genius but im pretty sure rubber in temperatures colder thn mars will proably snap in my face and the girlfriend isnt thriled about me shooting ballbearings in the house lol but i will keep you all updated on my progress and i will post a video of my improvement!!


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Best of luck to you Sir.

Dang I was,in Canada,in 1976 with first Australian Army exchange in Quebec mostly; but I did get arosund most of east coast U.S.A.

A beautiful country that you have.

Cheers Allan


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