# How did you get started or "re-discover" sling-shots?



## eaglerockdude (Dec 27, 2020)

First off, as a kid growing up in SoCal in the 60's, we had lots of canyons and hills around us. I had BB guns(daisy), a crosman benjamin pellet .22 cal rifle(which i still have), bow and arrow, boomerang, and several of the little 15 cent wire slingshots. At one point I had one of the first wrist rockets, but never really liked it. I used to shoot bees out of a tree with the 15 cent one.

A few months ago, I started getting this MASSIVE poopage on my car during the night. I am working on my carport so the roof covering is gone, exposing our cars to a large overhanging tree branch. This poop was incredible. I could barely scrap it off with a plastic chisel. I was trying to figure out the type...Possum, squirrel, rats? Using google images, it seemed to be some type of bird, but I never saw any birds in that branch. But I would check it each evening, and soon enough one after noon I saw this large dove /pidgeon looking bird fly in there. It seems he was just sleeping there at night.

I was thinking I need to scare him away... bought a $10 wooden slingshot from Amazon. The tube bands were so short I could not even draw back to my face, but it was pretty powerful. I have a large oak tree in the backyard, so I was using acorns for ammo. I practiced a bit and was ready. Right on cue, around 5 PM one day, the bird shows up. I get my slingshot, take aim, and shoot. The bird flies away pretty fast. I did not hit him.

Second day...same time...the bird comes back again. I was dark by then, but I could see his outline in the branches. I take aim..and BOOM...I think maybe i winged him. The bird flies off again.

And...I have not seen him since! I have since had that branch removed which was about $260. Big branch.

So thats it...it was so much fun...I started shopping for sling shots here and there and its a fun little hobby right now.

As far as shooting animals, well I have several squirrels, skunks, raccoons, feral cats and of course birds that hand around, and I DID shoot one of the feral cats with an acorn once(with the cheap slingshot) a few days after the bird hunt, hoping to drive them away from begging for food each morning, but he just came back, and I felt bad for the guy. As a kid I used to hunt a lot, but I just don't have it in me anymore. And having shot my scout/hammer/axiom the past few weeks, well...those hummers pack a load. I would not want to shoot anything with one of those even just to scare them as it would hurt them for sure. But thats just me. Only targets and cans for me.

Well thats about it. I hope to read some of your stories here.

Addendum: I think you need a certain kind of boomerang for hunting. When you throw it at a rabbit or something, it comes back and almost hits you.


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## SJAaz (Apr 30, 2019)

Welcome from Arizona

PS.. The idea is for the rabbit to stop the boomerang.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Great story and a great idea to share our beginnings mine is not quite so long ago. I started off while traveling in my Sprinter van around the country with my now ex-wife. We were in Florida for the winter and I was getting a little bored so I thought I'd make a slingshot see if I could shoot some garbanzo beans at some cans. Went online and look at all kinds of different slingshots this was back in 2016. Went to second hand store and found a cutting board, and used a jigsaw from a friend and cut out the pattern I thought look coolest ... it was the pocket Predator Boy Scout! The plans I had were ttf and having never shot a slingshot I didn't know there was anything else than what I saw there ended up cutting out 3 slingshots off The Cutting Board and got one of them all smooth out and got some Walmart exercise bands on it and went out and the back of the parking lot at Starbucks while my wife was reading indoors. The garbanzo beans shot okay except I had bands that were way too heavy for garbanzo beans and so they zipped all over the place but I was able to hit the can a little bit but it was very inconsistent. Looking back those bands could have easily pushed 3/8 steel as opposed to 3/8 garbanzo bean.

Since it wasn't very accurate and we were on the beach of Florida I didn't use it very much and it ended up in the bottom of a storage bin until 2018.

By 2018 I've been divorced for almost two years and had my midlife crisis working at a horse ranch in the middle of nowhere for 15 hours a day 6 days a week. Amazing experience, unbelievable to get to get to know horses and spend so much time in nature! But at the age of 46 and 8 months working so hard was taking a toll on me and I needed to move on and make some money since I was working almost for free at the ranch.

I moved back to my hometown where my adult daughter lives and built myself a tiny house on someone's farm and helped with their animals and livestock and their Garden in exchange for electricity a place to park tiny house. At this point I pulled out the slingshot again and set up a catch box and use lead sinkers from the fishing store with the same band size that I used for the garbanzo beans and lo and behold I was shooting pretty good. And that lead ammo was doing some serious damage on the steel cans, Shooting it was fun and I did enjoy it but it kind of hurt my wrist little bit because the bands were heavy and I had my bow and arrow, my shepherd sling and all the animals and gardening work to do and a full time job so it kind of took a back seat again.
Fast forward to March of 2020 ... coronavirus just hit and I knew I would need something to do in my backyard for all these hours of lockdown. Since the farm I had met a wonderful woman and moved into town with her park my tiny house in her backyard and I'm sharing a wonderful life with her. Pulled out the slingshot again and by now I've been watching Zachary Fowler and catapult Carnage and knew they were others types of slingshots and realize that I needed a new slingshot for my wrist and so cut out some plywood and start making them.

Started with 3/8 and steel and a nice homemade slingshot and have been shooting ever since I am now to my D1 with the Dragon Emperor 2 handle and shooting 8 mm steel and ¼" mostly on tubes. Switching to Ott and getting a slingshot that is right grip for me for my bad wrist. I made a bad mistake while working with a horse and almost got my arm ripped off and my wrist hasn't never been the same since.
This last time with the right slingshot and ammo and the right situation, slinging took hold and is locked into my brain like a vice!? I shoot at least a hundred shots a day on the days I go to work and during my chemo week I try and shoot at least 50 shots even though I'm kind of shaky and weak but I still figure I get to work on my release and my technique I just shoot at a 50 mm spinner instead of going for my 30 mm spinner.

And may I add this group of people I've found on the Forum has been a god-sent to me with all that I'm going through. I look forward just seeing what's going on with you all around the world and getting to share and interact with a great group of guys.

Little did I know what 2020 was going to have in store for me when I chopped off that boy scout to make an Ott and started shooting slingshots for the rest of my life. Thank you again for all the support and encouragement. It is a blessing to have a group of people to connect with and share with.

Cheers


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## eaglerockdude (Dec 27, 2020)

Very cool story. Sprinter van? Can u post a pic of your tiny house if possible...it would be fun to see. U definitely have led a sling-shot life(no disrespect intended btw)


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## SJAaz (Apr 30, 2019)

Vince, that was a really good post. Thanks for sharing.

PS: Those horses can dish out some rough lessons. I have had a broken wrist and some creaky hips to prove it. Been watching a series on amazon prime on tiny houses. I could live in one, the problem I'd have is all my tools would be in the house and i'd have to live in the truck!


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Yes living for 6 years in the Sprinter van at 76 square feet and then another year in the tiny house at 165 square feet definitely teaches you how to Pare down your life. I have just the right amount of tools to build a tiny house and when I gave up the big life in 2012 I got rid of all of my big fun table saws and drill presses and such it was very hard to adjust to having just a skill saw a cordless drill and a circular saw to do all my work. You can find all of my tiny house living build videos from the Sprinter van to the Honda Odyssey and then now my tiny house on my YouTube channel just do a search for vince Amendola and you can see all my stuff.

Cheers


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## DragonEyeShooter1 (May 14, 2020)

That is an amazing story Vince I'm glad we can all be here for you and help add some more light in this dull world! This forum is like a safe space to most of us i can imagine, dragon emperor Brothers!! Tho mine is a ttf lol i love that thing i call it my laser beam


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## Soske (Oct 24, 2020)

I started when I was getting into primitive weaponry/hunting tools. Tried spears, crossbow, atlatl and whatnot really liked the sling. It was easy to make out of just about any string. Super easy to carry it around in the pocket. I enjoyed finding just the right rocks among the creeks and river banks. But even after alot of practice I found it was next to impossible to get accurate enough with one to hunt with. That's when I started considering the slingshot. It's not a primitive tool by any means but I love the pocketability and potential accuracy you can achieve. I built my first one out of bamboo plywood at the shop at work. found some exorcise band, made a pouch and I was hooked.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Wow dragon eye that is cool there's another one out there who knows the accuracy of the D1. Yes very glad to have this safe place to chat with good people. Let's see a picture of your laser slingshot when you get a chance.

Cheers


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

eaglerockdude said:


> First off, as a kid growing up in SoCal in the 60's, we had lots of canyons and hills around us. I had BB guns(daisy), a crosman benjamin pellet .22 cal rifle(which i still have), bow and arrow, boomerang, and several of the little 15 cent wire slingshots. At one point I had one of the first wrist rockets, but never really liked it. I used to shoot bees out of a tree with the 15 cent one.
> 
> A few months ago, I started getting this MASSIVE poopage on my car during the night. I am working on my carport so the roof covering is gone, exposing our cars to a large overhanging tree branch. This poop was incredible. I could barely scrap it off with a plastic chisel. I was trying to figure out the type...Possum, squirrel, rats? Using google images, it seemed to be some type of bird, but I never saw any birds in that branch. But I would check it each evening, and soon enough one after noon I saw this large dove /pidgeon looking bird fly in there. It seems he was just sleeping there at night.
> 
> ...


They have "safety" boomerangs, they don't come back and hit the thrower. I don't know what they used to call them, but nowadays they're known as "sticks".

About bird poop: Don't even think of scraping it off, you'll just scratch the vehicle's paint, bad enough that in the poop there's uric acid, which eats paint. Dried bird poop just needs to be rehydrated, to turn it back into liquid form, which you can then wipe away. So dampen a soft cloth rag, let it sit on the bird poop, and after your coffee, you can probably just wipe it away. You may need to add more water to the rag and wait awhile longer, depending on the volume of poop (excreta).

THWACK!


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

My adult re-entry into archery somehow became a lead to slingshooting - maybe because they are "first cousins", maybe because searching for lost arrows in the heat and humidity of south Florida is taxing, maybe one gets tired of swinging a metal detector in a field to find lost arrows, maybe one doesn't like the cost and inconvenience of replacing lost/damaged arrows, maybe...

Slingshooting: Portable, inexpensive, quiet, concealable, light weight. Can take small game with it before big game has you for lunch. Works for me...

THWACK!


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

Soske said:


> I started when I was getting into primitive weaponry/hunting tools. Tried spears, crossbow, atlatl and whatnot really liked the sling. It was easy to make out of just about any string. Super easy to carry it around in the pocket. I enjoyed finding just the right rocks among the creeks and river banks. But even after alot of practice I found it was next to impossible to get accurate enough with one to hunt with. That's when I started considering the slingshot. It's not a primitive tool by any means but I love the pocketability and potential accuracy you can achieve. I built my first one out of bamboo plywood at the shop at work. found some exorcise band, made a pouch and I was hooked.


Some bands were left over from an exorcist??????????? Oh, my!! You wore gloves, didn't you?????

THWACK!


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

SJAaz said:


> Vince, that was a really good post. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> PS: Those horses can dish out some rough lessons. I have had a broken wrist and some creaky hips to prove it. Been watching a series on amazon prime on tiny houses. I could live in one, the problem I'd have is all my tools would be in the house and i'd have to live in the truck!


It would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to live in a tiny house.

Seriously though (THWACK! seriously, for real?) where would I put hundreds of books, 5 guitars, five ukes, 2 violins, 14 tinwhistles, 2 keyboards, one Peruvian Quena, a dozen or so harmonicas (blues harps), 2 dozen slingshots, 5 archery bows, plus all my tools and stuff associated with way too many hobbies?

All that means is that I don't commit crimes because jail cells don't fit my lifestyle...

THWACK!


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

vince4242 said:


> Great story and a great idea to share our beginnings mine is not quite so long ago. I started off while traveling in my Sprinter van around the country with my now ex-wife. We were in Florida for the winter and I was getting a little bored so I thought I'd make a slingshot see if I could shoot some garbanzo beans at some cans. Went online and look at all kinds of different slingshots this was back in 2016. Went to second hand store and found a cutting board, and used a jigsaw from a friend and cut out the pattern I thought look coolest ... it was the pocket Predator Boy Scout! The plans I had were ttf and having never shot a slingshot I didn't know there was anything else than what I saw there ended up cutting out 3 slingshots off The Cutting Board and got one of them all smooth out and got some Walmart exercise bands on it and went out and the back of the parking lot at Starbucks while my wife was reading indoors. The garbanzo beans shot okay except I had bands that were way too heavy for garbanzo beans and so they zipped all over the place but I was able to hit the can a little bit but it was very inconsistent. Looking back those bands could have easily pushed 3/8 steel as opposed to 3/8 garbanzo bean.
> 
> Since it wasn't very accurate and we were on the beach of Florida I didn't use it very much and it ended up in the bottom of a storage bin until 2018.
> 
> ...


Don't hold back, bro' - please tell us the whole story. ; ) ; )

THWACK!


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## eaglerockdude (Dec 27, 2020)

THWACK! said:


> eaglerockdude said:
> 
> 
> > First off, as a kid growing up in SoCal in the 60's, we had lots of canyons and hills around us. I had BB guns(daisy), a crosman benjamin pellet .22 cal rifle(which i still have), bow and arrow, boomerang, and several of the little 15 cent wire slingshots. At one point I had one of the first wrist rockets, but never really liked it. I used to shoot bees out of a tree with the 15 cent one.
> ...


My bird problem is solved via an acorn and slingshot. Yeah..I was basically having to wash 1/4 of the car each day, and then scrap with a plastic scraper..which is why I decided to do something about it.

As far as the boomerang, while yes I did try and hunt with one, that was more of a joke. But yeah, it comes back.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Thwack those were just the highlights, not trying to write a novel even though it was long.

I had all that stuff too I had two storage sheds full and a whole house and do you know the saying goes "less stuff means more freedom". Now I'm down to 1 breakdown bow, 5 slingshots, and to Shepherd slings. All of which can fit and a very small space but it did take years to pair my life down. Got rid of all my books all my photograph everything digitized I now have hundreds of books that fit under the thumb drive. But that's just me we all have different paths I like to know I have one slingshot I can count on and that's the only one I need.


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## eaglerockdude (Dec 27, 2020)

Vince:

I think as we get older in life we get the gnawing feeling that we wasted a lot of life energy/money on extra stuff when we really had "enough"...I am sort of paraphrasing a book I was recently reading called "Your Money or your life" which is fascinating in some places, boring in others. But to quote "enough...anything more than what your definition of enough is is clutter..it takes up space in your world yet doesn't serve you. To let go of clutter is not lack but opening up space for new things to happen...enough is a place of alertness, freedom and creativity."...I think there is a lot of truth to that.

But within the context of this forum I will say that I have an uneasiness with all of the sling shots I have acquired in a short time(another on the way from china)...and I found myself falling into the same trap again. ...my goal is to settle on one..and I will get rid of the rest ideally. Before they take on a life of their own. I used to have 3 or 4 guitars at all times...always searching for "the one"...now I just have my cream strat...thats all i need...and it feels great every time I pick it up.

So I could be wrong but it kinda sounds like you have been in and around there from your post...I did not catch it the first time but u said something about chemo..bummer...I never had it but my sister did and I have lost a few friends...awful thing. Here's wishing you good health for the New Year!

but hey...FIVE sling shots? jezus christ...


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## Facewizard13 (Dec 28, 2020)

My story - I moved in town about 6 years ago. I used to live outside city limits so I'm used to being able to step out of my front door and be able to shoot almost anything. I had neighbors so I wasn't able to shoot firearms. Mostly airsoft and pellet guns. Even before that I lived at my parents house which was on 20 acres, so I could shoot anything I wanted to.

Back to now a few days ago I started looking at slingshots again because that night be something I can shoot inside. After seeing that a decent slingshot from SS is relatively inexpensive, I had to give it a shot

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Very cool quotes from the book eagle. Definitely like the way he puts it, it has been a several-year journey to get me down to what little I have. And yes having less stuff means having more money or resources to do other things like travel and have a reassurance of my future without having to have life sucking, all consuming job just for money.

Yes if you can believe it I only shoot one slingshot 99% of the time now that it's winter. My pocket Predator Boy Scout is really only used when I go out on Hikes and want to shoot leaves and my travel silicone targets. Where I do have a problem with is buying tubes, bands and ammo. Can't seem to get enough of any of those things but I can still fit all my ammo in one large tote even though I can't pick it up anymore. So there you go that's my dirty Secret I am a ammo hoarder?! And I really want the new Evo Pro but I am resisting because it is not my style and will just hurting my wrist, but it is a daily struggle not to buy it.

Cheers


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## SLING-N-SHOT (Jun 5, 2018)

I guess my slingshot journey just came about from a YouTube suggested video, and I was more or less at the perfect crossroads for a new hobby so perfect timing there.

I am one that loves the craftsmanship part of hand making stuff, and after making Native American style flutes for almost 14 years, gave that up and learned to flint knap arrowheads....did that for a few years so was primed and ready for a new hobby that brought me full circe back to wood, which is my favorite medium.

I decided to start with natural forks as I love the surprise of different grains that multiple tree species offers, and it's always a plus to find naturally spalted forks that have been seasoning out in the weather naturally......I am hooked to put it mildly, lol....everywhere I go now, I see Y forks just begging to be mooched. 

I eventually want to make some laminated frames with aluminum or multiplex cores, but that's later.
I want to throw out a huge thanks to all my brothers and sisters on these forums, for just putting up with me, having me around, and the friendships garnered from a simple, wooden Y branch.

Slingshot LYfe ! 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Cool story sling. Sounds like you were true Craftsman and really enjoy the art of whatever you create. So cool to hear all the different ways sling shotting has affected each of us and where we really enjoy it.

Cheers


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## Tobor8Man (Nov 19, 2020)

It all started with an idea for a book, "Gentleman Zombie Hunters." Two gentleman (a professor and a barrister) protecting the residents of a fictional Jewish neighborhood in Victorian England from "night horrors" (the term "Zombie" post-dates their time). I wanted the characters to shoot something other than firearms. The barrister's office boy's father and older brother are iron mongers. The older brother designs a "pocket catapult" powered by office rubber bands from the barrister's office and shoots salvaged ball bearings.

Smashing! (literally)

I wanted to make certain that I had a good understanding of slingshots - so, down the rabbit hole I went. Thanks to Bill and Deranda Hays, Nathan Masters, Fowler, Jorg Sprave, Nick Hegarty, Catapult Carnage, and Gamekeeper John.

And a very big thanks to everyone here for their patience, knowledge, and generosity. Lurked for a ling time before I was brave enough to start posting.

Great stories thus far. Keep posting all!


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## SLING-N-SHOT (Jun 5, 2018)

vince4242 said:


> Cool story sling. Sounds like you were true Craftsman and really enjoy the art of whatever you create. So cool to hear all the different ways sling shotting has affected each of us and where we really enjoy it.
> 
> Cheers


You as well Vince, I could learn a lesson or three from you about pairing down for sure.

I hope your health is holding up brother.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## SJAaz (Apr 30, 2019)

Seriously though (THWACK! seriously, for real?) where would I put hundreds of books, 5 guitars, five ukes, 2 violins, 14 tinwhistles, 2 keyboards, one Peruvian Quena, a dozen or so harmonicas (blues harps), 2 dozen slingshots, 5 archery bows, plus all my tools and stuff associated with way too many hobbies?

Ha ...we must be brothers from another life. I have the guitars, mandos, harmonics and slingshots. I have enough tools scattered between here and Idaho to fill a semi moving van!
Got started on the slings because as a kid, I was always the one who wanted to build something. So I would build the slingshots for all my pals. We'd get interested in something else, and I'd be making that. I'm over 3/4 of a century old now and I'm still building and giving away. Just the way I am.


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## Pebble Shooter (Mar 29, 2014)

My slingshot adventures started back in the early 1970's, when we moved from Germany to Switzerland after my dad got a job there. Where we lived at the time was a new housing complex with numerous building sites, and one day I met a kid about my age in the neighborhood, who taught me how to make basic bent metal rod slingshots, using the 4 mm thick steel handles of discarded paint buckets at the numerous building sites. :naughty:

Not having any tools, the thick curved steel elements, which form part of the steel rod structures in which concrete is poured, turned out to be perfect as a support placed on the ground to bend the 4 mm steel rod sections more or less accurately into the desired slingshot shape. We would wrap electric wire around the basic final metal rod slingshot frame to improve ergonomics. Our ammo consisted of U-shaped steel nails that we shot using office elastic bands: no elaborate leather pouches and stuff like that back then (no Internet!). Now and then, we would have slingshot shooting fights in some nearby woods, where I also built a tree house up in an old oak tree with a friend: that tree house was there for several decades until someone took it down eventually.

One day, my parents were on their way back from a Sunday afternoon neighborhood walk, when my dad saw me with my homemade slingshot. Well, he was not too pleased, took away the slingshot and bent it into something resembling modern art of some kind...no more slingshot. I'll give him credit though, because he was one of the 10 million German refugees who lost everything when the Russians extended the polish border to the west (Oder-Neisse river), thus forcing many civilians to leave everything behind. He was about age 16, when he, his mom, and his sister had to head west to the American zone with Russian troops approaching from the east, and I would imagine that he must have seen the horrors of weapons and war during the escape. Needless to say he hated anything that shoots, even slingshots...dad, I fully understand now. :hmm:

I also remember how one day back in the 1970's, an American friend proudly showed me a "Wrist-Rocket" with a nice set of tubes, and how impressed I was. There was no way I could have one though...many windows survived in the process, I guess.

Besides a short stint with a Barnett "Black Widow" slingshot with rather strong tubes for its size, my renewed interest came in 2011, when I was watching videos by Herr Sprave, and had a pigeon pooping problem to solve, where using an air rifle simply was not an option. Having shot high caliber revolvers, Swiss assault rifles, air rifles, and competition recurve bows, I have found the relatively simple yet very effective slingshot one of the most enjoyable to make and shoot.

it's a constant learning process that I enjoy sharing with all of you at this forum. B)


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## DragonEyeShooter1 (May 14, 2020)

For D1 brother Vince, Here's a pic of my laser beam i meant to post it sooner but the festivities of the new year carried me away, that sight is what takes the cake it has my favorite taper (3/4"-1/2") on some BSB.55 white with some extra ALS .6 i was testing an extreme taper on but that sight man, i know some people aren't a fan of sights on slings and I'm generally not either but on this thing it literally takes my accuracy to another level for target shooting, if I'm having a bad day with other frames and i just want shoot stuff without thinking this is my guy. Though i will say unlike a sight built into the frame or a fork tip you actually have to calibrate this thing which requires a pretty decent understanding of the basics (knowing your frame, form, release, etc..) and scoping (rifles, crossbows, etc..) because you have to dial in the elevation and windage (the sight moves all 4 directions up, down, left and, right) but once you get that thing dialed in ohh mannn it'll take my groupings from a 4" circle to a 2" circle, super nice i live my TTF but I'm considering getting some of the OTT tips maybe with the peg head add ons bit i haven't decided and I've got enough slings to pair down at the moment but they will surely be coming on the future, what do you think of your OTT tips Vince, you prefer Ott to TTF? I'm not partial to one or the other i like them both but from someone with the same frame diff orientation of like to know your thoughts


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## David D (Oct 20, 2020)

About 10 years ago a female friend gave me her wrist braced slingshot for which she had broken the tubes. She had been shooting peanuts at the crows and I guess gave up in frustration. I replaced the tubes and began messing with it using gumballs as ammo. I had always wanted to try archery but had never had the opportunity so this seemed somewhat similar. I also have a .177 caliber pistol that I was using to harass the squirrels. A few years ago I decided to look online to see what there was on slingshots. I was pleasantly surprised when I found the ton of stuff there is: Fowler, Simpleshot, this forum and the other one, Gamekeeper John, Jorge Sprave and all the Chinese websites. Now I have 8 slingshots and have just signed up for the Slingshot Foundations course. I guess I am in now. It's lots of fun and I am showing progress which is always good.. happy 2021


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Dragoneye looking at the picture you have a true Dragon King II. I have the D1 with the Dragon King to handle. Love that handle fits my hand perfectly. I also bought the heaven emperor and it's the same as the Dragon King 2 with the blue handle. That one I really like but it doesn't allow me to use tubes with it so I stick with my D1. I have a couple different fiber optic sites for my heaven Emperor and the round pegs as well as the square Ott pegs. But the round pegs will not accept any sites. I do like the Dragon Emperor Square Ott pegs, it's closer to the handle then my D1 and several months ago when I bought it I kept getting fork hits because it was just a little bit too close. Now I wouldn't have any issues with fork hits after months of practice. I absolutely love the Blue Heaven Emperor handle it has a removable plug which I put removable lead inside to make it nice and heavy. I also melted lead into the Dragon King to handle that you can't remove that lead once you pour it in. The blue handle fits my hand awesome almost! It was just a touch too small for my hand with heavy bands. With light tubes or bands it is perfect set but just another reason to stick with the D1 and my dragon king II handle.
I have my heaven Emperor for sale in the for sale Section if you want to take a look at it.

Cheers


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## DragonEyeShooter1 (May 14, 2020)

Sweet! I'll have to take you up on that i was eyeing the heaven emperor also but they were sold out but i like my dragon king better honestly i totally agree on that handle it is super ergo and comfy i filled mine with steel just in case i end up wanting a lighter set up but that lead idea is solid (no pun intended), and the D1 is still a stellar looking fork very similar from what i see, do you like those round pegs? They have them for TTF aswell for the DE2 Fork but i think id prefer them OTT so it's more like a feihu fork but I'm defintely getting some of the regular OTT pegs eventually


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

I did attached the round Ott pegs but I'm so used to having a fiber optic sight that I didn't really give him a chance. Yes I did like that when I poured in the lead into the blue emperor handle it shrunk down just enough so that it's slides out if I didn't want it in there. The weight is very nice though and balanced right over the palm of the hand.
My post is on the for sale thread I bumped it to the top so you can take a look at everything that comes with it. Give me a private message if you want to talk about price or anything else.

Cheers


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Me? I started as a kid and never quit. We lived in one of those towns that called itself a bird sanctuary, but there for a couple years as we were growing up, you wouldn't hear or see a bird in our area. No blue Jay's squawking every morning, no robins, no finches, no swallows, no song birds, no coyotes, no nothing. There were always huge flocks of pigeons and doves along with plenty of quail for the table, but they stayed down deep in the canyon. I still remember going outside every morning with my slingshot or my pellet rifle and then came that one day that I realized for the first time, that we had killed everything off. There were no birds at all in our neighborhoods and all of us boys were great shots with everything -bows, boomerangs, slings, slingshots, spears, knives, axes, guns... you name it. We all wanted to be the best of the best and we all were... for our different ages, with every kind of weapon that we knew of. Anyway, that day we all got together and stopped hunting on our hilltop neighborhoods and we let everything repopulate.

It took 2 years before we heard those darned blue Jay's in the morning again, but we had all grown enough and we all had bicycles, so we switched to dropping down into the American River Canyon and having our fun down at the river. Because we were traveling so far from home every day, we told our parents exactly where we were on the river and one of us, one of the older kids always had a rifle with us at all times. Most of the time we rode our bikes down to the ropes above a cliff and then climbed down the rock face to the old department of forestry buildings in front of the old caves that we played in. Then we would have to cross the old highway and take the trail straight down to the river from there.

We most always shot rocks from our slingshots and at the river there were plenty of perfect rocks for shooting. Back in those days there were gold nuggets to be found all over also and we would pick them up, toss them in a pile, and shoot those too. Gold nuggets made for some great ammo for us as we were growing up and we always did our best to retrieve them after we found them, we had jars full of them back then and at only $35.00 an ounce, our parents had told us that they were worthless. But to us, they were real heavy, made the best ammo and they would dent or flatten some when shot at the rock walls of the canyon and we could always hammer them back to being round enough. Because of the weight of the gold, they didn't need to be perfectly round because they were too heavy to curve when shot as long as they were close to round. I still have and use the same wrist rocket that I had back then and it's one of just a few old wrist rocket's that has had many thousands of dollars worth of gold nuggets shot through it's forks 

Years later, I went down and retrieved as many of those old nuggets as I could find, they were still in the same pile, in our hiding spot, in the same place, buried deep in the sand. The river had flooded and covered our hiding spot with about 4 feet of sand. I didn't get them all because I couldn't reach them after digging down 6 feet, but I did find that first pile, the top pile and they're here on the bottom of the picture, still piled together, just like they had been for the last 50 years. Maybe some day I'll go down and dig up the rest, but I was real happy when I found out that these had never been touched. Our old Pirate Treasure is still safe to this day and the whereabouts is only known by the 3 of us who hid it down there, so many decades ago...


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## raventree78 (Apr 20, 2016)

The pictured slingshot is what "got me into" slingshots. When I was little, about 10 or so, I had a wrist rocket and as most of you can guess I could not hit anything with it. The bands were way too strong and I did not know what I was doing and no one around me had a good grasp of how to slingshot. Well I kept trying the wrist rocket from time to time as I grew up with about the same results every time.

Well I gave up on the whole rubber power thing or at least I wanted to but there was a part of me that really liked the whole idea of a slingshot. In my early 20's I made the slingshot pictured and put a set of red tapper tubes on it. Now the tubes were still to strong but I had more upper body strength now so it was not so bad.

Cue "the day" my nephew saw it laying out one day and asked me about it. I told him we could shoot it but that I was a lousy shot with it. We grab the sling, some 3/8 ammo and some cans and head to the back yard. It was at this point that things "clicked". The newly acquired heavier 3/8 ammo, the realizing that I could use the top fork to aim with and the consistent anchor point all meant that I could actually hit what I wanted to! I remember telling my nephew "I don't know what is going on, I can't shoot this thing". Yet shoot I did and I put a lot of holes in those cans that day and set myself on the journey that I am still on today, to have fun with rubber


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## eaglerockdude (Dec 27, 2020)

Reed Lukens said:


> Me? I started as a kid and never quit. We lived in one of those towns that called itself a bird sanctuary, but there for a couple years as we were growing up, you wouldn't hear or see a bird in our area. No blue Jay's squawking every morning, no robins, no finches, no swallows, no song birds, no coyotes, no nothing. There were always huge flocks of pigeons and doves along with plenty of quail for the table, but they stayed down deep in the canyon. I still remember going outside every morning with my slingshot or my pellet rifle and then came that one day that I realized for the first time, that we had killed everything off. There were no birds at all in our neighborhoods and all of us boys were great shots with everything -bows, boomerangs, slings, slingshots, spears, knives, axes, guns... you name it. We all wanted to be the best of the best and we all were... for our different ages, with every kind of weapon that we knew of. Anyway, that day we all got together and stopped hunting on our hilltop neighborhoods and we let everything repopulate.
> 
> It took 2 years before we heard those darned blue Jay's in the morning again, but we had all grown enough and we all had bicycles, so we switched to dropping down into the American River Canyon and having our fun down at the river. Because we were traveling so far from home every day, we told our parents exactly where we were on the river and one of us, one of the older kids always had a rifle with us at all times. Most of the time we rode our bikes down to the ropes above a cliff and then climbed down the rock face to the old department of forestry buildings in front of the old caves that we played in. Then we would have to cross the old highway and take the trail straight down to the river from there.
> 
> ...


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## pigeonharvesting (Oct 1, 2020)

Lockdown! ???? (April 2020) yeah I was cycling around noticed a wood pigeon, remembered my mum use to by them occasionally from the market. Looked into rifles, but a bit to heavy so discovered catapults on YouTube and this forum.

I've hunted 39 wood pigeon, 2 squirrels, 2 rabbits (snared) and recently 1 duck and 1 coot (coot with 8mm steel, 20/15 taper, Sheshou. 80 at around 28 yards ????, dont think I can repeat that head shot.

Also bought a rifle, an SMK SKL208 .22 Springer, Hawke 9x50scope.


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## snydes (Jan 9, 2021)

Reed Lukens said:


> Me? I started as a kid and never quit. We lived in one of those towns that called itself a bird sanctuary, but there for a couple years as we were growing up, you wouldn't hear or see a bird in our area. No blue Jay's squawking every morning, no robins, no finches, no swallows, no song birds, no coyotes, no nothing. There were always huge flocks of pigeons and doves along with plenty of quail for the table, but they stayed down deep in the canyon. I still remember going outside every morning with my slingshot or my pellet rifle and then came that one day that I realized for the first time, that we had killed everything off. There were no birds at all in our neighborhoods and all of us boys were great shots with everything -bows, boomerangs, slings, slingshots, spears, knives, axes, guns... you name it. We all wanted to be the best of the best and we all were... for our different ages, with every kind of weapon that we knew of. Anyway, that day we all got together and stopped hunting on our hilltop neighborhoods and we let everything repopulate.
> 
> It took 2 years before we heard those darned blue Jay's in the morning again, but we had all grown enough and we all had bicycles, so we switched to dropping down into the American River Canyon and having our fun down at the river. Because we were traveling so far from home every day, we told our parents exactly where we were on the river and one of us, one of the older kids always had a rifle with us at all times. Most of the time we rode our bikes down to the ropes above a cliff and then climbed down the rock face to the old department of forestry buildings in front of the old caves that we played in. Then we would have to cross the old highway and take the trail straight down to the river from there.
> 
> ...


such a great story - shooting gold nuggets when you were a kid all those years ago ! Awesome


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## craigbutnotreally (Nov 6, 2019)

Shot them all the time as a kid. My dad gave me a wrist rocket for my birthday one year. Couldn't hit anything at all with it. Fast forward to about a year ago now I really wanted to get into archery again. But it felt more like a fleeting feeling and I didn't want to drop the money on something I might not stick with. So on a whim decided to look at slingshots because hey that seemed similar. Found some YT vids and the accuracy people achieved with them blew my mind. I never would have dreamed of it as a kid. I couldn't even hit the barn much less a can. Through some research here on this forum I ended up picking up a SS Axiom and Torque and the rest is history. Been shooting ever since. Not interested in archery at all anymore. Slingshots kinda kicked that to the curb. I just like target shooting. And slingshots fill that role perfectly for me.


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## hoggy (Apr 17, 2017)

my journey started with the little wire ones back when i was 10. a few years later moved up to the wrist rockets and finally settled on a pocket rocket that i still have today. i could hit a pint ice cream container pretty regularly at about 5'-8' back then.

then, in 2017 i started seeing guys like bill hays, treefork, nathan masters, doing these incredible shots with slingshots. lighting matches, cutting cards and my fav, shooting grasshoppers.

then i got a frame or two, built a catchbox, and here i am, on my continuous learning journey.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Very cool idea, love to hear how everyone got started. It is very interesting how many of you as children had wrist Rockets with the big heavy tubes. I had a homemade bow and homemade arrows I shot probably very dangerously around the neighborhood.


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## cromag (Jan 17, 2021)

No youngster related story for me. When I was a kid I messed with a wrist rocket and slingshots by less acceptable names but found I was better with my left arm and eye. I had a great arm and accuracy until a wreck on a race horse modified the shoulder joint. Gave up using the arm and went with a trigger until I retired and started shooting a single string bow in the backyard after seeing season 1 of ALONE and wondering if I could become proficient enough with a bow to kill something. I have and then had a brief exchange with a fellow archer who sent me a link to this place and here I be , sinking deeper in the rabbit hole trying to avoid too big an investment and too many hand hits. :screwy:


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## flipgun (Nov 14, 2012)

"trying to avoid too big an investment and too many hand hits. :screwy:"

Pardon me as I laugh uproariously.


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## devils son in law (Sep 2, 2014)

For me, it was a reference to slingshots in an article I was reading. Of course we had slingshots as kids and what kid didn't want a "Wrist Rocket"? The very sound of it had us believing everything else was useless.

I got on the computer to look into buying a slingshot and saw all those ridiculously small frames that nobody would really shoot and I ordered a big ol' wrist rocket and then stumbled on to the forums. People were shooting those small frames and they were marksmen with them!!!!

I then bought a SS Scout and was really disappointed when I opened the box, why so tiny??? After my first session with the Scout I was sold, no more wrist rockets with stabilizer bars for me. I then got a couple frames from Chris Kaiser under the name YO Slingshots and he had to walk me through shooting such tiny frames but once I got it down there was magic happening !


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## Forksville (Jan 6, 2021)

I guess the start would have been probably around 50 years ago. I had gotten a gift certificate to a local sporting goods store for a birthday present. I remember buying a really nice Kabar sheath knife, and a slingshot with it.

The slingshot was a solid wood frame/fork, flat band deal with a hole drilled up thru the bottom with a cork to hold your ammo. Man, I wish I still had that. I did manage to drop a catbird out of my Mom's Flame bush with it that summer and it made a believer out of me.

Always had some type of projectile bearing weapon in my hands from early on. Guns of all types, and bows. The last 35 years have been mostly longbows and recurves.

I actually went on a search for slingshots via the internet and came onto this site. I guess the simplicity of the actual weapon reminds me a lot of the bows I like to shoot and that is what got me here.

Never did I realize that there is so much involved and taken seriously about making, shooting, and designing slingshots. Very cool.

Thanks for the opportunity to join up and learn with a great bunch of people about something that I know not to much about.........

Craig


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Great to have you here Craig, I started last year at age 49 right at the start of the pandemic. I was looking for something to do while trapped at home never knew just how much I would get into this. Love to hear all these stories!

Cheers


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## Forksville (Jan 6, 2021)

Thank you Vince. I have worked at a major shipping company for almost 44 years now. I had to sit this Christmas season out due to some knee work I had done. Heading back to work next week.

This site was like a breath of fresh air to me....and gave me something to do besides knee exercises ........

Thanks again,

Craig


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## Hermit (Feb 7, 2014)

If I remember correctly I've always been involved with slingshots of one kind or another (store bought/homebrew). 65 years ago when I was 12 years old my Dad showed me a homemade slingshot he made when he was my age. We took it into the backyard, grabbed some small stones and had a blast - I was hooked. Thought Dad was going to give me that slingshot - WRONG!  He bought me a Whamo, gave me all the warnings and the rest is history. Wish I still had that slingshot///

Rich


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## Incomudro (Jan 12, 2012)

When I was little - probably less than 12, my dad brought an aluminum scope slingshot that was commonly sold out of he back of magazines like Sports Afield, and Field and Stream.

The slingshot came with "exploding" pellets, and I remember him taking my sister and I out in the woods of Staten Island.

When he pointed out something he wanted to shoot, and hit it, a puff of smoke would appear as the ammo disintegrated.

Anyway, I shot that slingshot myself a bit in the woods behind our house.

A short time later - a year? Maybe two?

My father brought one of the first generation Wrist Rockets.

The slingshot reinvented as far as I was concerned!

I was able to shoot that one down the woods myself, and later got a slightly improved version that Trumark sold.

I can't quite remember what it was called, but the wrist padding was thicker and the shape was slightly different.

Eventually all of my friends had Wrist Rockets of some type.

A bunch of 14-16 year old's or thereabouts, running around the woods terrorizing squirrels and birds.

Add a year or two to that, and I found the Falcon II slingshot in the Cabelas catalog.

Really loved that slingshot!

A new batch of friends and I got those, carried them all the time.

Then the lull came...

From age 18 or so, right on through my 30's - I was slingshot free.

Eventually at maybe age 40, I decided to relive my slingshot past and purchased a folding Barnett slingshot from some on line source.

I still have that slingshot, I'm 57 now.

Somewhere from there, around 8 or even 10 years ago, I was searching slingshot information and found this site.

I had no idea that there was a whole community of flat band slingshots out there.

I thought that wrist braced slingshots were the only way to go.

But I quickly learned that these simple wooden slingshots were more accurate.

I also got intrigued by how many beautiful designs people on the forum built.


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## flipgun (Nov 14, 2012)

Welcome back! Long time no see.


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## Hermit (Feb 7, 2014)

Great story! So cool to read stories on how people got into this wonderful hobby. Thanks!

Rich


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## Incomudro (Jan 12, 2012)

flipgun said:


> Welcome back! Long time no see.


Thanks!

I drop in every once in a while, but haven't been a regular like I used to be.


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## snydes (Jan 9, 2021)

I posted this in the intro thread a while back, but I'll throw it up here as well .... let me start off by saying I always wanted a wrist rocket when I was a kid, but growing up on the outskirts of a small city, my dad would never let me have one ... he knew me & that was probably for the best (I would def have gotten into trouble with it). FFD years later - I got into 3 gun NRA bullseye matches heavy for years, so I always liked the challenge of shooting paper. Moved around a bunch & got out of that. I placed a SMKW knife order a few months ago and just happened to notice a $6 wrist rocket in the back of the flyer & for no particular reason, added that to the order on a whim & started messing around with shooting nuts (as in fasteners) in my basement. Then I cast a bunch of round lead balls with an old round head fishing jig mold - big improvement. Was amazed at how much power it had & how cleanly it punched paper. I couldn't figure out how to aim it consistently, so I googled slngshots & holy cow, there was a whole world out of SS's there that I knew nothing of. Thats all it took ... I'm hooked - I'm reading all I can & am on my 4th flat band slingshot. Shooting 33 ft & started with tracing a music CD as the target, then graduated to a 10 cm ring, now I'm working on the 6 cm ring. I find it amazing how different my point of impact is every shooting session ... takes me a good 20 shots to really work on it and dial it in while making very precise small adjustments to my hold point to center everything in. I like how technical it really is with the hold point - a tiny adjustment makes a huge difference downrange. I experimented with length of draw - started at 32" (ear lobe), and recently settled on 28" at corner of mouth - much more consistently accurate. I made a catch box that collects the ammo which really makes shooting inside much more enjoyable (I've tried all the common sizes, and have settled on 5/16" for targets). I'm getting the same satisfaction that I used to love about shooting 3 gun. What's different about SS's is that it in some ways more resembles archery than pistol ... there's the element of tension that introduces wobble that has to be controlled. So my SS journey is well underway - I'm sure glad I somehow stumbled into the slingshot world & I find its a fantastic way to deal with the isolation of COVID (just wished I started earlier when I had good eyes, which is def holding me back) ...


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