# how can you tell if your slingshot is powerful enough to hunt with ?



## jordanrussell123

i hunt with my slingshot a lot but only head shots. so my question is how can you tell if your slingshot is powerful enough to kill say a crow with a body shoot e.g with air rifles if it will go through a bar of soap then it will go through a rabbit


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## gamekeeper john

the best way is to shoot a suspended card, if you cut it in half the ammo will be traveling at 250fps+ but to be honest you shouldn't realy want to kill anything with body shots lol









what bands and ammo are you using - john


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## slingshot_sniper

There's an easier way GKJ hunter bands and 12mm lead ammo,yeah don't go for body shots


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## Bill Hays

I've actually tested this out on how many soda cans full of water a single shot must be able to penetrate... 3 cans at 60 feet seems to be the minimum I'd be comfortable with.


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## bootneck

I don't really think there could be any universal test, some penatration tests might work if your using light ammo, how about for people like myself who like heavy crushing ammo there be some sort of heavy metal weight to knock over? My heavy ammo goes through half inch plywood easyly but unless you get a direct hit on a beer can it'l just knock it over (my 50 cal lead blasts through cans easy but is harder to get through the plywood but the 16mm lead is harder to get through the cans but easly goes through the plywood) so it would be hard to make a universal test as different objects act differently when there shot.


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## Toddy

Lets be honest here shall we? In the real world you might be going for a head shot but we all get wrong from time to time and hit the body. I know my 12mm lead will kill a Rabbit at 20yds with a chest hit. I always aim at the head and won't take the shot if I can't see it properly, but misses happen. The subject of calibre has been argued for years in the Air Rifle world and never been resolved. The ammo you use is personal to a degree, and also needs to be 'balanced' to the bands used.


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## bootneck

toddy you're spot on there, i really can't add to that


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## Nico

Well for whats it worth:

My wire coathhanger slingshot with cheap office #64 chained rubberbands in a simple 333 chain shoots 18 gram 1/2 inch ID hexnuts and 18 gram (277 grain) pebbles at 155 fps and this with an unintentional body shot to the ribs stopped a rabbit.

Do the math 155 fps 18 gram (277 grain) projectile = 14 FPE 

I hate numbers but if your going to start talking about blistering speeds then this is the reality of what is possible and there are no universal tests just a sort of guage to give you an idea of "whats possible" impact wise. Besides I rely on blunt force fluid shock trauma not penetration.

I'm not selling anything ( nothing against vending) just giving the truth to help those who want to know..

Nico


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## jordanrussell123

bootneck said:


> I don't really think there could be any universal test, some penatration tests might work if your using light ammo, how about for people like myself who like heavy crushing ammo there be some sort of heavy metal weight to knock over? My heavy ammo goes through half inch plywood easyly but unless you get a direct hit on a beer can it'l just knock it over (my 50 cal lead blasts through cans easy but is harder to get through the plywood but the 16mm lead is harder to get through the cans but easly goes through the plywood) so it would be hard to make a universal test as different objects act differently when there shot.


that's a very good point well i use 14 mm or 55 cal so the knock down power with a head shot is just devastating but i don't know about a body shot that's why i made this topic


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## josephlys

I currently use 8mm ID hex-nuts (8g). I also use medium-light bands 16-18lbs. I almost always go for body shots, rarely do I go for head/neck shots. Eg. killed starlings, doves (.38lead/ hex-nut), a crow (with .44lead) with body shots. But I usually stick within 10yards, so far so good.


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## Tim

jordanrussell123 said:


> I don't really think there could be any universal test, some penatration tests might work if your using light ammo, how about for people like myself who like heavy crushing ammo there be some sort of heavy metal weight to knock over? My heavy ammo goes through half inch plywood easyly but unless you get a direct hit on a beer can it'l just knock it over (my 50 cal lead blasts through cans easy but is harder to get through the plywood but the 16mm lead is harder to get through the cans but easly goes through the plywood) so it would be hard to make a universal test as different objects act differently when there shot.


that's a very good point well i use 14 mm or 55 cal so the knock down power with a head shot is just devastating but i don't know about a body shot that's why i made this topic
[/quote]


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## Tim

It's all up to the amo you use and what type of bands you have on it. For me personally if it doesn't penetrate something either animal/bird is too big don't hunt it again until you can get a headshot.


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## ZDP-189

There's a lot of good advice here. From what I have seen, there's a big difference in the killing power of a projectile in the hands of a competent shooter than a less experienced person. I would encourage you to train, then try shooting at realistic ranges and elevations in a wild context, not animal shaped/sized targets but a small aim point the size of a quarter. When you can quickly hit what ever you aim it, then learn animal sign and learn the woods with a mentor as you hunt. The shooting proficiency has to come before the hunt, because otherwise you'll just waste the shot or injure the animal.

The woods where I live are similar to my hunting grounds, which are in a different country. Here I stalk with a camera instead of a slingshot, substituting one passion for another. I don't need the game for the pot, but the challenge and enjoyment of the wilderness is much the same.


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## hawk2009

To me you have to learn for yourself the best way to despatch game with what ever you choose to shoot with,as an example I started shooting with air rifles as a 14 year old shooting in the back garden at sparrows and starlings, for practice we had a walnut tree at the bottom of the garden I used to shoot those.and daisy heads growing on the lawn, shooting small targets has always been my passion when I got confident with the rifle a bsa meteor .177 and a little older. I started hunting game pheasants and rabbit and had no problem dispatching them, Depending on which way they were facing would depend on where I shot it for example again if it was a rabbit or hare facing me it would be a shot to the chest if it was sideways on it would be the just above the ear and if it was facing away from me the base of the skull. Not all were killed instantly but they certainly were not going anywhere, As for distance most shots were taken between 30 to 50 feet some even closer than that. As for using a slingshot to hunt I would be quite happy to use 9.5mm steel and my favourite four strand tube shooter some will disagree but i'm confident enough with my accuracy to hit what i'm aiming for this has enough power to kill a rabbit or pheasant. It really is down to the confidence of the shooter not the ammo or speed of the bands.


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## Ry-shot

if it will go through a house its ok !


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## whipcrackdeadbunny

If it can kill an animal, it's ok.


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## josephlys

Yeah but how'd ye know it's powerful enough to kill an animal humanely? I'd say experience is the best, then again one can read up on people's experience right here to get a good idea.


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## ZDP-189

josephlys said:


> Yeah but how'd ye know it's powerful enough to kill an animal humanely? I'd say experience is the best, then again one can read up on people's experience right here to get a good idea.


There was a young lad called Sam that started exactly this debate and no good answers. If you go by gun tables of minimum accepted calibre for a given game, then no slingshot would be sufficient. Then again, shooters throughout history have proved that a humane kill can be achieved by a hunter of sufficient skill. For me the answer is a combination of skill, projectile mass and kinetic energy.


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## whipcrackdeadbunny

It was my point, that common sense must prevail; I'd take a lesson from all the successful hunters here.


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## Ry-shot

whipcrackdeadbunny said:


> If it can kill an animal, it's ok.


lol


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## josephlys

phonebook test. ??


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## lobodog2

How does one know if his slingshot is powerful enough to hunt with?? ALL slingshots are powerful enough to hunt with...


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## fishjunkie

red trumark tubes and headshots


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## lobodog2

fishjunkie said:


> red trumark tubes and headshots


Nuff Said...


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## josephlys

Yup, to be able to kill small game and vermin with nothing but a fork and some rubber. That's awesome, slingshot's r great.


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## Jolly Roger

A+ slingshots makes some awesome slingshots that come with bands or tubes much stronger than those seen on the average plinker slingshots. A+ Big Tube Hunter for example supports a set of tubes almost too strong to pull but eventually you warm up to them and they get easier to shoot with time as you build strength. The Kit Fox comes with two sets of tubes with the lighter set being about right to shoot a bit easier than the set of looped tubes....not tubes like the little Chinese tooth pick tubes found on most slingshots but tubes that are big enough to make the wrist rocket tubes seem like kids toys.

A+ makes a variety of made for hunting slingshots which seems to be the primary purpose of Perry's frames including his slingbows.

A+ has just reopened up their new High Desert shop in Ridgecrest after moving from Bakersfield, California. Probably the best place to order ready made hunting bands and tubes also.


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## chuckduster01

32-37 caliber lead is about all I use for birds/rabbits/squirrels and such using 7/8 to 1 inch of TBG. A head shot is much preferred but anything north of the diaphragm means critter is on the menu that night. I used to use bigger ammo and go for the blunt force trauma thing, but I personally have chosen speed/penetration/accuracy over blunt force. MY EXPERIENCE for MY LOCATION told me it was the right thing to do FOR ME. I have killed a lot of rabbits in particular with shots meant for the head but hitting the neck and chest.......it works just fine.


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## kevmar

I don't think the penetration is the best way and most humane way to dispatch anything.It's the delivery of kinetic energy on contact that does.If a ball / ammo missile whatever is still traveling,i.e goes straight through it hasn't delivered its energy.A ball ect that hits and stops will deliver its impact energy and basically destroy the nervous system by the shock effect.


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## SkullT

IMHO kinetic energy/blunt force trauma isn't what it's cracked up to be depending on the game you are shooting. I used to use Theraband Gold flats and a 12mm lead for Wood Pigeon but these birds are tough and their feathers spread the impact pretty good and a lot of birds just fly off especially, if you are shooting in excess of 20 meters. At short range a big lead will knock a Pheasant out of a roost and cause enough blunt force trauma to give you a chance to ring it's neck but a clean kill does not happen that often...A rabbit on the otherhand and the 12mm/14mm lead comes into it's own but I can still take rabbits with my 9mm lead. Accuracy is always going to be the deciding factory but shot for shot when shooting wood pigeon or Pheasant at a distance my 1842 tubes and long pull style with a 9mm lead works for me, far more than a 12mm lead and Theraband Flats ever did... I don't know where you guys shoot but getting a shot at game inside 20 meters doesn't happen that often so head shots are not easy to pull off...just my opinion of course... Oh and shoot a pheasant in the head regardless of what lead or steel you use and they make one hell of a racket in the undergrowth.


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## kevmar

Good post pal /\ I've gone off tbg a bit now and use 23 - 20 GZK flats with 9.5 steels.


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## BushpotChef

Personally I like my ammo to penetrate the bottom of a tuna tin at 10m/33 ft. If it'll do that no problem any small game will be easy money in my experience.

Sent from my SM-J320W8 using Tapatalk


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## JediMike

I've used a big blockof cheese as a sim for ballistic gelatin. I figure if I can get a prohectile an inchi into a block of cheese that's oceans of power for small game.


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