Survival Hunting Weapons

Lord Cthulhu

Lord Cthulhu

Joined
Jun 13, 2001
Messages
135
The survival staff thread got me thinking about this....

I know that conventional wisdom is that in most survival situations food gathering is a pretty low priority in that one would tend to expend more energy trying to hunt than one is likely to obtain from whatever you actually kill....however...

Suppose you are in a long term survival situation and felt that based on need and your observation of the wildlife that hunting makes sense. How would you rank the various options you would have for weapons and effectiveness. Lets assume mostly small game not trying to bring down a prize buck.

The options I can think of that could be made or improvised:

Spear
Sling
Slingshot (if you have the rubber)
Blowgun
Bow and arrow
and also rate the value of using your time to make Snares.


Any survival manual will tell you how to make stuff like this but which ones are really worth the time?

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"I'm inuspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctious to have caused you such pericumbobulations."--Mr. E Blackadder

[This message has been edited by Mr E Blackadder (edited 06-28-2001).]
 
Anyone will tell you that trapping makes more sense than hunting all things being equal.

As for your weapons list, part of the answer would depend on what materials are available. For example, as you mention, you have to have the elastic to make a slingshot (catapult for the British amongst us). The sling is really easy to make, but takes a lot of practice. Spear is also easy to make but not so easy to use, I suppose this applies to all of them to some degree or another.

I am familiar and practiced with bow, sling, and atlatl (you didn't mention the atlatl), but only good enough to hunt with using the bow.

 
Check out http://www.sonic.net/~quine/atlatl.html

smile.gif
 
An atlatl is called a woomera here in Aus. if you can learn to throw a spear using one of these there is not much you couldn't hunt. I have some aboriginal friends who can take out something as small as a duck at up to 100 yards. With practice it is just as effective as a modern compound bow.

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Steve Filicietti
Custom Knives
AUSTRALIA
http://www.unitedbladeworx.com.au
 
An atlatl is called a woomera here in Aus. if you can learn to throw a spear using one of these there is not much you couldn't hunt. I have some aboriginal friends who can take out something as small as a duck at up to 100 yards. With practice it is just as effective as a modern compound bow.

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Steve Filicietti
Custom Knives
AUSTRALIA
http://www.unitedbladeworx.com.au
 
You didn't mention my first choice for small game, rocks. A rock about the size of a tennis ball would work on rabbit-sized game. A sling would work on deer, but is very hard to master. Quicker to improvise than a sling is a simple rock-on-a-rope which is just as effective at short range. If you have two or three rocks-on-ropes you have a bolas that can be used against flocks of birds or herds of large game.

The number one pick if you have the time and materials is a bow and arrow. It will cover large and small game as well as birds. It is more commonly used by pre-industrial societies than any other weapon. The spear is usually a little slow for small game, it can work on fish and large game. A small throwing spear known as a light javelin or dart works. It works even better with a spear thrower.
 
I would start with snares and traps.

Next would be a spear, the snares and traps may have LIVE catches.

Throwing sticks would be easily built and useful.

A sling is easily constructed and probably worthwhile.

Next would be the spear thrower, aka ATLATL! ;)

Now I would be working on a decent bow and arrow. Being an avid traditional archer this is an easy transition.

If I had SURGICAL TUBING (more than likely as it's in many of my kits) I would make a 'bow' and primitive arrows and use it for SMALL GAME.

As you can see it is really a transition from one step up to the next. The bow and arrow is the most complex while a spear and is the simplest. The snares and traps are most EFFICIENT use of your time and materials.
 
The Woodsmaster Vol 6: Primitive weapons is a great resource.
I'm typing with a cut finger (Spydie Military), please forgive my brevity.
Stay sharp,
Chad
 
Without having any of the items on your list and having to make due with what you have I guess 1st. would be the sling shot...i carry surgical tubing on me as well as 550 cord. Next would be the spear for a hand weapon to help dispatch animals cought in traps or snares.
 
A .22 rifle and 100 to 200 rounds really doesn't weigh much. Sure, you're not proving your wilderness manhood, but why not stack the deck in your favor. Other than that, snares if youv'e got wire or cordage. Next on my list would be trying to spear fish and or frogs if near water...a throwing stick is not that tough to use if there is sufficient small game and you can get close enough.
 
In long term survival, your condition makes a big difference and just what is scampering around the area. For example, I know of quite a few places where large animals are more abundant than small game. In any event the type of country needs to be taken into account, so would you care to focus in a little.
Dan
 
Another hunting weapon that is low tech and effective is the Bolo.

Use five or six rocks attached to 550 cord. This is likened to a shotgun. The key with any of this is to have practiced with whatever you plan to use.
The scene that always comes to mind from a wilderness survival thread about foraging for food is from Jerimia Johnson where he is trying to spear fish in a stream and ends up chasing it and getting tired/sweaty/wet in the cold of a western winter. Only to be surprised by an Indian with a stringer of fish hanging from his horse.

Just reading about how to do something is not the same as learning the skills. Practice...Practice...Practice!

Cheers,

ts
 
I would vote for snaring. Ron Hood's videos describe how this method can be effective. And if you don't have snare wire or something similar, you will have to make some cordage. Some authors that cover this in their books are Ray Mears, Mors Kochanski,and John McPherson. There is a little book by McPherson called Primitive Fire & Cordage that has some good stuff on cordage, even how to make cordage out of a neckerchief.

You can also snare large game but you will need some cable for that. Never tried it myself.:)

Next on my list would be a spear designed for fish or frogs. In small creeks, you can drive fish up into a dam you created or small tributary you diverted them into and spear them.

For archery to be effective, you need to have some preexisting skills. Making selfbows and practicing with them now will increase your chances of using them effectively in the wild.

Here's a couple links that might be useful:
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/archery/bowcnstr.htm
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/archery/selfbow.htm
 
Long term survival should mean a fairly permanent position. Therefore there is time to gain some knowledge of the the goings on of animal food sources and anything else.

Snares and traps and baited hooks of whatever it takes to kill or hold the game until you can dispatch it would be on my first list. Check them twise a day as part of your daily routine, which may be part of your hunter/gatherer patrol.

Spear and club, for dispatching anything within reach. Fishing spears, and fishing bows are easy enough to work.

Projectile systems: long bows, blowguns, spear throwers and catapults; need a high skill level which unless already well learnt wouldn't be very energy efficient. One can try if one has already gathered an excess of food. Otherwise, don't waste your energy.

Some game you can run down, or dig up, or beach. However, there are a whole lot of places where there is just about nothing out there anyway; so it might be wiser to use your energy to get the hell out of there.

All too often everyone on the forum talks of individuals and their survival. Humans work best as teams and many improvised survival weapons work best when given the advantage of being used as part of a team effort. For example beating/hurding game into a restrictive area where rocks and stones, spears, and bows would be effective in inexperienced hands. Building a snared hedge/fence where game could be driven to it. Individuals don't last long unless they already have the indepth knowledge/skills or food pile to let them learn, and even then it would be touch and go.
 
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