[msturm]

Good morning, as some of you may have read in the homemade slingshots forum I found a good spruce branch and managed to make a great natural out of it. It holds well, shoots great and looks awesome with lots of character and cracks.

On my way to school I saw probably 20 snowshoe hares, on the road/ trail to the school. I parked about a mile away and decided to walk in hopes of getting a shot at one along the trail. Yesterday we had our first good snow of the season and the temp stayed right around 25*f last night. So as the sun rose and everything began melting off the hares were out in force!

As I strolled down the trail to school I saw a hare looking at me about 20 yards away. He was sitting in the middle of the trail. I tried to get a few paces closer but he loped off into the bushes. I walked to where I saw him enter the bushes and looked and looked. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and It brought my attention to the hare about 5 yards in front of me frozen in the bushes hoping I would not see it. I didn't have an appropriate angle for the shot so I backed up to the other side of the trail. He was in some dense brush but I was able to thread a 7/16 steel through the thicket and through his rib cage.

I carried my rabbit to school with me as I finished up my walk careful not to get blood or mud on my work cloths. I stashed my slingshot at my co-workers house who lives next to the school and I took my prize in to show my class. The middle schoolers love this time of year. Grouse season is in full swing and Hare season is just starting. Trapping season is in a week and everyone is getting ready for winter. We had a quick chat and kids got to work. I put my morning hare in a grocery bag and put it in the fridge in the faculty lounge. Right next to the grouse Mr. M took with his slingshot on the way to school this morning. lol.

I work in a great place, a great village and with a wonderful faculty.

Thanks for reading along!

Msturm

 

[Innlou]

What bands are you using? In the cold.

 

[Island made]

I always enjoy reading your posts! Love it!

 

[KarlHungus]

Curious, I've always wanted to get into the small game... and large game hunting action, but parasites freak me out, always lots of fleas and stuff crawling all over the game. How do you deal with that?

 

[Slingshot28]

Always love hearing your stories nice shooting👍

 

[Ibojoe]

You live in an awesome place. Good shootn and beautiful frame!

 

[Roll Fast]

Excellent story sir.
Sounds like you got a nice thing going there!
Nice frame too!

 

[Rb1984]

Good hunt and frame mate 👍👍🎯

 

[msturm]

What bands are you using? In the cold.

Still shooting the .66 burning 💀. They seem to do just fine in the cold so far. I will let you know more in a couple months when there is a lil negative sign infront of that 28°f.

 

[msturm]

Curious, I've always wanted to get into the small game... and large game hunting action, but parasites freak me out, always lots of fleas and stuff crawling all over the game. How do you deal with that?

Great question! Squirrels here get fleas and ticks. I skin those immediately and if there is water near by I hold em under and give them a good scrub with a stick or moss to get the fleas off before I start skinning. I always check the liver and kidneys of small game for disease before eating and I am extremely picky with animals carrying parasites. In all my 20+ years hunting hares in AK I have yet to see flea or tick on one. It does happen just not in my area. I deal with fleas all trapping season long on fur bearers. The solution there is trash bag and hang em. After a day and a night at -20°f. They all die. If I was in an area with a lot of parasites on small game I would bring gloves and ziplock bags with me. I would clean everything while it is still warm (fleas and ticks don't leave fur until the body temp drops below 80°.) Discard skin and entrails and bag meat, then carry on.

Best of luck.

 

[msturm]

I always enjoy reading your posts! Love it!

Thanks for reading them!

 

[msturm]

Always love hearing your stories nice shooting👍

Thanks for reading my long winded posts.

 

[msturm]

Good hunt and frame mate 👍👍🎯

Thanks. It's good fun

 

[Royleonard]

Nicely made shooter! I always learn stuff from you,this time about parasite control.Thanks

 

[KarlHungus]

Great question! Squirrels here get fleas and ticks. I skin those immediately and if there is water near by I hold em under and give them a good scrub with a stick or moss to get the fleas off before I start skinning. I always check the liver and kidneys of small game for disease before eating and I am extremely picky with animals carrying parasites. In all my 20+ years hunting hares in AK I have yet to see flea or tick on one. It does happen just not in my area. I deal with fleas all trapping season long on fur bearers. The solution there is trash bag and hang em. After a day and a night at -20°f. They all die. If I was in an area with a lot of parasites on small game I would bring gloves and ziplock bags with me. I would clean everything while it is still warm (fleas and ticks don't leave fur until the body temp drops below 80°.) Discard skin and entrails and bag meat, then carry on.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the response, the methods I have heard of included letting the body cool enough all the fleas and ticks disperse, but then it's tougher to skin, especially larger animals like deer and elk. I have no problem with birds, but whenever I see people in videos treat small game like wingshooting and just stuff them in a pocket I squirm thinking about all the fleas and ticks that will be crawling all over. Interesting about the hares, we have Cottontails and they are walking flea armies. We also raise new Zealand rabbits, very tasty animal.

 

[Got Bands]

Good shot
Love your posts

 

[msturm]

Nicely made shooter! I always learn stuff from you,this time about parasite control.Thanks

Glad I could help!

 

[hoggy]

SWEET, bbqed bunny

 

[msturm]

Still shooting the .66 burning 💀. They seem to do just fine in the cold so far. I will let you know more in a couple months when there is a lil negative sign infront of that 28°f.

So when temps get into single digits .66 is insufficient. I moved up to burning skull.73 and that does ok for one shot, as long as you keep it in a warm pocket and have a quick release. For sub zero temps it's .76gzk cold green which is hard as hell to pull but will deliver a killing blow when your fingers are numb and you need a bird or bunny.

 

[LazyEyedSquinter]

I definitely enjoy reading about your exploits with the slingshot Mr. msturm. Thanks.