[AJT]

I will be going on holiday in about two weeks, and then Im going to be staying at a farm which has got magpies,rabbits and possums crawling everywhere...........though due to me selling my air rifle lately in order to save up for a better one in the near future, I unfortunately can't take the easier way out...........so , I have just got the slingshot .

I am very accurate with the Daisy, and I can hit targets out to 30m no problem, though I just do not know HOW to hunt with a slingshot.

With a air rifle (177 1050 fps) I could just sit behind a tree somewhere and sniper the rabbits using a good scope out to 50 m no probs, without a great deal of stalking, though with a slingshot I do not really know what the routine is , and how to go about things, even though I am good at hunting with a gun.

I have only shot starlings before as well as the odd magpie, but no hares or rabbits with the p51.

This is where I would like some advice to as how to hunt a rabbit etc ....do I sit in one place and just wait, or do I try and stalk them..........and what size ammo would be good to use, an is lead better than steel or is it the other way around??

Also , with bigger birds such as magpies and ducks, will a body shot be enough, as the head is very small !!

I hope some of my questions can be answered, but Im sure I can find a great deal of valuble info on th forum by reading other threads.

Regards
AJ

 

[Nico]

Hi there AJT,

With the rabbits if you are new to them it would pay to know what their reactions are to people on the farm if they are not as afraid some hunters would locate a place they feed and set up a hiding spot to ambush but you need to practice for that particular distance. Also make sure that the ammo you use for hunting be the same you practice with for consistency of accuracy.

That being said I often have to track rabbits to their feeding and habitation areas and usually stalk on foot though sometimes you can use a trojan horse in the form of a vehicle i.e. car or similar which may not frighten the animal if it is used to such things.

I dont know the nature of the rabbits in your land, as I think they are the European variety of rabbits? If they are I think they may have different patterns to those I hunt here in America.

Here the Cottontail rabbit does not normally use a rabbit hole like the European Rabbit and it uses shrub, and undergrowth and ruins to hide in. So with our American Cottontails they feed at dusk and just before dawn so I tailor my hunting activities to these times only.

If your using lead balls I'd say use .45 cal or .50 cal for good stopping power and with rabbits hit the head, with ducks head or neck only, anything else is a risk of a flying dying animal. Magpies will die with chest shots but larger is only head and neck shots. If your going to shoot an opossum? Then you'd better only head shots and heavy lead .50 cal or even better 1/2 ounce lead balls.

If you dont have lead shot, use lead egg or cannon ball sinkers the two best weights are 3/8 ounce 10.5 grams or a 1/2 ounce sinker 14 grams. I'd lead towards the 1/2 ounce personally but my slingshots can handle that weight ammo easily.

Hope this helps
Nico

 

[AJT]

Hi there AJT,

With the rabbits if you are new to them it would pay to know what their reactions are to people on the farm if they are not as afraid some hunters would locate a place they feed and set up a hiding spot to ambush but you need to practice for that particular distance. Also make sure that the ammo you use for hunting be the same you practice with for consistency of accuracy.

That being said I often have to track rabbits to their feeding and habitation areas and usually stalk on foot though sometimes you can use a trojan horse in the form of a vehicle i.e. car or similar which may not frighten the animal if it is used to such things.

I dont know the nature of the rabbits in your land, as I think they are the European variety of rabbits? If they are I think they may have different patterns to those I hunt here in America.

Here the Cottontail rabbit does not normally use a rabbit hole like the European Rabbit and it uses shrub, and undergrowth and ruins to hide in. So with our American Cottontails they feed at dusk and just before dawn so I tailor my hunting activities to these times only.

If your using lead balls I'd say use .45 cal or .50 cal for good stopping power and with rabbits hit the head, with ducks head or neck only, anything else is a risk of a flying dying animal. Magpies will die with chest shots but larger is only head and neck shots. If your going to shoot an opossum? Then you'd better only head shots and heavy lead .50 cal or even better 1/2 ounce lead balls.

If you dont have lead shot, use lead egg or cannon ball sinkers the two best weights are 3/8 ounce 10.5 grams or a 1/2 ounce sinker 14 grams. I'd lead towards the 1/2 ounce personally but my slingshots can handle that weight ammo easily.

Hope this helps
Nico

Thanks ALOT Nico, that helped a great deal

You know with the fishing sinkers, does the little hole in them (where you thread in the fishing line) affect the speed of the sinker at all, or does it do nothing??

I am ready to take my slingshot skills out into the hunting field , though I do understand that there is some preperation involved. Nico, would 3/8 steel shot be good ammo ??

Here is the difference between your opposum and our possum.......down here possums are HUGE pests, we absolutely hate them, we have even got possum throwing competitions in some areas hahaha. Hunters do find them to be challenging game though.

Your opposum-

Our "possum"-

It can be confusing .
The possum we have in Nz is the same to he possum in Australia, though over in Aussie they are protected , whereas over here if you see one you will hunt it down, with no regard to if you are armed with anything or not

Cheers,
AJ

 

[Nico]

Hi AJ,

I wouldnt use 3/8 steel for anything larger than a starling to remove the risk of a lost quarry of course.
The hole in the egg sinkers does not affect the flight, it does however make a cool whistling sound just before it impacts so it almost makes it sound like a rocket attack from a slingshot lol.

If your using a tube band slingshot then it should work well with 3/8 ounce lead sinkers no problem.
Interesting opossums in your part of the world, I bet they taste good our possum was once in America a common dish offered even at restaurants in the days gone bye. I'm sure yours would also be excellent table fare..

Nico

 

[jmplsnt]

Nico pretty much stole my thunder. I strongly agree with the use of the vehicle as a stalking/trojan horse.

If you're going to shoot at birds I would avoid the wings at all costs. Strike them in the breast, back, or head and down they go. Shooting heavy lead ammunition will down them in short order, though I can lay claim to a dove kill at 35 yards with a marble. Again, this was straight to the breast, just like my last kill a few days ago in which I applied a marble fired by a 32/777 chain to a bird at around 8 1/2 yards. Hit them in the breast and it's lights out.

Please do keep us posted on your exploits as I find any kind of slingshot hunting interesting but the far-flung locale you're in I find fascinating.

 

[AJT]

Cheers Jmplsnt and Nico, I will keep you up to date with everything, and in 3 weeks time I can hopefully post some pics of game I have shot.......my fingers crossed.
So It sounds like fishing sinkers are the best then, much cheaper than special "slingshot ammo" you would get form the local hunting stor as well, which is a good thing.

Nico, I will never EAT a possum !!! The possums over here carry TB (tuberculosis) so the rule of thumb here in NZ is to dipose of them,or , as what an ethical hunter would do , or myself is to pluck the fur off the to sell to clothing shops, or to skin them and tan the skin to be used at home. But I have heard of people eating possum here in Nz, though believe me it is not common haha....I might someday

 

[AJT]

Nico,

You said that 3/8 ounce sinkers would be ideal, though would 3/8" (inch) lead sinkers be al right aswell do you reckon??

 

[Nico]

3/8 lead will kill most things but I wouldnt use it on larger animal like possums big weight difference between 3/8 ounce is 10.5 grams the other 3/8 lead is not nearly that.

 

[darren]

headshots headshots headshots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AJT]

Im going to purchase hunting ammo tmrw, so it is out of 1/4 ounce lead sinkrs or 1/2 ounce......though I am not too sure about what I should be looking for??? The 1/2 OZ will go much slower with my tubes, but will deliver much more power, though the 1/4 OZ will go faster though it will deliver half of the energy of the 1/2 OZ..........a bit confused to what one is better. They are both ball fishing sinkers.

AJ

 

[ZDP-189]

The possum we have in Nz is the same to he possum in Australia, though over in Aussie they are protected , whereas over here if you see one you will hunt it down, with no regard to if you are armed with anything or not

I don't suppose repatriation would help. It may help the improve the gene pool of both countries, to misquote Robert Muldoon.

 

[AJT]

I don't suppose repatriation would help. It may help the improve the gene pool of both countries, to misquote Robert Muldoon.

[/quote

Hahaha, Im taking that if NZ and Aus cannot get to terms with who owns the Pavlova, then I wonder who will want to be responsible for the possum.........Though I am sure that NZ would love to throw all our fury freinds over the ditch to where they belong lol

Cheers,
AJ