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I went along on my son's first Boy Scouts campout over the weekend. While on a a hike with six or seven of the boys I was doing some stump shooting with a natural/107s and marbles. I told them about winning the Summer Nats and about some of the shooting I've done. The boys thought it was cool enough and most of them went on about their day of activities without much thought of slingshots.
One kid (a fifth grader, about 10 years old), however, was all about it. He came up to me back at camp and said "If I find a good stick will you help me make a slingshot?". I said I would and gave him some pointers on what to look for. A while later he comes running up to me with a very nice small oak fork. He picked it specifically because it had a slight backward-angle of the forks to the handle, just like the one I was using. We borrowed the scoutmaster's bow saw to trim it to size. I shaped one of the tips for him using the knife I had brought along and let him do the other one with his scout knife. I did my best to remove a pointy burl area from the handle, which is tough to do without a rasp.
We banded it up with a spare set of bands I had with me. For the rest of the time I was there I never saw him without that slingshot in his hand or in his pocket
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He showed it to everyone and told them about how he made it. He wanted to know everything I had to tell him about how to shoot and all the terminology. He behaved very responsibly with it (as I knew he would or I wouldn't have helped him make it) and had a great time shooting acorns and the few marbles I gave him.
I told him he's welcome to come over to my range anytime and I hope he takes me up on it
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One kid (a fifth grader, about 10 years old), however, was all about it. He came up to me back at camp and said "If I find a good stick will you help me make a slingshot?". I said I would and gave him some pointers on what to look for. A while later he comes running up to me with a very nice small oak fork. He picked it specifically because it had a slight backward-angle of the forks to the handle, just like the one I was using. We borrowed the scoutmaster's bow saw to trim it to size. I shaped one of the tips for him using the knife I had brought along and let him do the other one with his scout knife. I did my best to remove a pointy burl area from the handle, which is tough to do without a rasp.
We banded it up with a spare set of bands I had with me. For the rest of the time I was there I never saw him without that slingshot in his hand or in his pocket
I told him he's welcome to come over to my range anytime and I hope he takes me up on it
