Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Did you have a SlingShot when you was a young'n?

Grandpa made my first slingshot out of a stout forked manzanita branch. Black rubber innertube with a little leather pouch for the rock. I treasured that slingshot and carried that thing everywhere (except school) and got pretty deadly with it.

Wish I still had it for sentimental value. Gone in the mists of time.

Of course.

Still do and shoot the [bleep] out of the seals and sea lions. I used 3/8” steel ball bearings bought by the 1000.

Since at least kindergarten.
Still have a Wrist Rocket with stronger surgical rubber and hand-picked pebbles handy.
Probably still have a homemade sling too.

No! It wasn't called that!

Had several, of my home made jobs, then one day had the four rabbit hunters show up with their fancy hunting sling shots, one leather pouch full of steel ball bearings for long shots and another pouch with marbles for short range. Those guys were really good shots with a sling shot.

Still do, I use it to splash in front of a young retriever that has lost sight of a "mark" to help get them in dog nose range. And cheap marbles are the best ammo.

Was a member that claimed to kill all kinds of things with his.

Wonder if he came back as a sock puppet? He was very emotional and would send out crazy pm's if you called him on his bullshît.

Oh yah: my buddies and I were always on the look out for that perfect fork. Back in North Dakota box elder and lilac seemed to
Make the best forks. Red rubber, shoe tongues and good string were in heavy demand .
Big sport was making little mud balls? Letinh them dry hard the have wars shooting each other. Unwritten rule aim low , Miracle we never shot an eye out. Big score was a hits in the nuts.

Back when I was a kid. in the 50's, my family all went back to Oakville Iowa to see my grandmother--my dad's mother. While we were there, he was scrounging out in the back shed and came out with his old sling shot( he called it a ni**er flipper. It was a homemade wooden one with red rubber bands, leather pouch on it. It still worked like it was new 30+ years ago before he left home.

I was deadly with it back home and I was hell on the local birds. I think it is still in the family somewhere.
I think we quit using it when we couldn't find aymore red inner tubes.

I am sure my kids never go t hold of it

Absolutely. I had a Wham-O wooden slingshot first and then a Wrist Rocket. I still remember shooting a bird out of the top of a tree about 20 yards away with the Wrist Rocket. I didn't think I would hit it, but it dropped straight to the ground, stone dead. A pretty effective simple weapon.

As a kid in the 60’s we made our own.

Late 60 early '70s.
Mohawk haircuts.
Blue jeans and t-shirts.
Black engineer boots.
Wrist rockets.
Cousin worked in a ball bearing plant.
Nothing was safe...


dave

Yep. Dad taught me how to make them when I was a kid in the 50s and I still keep my slingshot where it’s handy. I’ve also made them for each of my grandkids. Matter of fact, my 11 year old grand daughter is interested in making them and we’re going it looking at dogwood trees for the perfect fork tomorrow if it’s not raining.

Yup, Wham-os and natural forks using Wham-o rubbers. Local hoodlums tried pasting us with Daisy BB guns. We backed off and powdered them with marble sized gravel....well beyond BB range.

Got mine from the Cherokee Nation, my mama used to take me places, get some divinity fudge, play in the Oconaluftee River and go to The Western Sizzler We aint sit around and watch The Searchers like a buncha dead asses.

Still have one. The last time I shot it, and hit anything with it, was when a large white and black Pit Bull sauntered across our yard. Not the scenario of the “get off my lawn” type but rather the get out of our neighborhood kind with little kids playing about.

Anyway, a ball bearing on the rump at about 200 fps seemed to keep him moving along.

Had sling shots too. Also “rubber guns” if that’s the term.

Yes

Made my share of coat hanger ones, but usually cut up a pouch from an old piece of leather if available.

Mostly we shot them at each other in my buddy's backyard. Would turn over the redwood patio furniture for barriers and use eugenia berries or some sort of ornamental cherry type things his mom had growing there.

There may have been a bird or three removed from his peach tree.

Exactly we never called them slingshots 😂