I had some pleasant visits to the stone age this week.
A couple of weeks ago, I made an atlatl out of an approximately 30 inch piece of maple from a recalled crib, with the spur from an arrow point from a damaged arrow and the handle from drawer liner. And then I bought some bamboo stakes at Home Depot, straightened one over an alcohol flame, fletched it with duct tape, and sharpened the end. Not exactly stone age materials, but it was more convenient this way.
It was only this week that I had a chance to try out the equipment at the range, both by myself and with my son. I can throw 5.5 foot dart about 50 yards with the atlatl. There is something rather magical about this long dart snaking through the air with only a little leverage. (I also tried a much shorter dart, under 4 feet, but it flew terribly. Sometimes it would flip over backwards.) My accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but at least I can occasionally hit the target boss at ten yards. The rest is a matter of practice, I suppose.
All you need to do now is grow a beard, get some aboriginal type tattoos, body paint and loin cloth. Get into your cave and sit around the fire with your fellow primitives and do some male bonding. :-)
Had to show this post to John, a friend of mine in the Sanners Lake Sportsmans Club. He got a kick out of it. I asked John if you would let me borrow your atlatl to go deer hunting. John told me that that was unlikely since you will be using it to hunt mammoths. They are trying to bring back pre-historic species and a mammoth should provide a big enough target area. (They are also considering bringing back Neanderthals so you'll have plenty of hunting buddies) I was trying to see if there was a National Atlatl Association similar to the National Rifle Association and this is what the google search yielded:
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All you need to do now is grow a beard, get some aboriginal type tattoos, body paint and loin cloth. Get into your cave and sit around the fire with your fellow primitives and do some male bonding. :-)
Had to show this post to John, a friend of mine in the Sanners Lake Sportsmans Club. He got a kick out of it. I asked John if you would let me borrow your atlatl to go deer hunting. John told me that that was unlikely since you will be using it to hunt mammoths. They are trying to bring back pre-historic species and a mammoth should provide a big enough target area. (They are also considering bringing back Neanderthals so you'll have plenty of hunting buddies) I was trying to see if there was a National Atlatl Association similar to the National Rifle Association and this is what the google search yielded:
http://www.worldatlatl.org/
http://atlatl.boganstrictor.com/files/Texas_Atlatl_Newsletter_Vol._1_Issue_1.pdf
I just got back from an NRA rally and testifying on gun control bills before a committe of the House of Delegates in Annapolis.
I'll give them my atlatl when they pry it from my cold dead hands.
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