Hunting with 'throwing sticks'! is it legal?

[Samon]

Lol yep! Another legal question.

I saw a documentary a while back where they showed off these metal ended sticks that were used by Britains hundreds of years ago. A google search shows they are called throwing sticks.. How imaginative! They come in all shapes, clubbed, fat, boomerangy, weighted etc and apparently people still practice this as a method of hunting!


With permission of the land owner, is it legal in England??

If it is I'd like to make some, but its kind of wasted effort if they're not allowed..

Cheers chaps

 

[Goatboy]

Haven't the Scoobiest idea if it's still legal in Britain, though I'd imagine not as most prey has "legal means" of being obtained, and things outwith tend to get frowned upon. Know I wasn't allowed to hunt owt bar salt water fish with the bow and reel I made up, even then it was hazy! So saying catapults are still allowed so you never know.
You wouldn't happen to have a link to the article would you? Would be interested to read it.
Might be nice to make one just for the craft and skill of it.

 

[Samon]

No arrivals I'm afraid mate, but google image has lots of pictures of them next to dead squirels and stuff!

Looks really fun lol

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

Throwing sticks don't necessarily have to be metal ended (I'd never heard of this)... At their simplest they are hard wood sticks about forearm length and just under or about wrist thick... If you were hypothetically caught 'hunting' rabbits with said stick in a field/forest I doubt anything realistically could come of it (provided you have landowners permission to be there and aren't going for non-pest species etc etc) because it's just a stick!! They can be made more effective by carving down the centre 3 quarters of the stick to an aero foil shape and leaving the ends thick but carved smooth (no bark, rounded ends, etc) they're great fun to practice with! Just tie an empty plastic milk bottle up about 5-10 metres away and go ahead! Just don't do it in public where it could be seen as threatening behaviour... *dunno*

All the best! Lewis

 

[boatman]

See"squailer" in the Amateur Poacher by Richard Jefferies, stick with lead tip moulded in a tea cup.Used for rabbits and squirrels.The very heavy end of lead would hopefully prevent the squailer lodging in a tree as it would unbalance and fall down.

 

[Samon]

The ones I saw on that old show (might have been a river cottage or ray Mears episode..) Looked like ww2 German grenade sticks!

I have some thick lengths of apple and oak I'll cut down to size. I'm thinking I could either do lump ended design hand carved to a cornery end or a double lump ended one like a dog bone.


I won't lead weight the ends, internal or external but i will try leaving them with edges like a hexagon for extra 'impact'?

Would it be.. 'Barbaric' to add spikes or studs? Would this actually change the legality of stick hunting?

Reminds me, I actually need a carving axe! Ive been using my shovel to carve with since selling my gransfors! Lol trust me thoufh it ain't bad!

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

I wouldn't go for the spikes....
They would make it a weapon in the eyes of any spectator beyond reasonable doubt and wouldn't really aid the functionality..
Throwing sticks are weapons of blunt trauma.. The harder you throw them and the more aerodynamic they are, the less velocity they lose in flight..
As kinetic energy = 1/2 X Mass X (Velocity)squared ... A marginal drop in Velocity (brought about by the disruption caused by spikes) would lower the Energy near exponentially regardless of the Mass they introduce..


You need a good hard heavy smooth stick with the majority of it's weight at each end and a good accurate throw. Simple and effective!


ATB, Lewis

 

[British Red]

The sensible thing to do would be to contact you local police wildlife officer and ask them whether its legal to kill target quarry by throwing sticks. I suspect I know the answer, but gt a definitive answer from the the relevant authority.

 

[ayylmao]

yes it is legal " If, save as permitted by this Act, any person mutilates, kicks, beats, nails or otherwise impales, stabs, burns, stones, crushes, drowns, drags or asphyxiates any wild mammal with intent to inflict unnecessary suffering he shall be guilty of an offence." as long as one does not leave the rabbit to suffer (which means running up and hitting it on the head after its been hit with the throwing stick) is perfectly fine. ive hunted about 10 rabbits with a throwing stick, the rabbit either dies instantly or is stunned, and then you can run up and crack its neck. one of the only primitive hunting methods thats legal in the UK which is great
h

 

[Samon]

I really should probably try and make one sometime.. I've still been meaning to do so.

Anyone else got any hints, tips and stories etc?

 

[Corso]

Can't see anything in the legislation that covers throwing sticks but that wouldn't in itself mean its legal You can be jailed and fined up to £5,000 for hunting illegally or up to £20,000 for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. That can mean pretty much anything except an instant kill.

I'd also be a bit concerned about it being interpreted as an offensive weapon if I planned to carry it without a specific intent.

 

[mrostov]

See"squailer" in the Amateur Poacher by Richard Jefferies, stick with lead tip moulded in a tea cup.Used for rabbits and squirrels.The very heavy end of lead would hopefully prevent the squailer lodging in a tree as it would unbalance and fall down.

https://archive.org/details/amateurpoacher00jeffgoog

It's an old book and the copyrights have expired. There are several formats available for a free download.

 

[Yorkshirewanderer]

Wow this has just brought back some memories. When I was a kid my dad taught me how to make what we called a 'Flying Arrow' which was essentially a length of bamboo about 50cm long with flights slid into the back (like dart flights) made for an old cornflake box, then just below the flights a groove was cut around the stick and a length of string was used to throw it, we used an old bolt to weigh the end down with.Me and my brother would spend hours in the back field throwing them at targets (not animals i should add). I even remember trying to sell them in the primary school paper for something like 50p each! I may have to make one this weekend to show the little one.

 

[mrostov]

Wow this has just brought back some memories. When I was a kid my dad taught me how to make what we called a 'Flying Arrow' which was essentially a length of bamboo about 50cm long with flights slid into the back (like dart flights) made for an old cornflake box, then just below the flights a groove was cut around the stick and a length of string was used to throw it, we used an old bolt to weigh the end down with.Me and my brother would spend hours in the back field throwing them at targets (not animals i should add). I even remember trying to sell them in the primary school paper for something like 50p each! I may have to make one this weekend to show the little one.

That is like a homemade version of the lawn darts they used to sell here, before they were taken off the market in the name of safety (may all lawyers die of the pox). Back in the 80's some enterprising fellow had a business building and selling a compressed air bazooka made primarily out of PVC pipe that fired lawn darts with a Styrofoam sabot. You could kill a deer with it (in hunting season, of course). It even had a scope mount for sighting and accuracy. They also had a Styrofoam sabot you could buy for the air bazooka that held a cluster of .50 caliber lead balls, like a giant shotgun. The problem was the lawn dart manufacturer took the lawn darts off of the market.

So, if I'm to understand what you describe with the string, the string acts as a kind of atlatl that stays attached to the dart?

 

[Corso]

yes they are also called french arrows

http://jungletraining.com/forums/showthread.php?12398-French-arrow

 

[Yorkshirewanderer]

That is like a homemade version of the lawn darts they used to sell here, before they were taken off the market in the name of safety (may all lawyers die of the pox). Back in the 80's some enterprising fellow had a business building and selling a compressed air bazooka that fired lawn darts with a Styrofoam sabot. You could kill a deer with it (in hunting season, of course). They also had a Styrofoam sabot you could buy that held a cluster of .50 caliber lead balls, like a giant shotgun.


So, if I'm to understand what you describe with the string, the string acts as a kind of atlatl that stays attached to the dart?

Just had to google atlatl, yep thats what the string acts as but you keep hold of the string as it is only looped round the dart with a knot at the end of the string then the string held at the bottom of the dart, this is the best picture i could find on google to describe what i mean


Had some great fun with them, and so easy to make.

 

[Samon]

My dad taught me how to make flying arrows too, I think he called them 'dutch arrows' sometimes?

We made ours from those green garden sticks, playing cards and string. They were great fun and flew incredibly far, making my brothers and me feel like beasts! lol

 

[Corso]

looks like they have had a host of names in the past

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_arrow

the Kestros looks like a pretty useful tool too as long as you launch it right

 

[Samon]

Should I even announce how dumb I am by asking if they are legal to hunt with?.. wait just did lol.

 

[Coldfeet]

Can anyone explain, or better still post a video, of the technique to use with those "French/Swiss/whatever Arrow" things please?