Fish Hunter Catapult Testing

[Siberianfury]

Ive recently aquired a Hunter catapult from our very own fish, handcrafted in his workshop in wiltshire this is a bit of kit ive been curious about for quite some time. thought id do a little reveiw just to give those who have never used one an idea of what these things are capable of.

so first,



Overveiw

The Fish hunter catapult is constructed from laminated wood painted either brown or Green, this makes the catapult very durable yet lightweight. its pretty small aswell, much smaller and more compact than the more commonly seen catapult, the Barnett black widow. This makes it ideal to just carry around in a pocket when out on a walk, you will barley notice its there.
Despite its small size the handle is well shaped to aid a positive and strong grip when drawing back the bands. The Catapult is fitted with "two" theraband Gold slingshot bands, beleived to be the very best Bands a slingshot can have, they provide alot of power and a strong but managable pull. the shot pouch is quite small and crafted from leather, its strong, well fitted yet can be a little hard to get a strong hold on when your hands are numb due to the small size.


In practice/ Accuracy

A common mistake when people first use a slingshot is that they try to aim with it in order to aquire an accurate shot, infact, the best way to achive accuracy with a catty is to aim by instinct, this can only be aceived by hours of practice and effort, however when your skills are honed you will become Deadly accurate with the Catty and be able to make accurate quick shots at targets.
Ive been practicing with a few old cans and some slates and my skills still need a hell of a load of polishing ************Removed by forum moderators******.



Hunting/Power

The Hunter Catapult is capable of Shooting .440 steel or lead balls at around 210FPS, this is around 27joules or 18ft/lbs of power, the legal limit of power for an air rifle is 12ft/lb and most of them fire at around 11ft/lb so its a hell of a lot of power to carry around in your pocket. The ************ removed by forum moderator**************, it is however almost impossible to hit a target at that range with a catty so hunting ranges are limited to around 25yards. I myself have not yet attempted hunting with this catapult yet have seen many photos of ***Removed***** with this wonderful bit of kit...



The picture above shows a lead ball fired into a tree from around 15 metres, a true testiment to the power of this catty.



Good Points



Solid
Compact
Well made
Comfortable to hold
Extreamly powerful
Affordable alternative to an air rifle



Bad Points



Takes alot of time to master
The pouch can he hard to grip with cold/numb hands.


In conclusion the Fish hunter is a brilliant bit of kit, hours of can smashing fun and a brilliant tool for hunting in a pocket sized package, Highly Reccomended

 

[Shewie]

Thanks for the review Josh, I keep looking at them but I don't think I've got the time to get the practise in.

 

[jonnie drake]

nice piccy's mate. Have you tried holding it chinese style? it takes a lot of strain off of your wrist, so much easier to aim and hold. I've not used fishes catties yet, but have been using his bands a few weeks now and they are difinately deadly powerful! Your very right about the aiming thing. It's just like throwing, very much an instict thing, im just beginning to get grasp of the aim at the mo.

 

[littlebiglane]

Excellent review. Thanks for this.

 

[Alfredo]

I like your review. Bravo.

 

[fishfish]

many thanks,could do with you at the game fair this weekend!

 

[Ogri the trog]

Had I seen this post when it was first posted, I would have done it then.
However, I have removed a number of references to what might be taken as advocating illegal activity - namely poaching.

SF - your review is well written and balanced, but forum rules must be adhered to.

Ogri the trog

 

[farmershort]

many thanks,could do with you at the game fair this weekend!

Nice review, Received my brown hunter a week ago.... lost 8 of the 10 free lead balls within about 30 mins of opening it... I tried shooting at a bag of builders sand. Turns out that I'm not that good a shot, as only 1 hit the bag... the rest are lost for all time in the verge.

I've now got to try and find a place to buy a hundred or so .44 balls for cheap, and then set up a decent target.

thanks fish!

Adam

 

[British Red]

Any decent gun shop will sell you .44 lead balls - they are used in black powder shooting. No licence required for the balls alone.

Red

 

[farmershort]

Any decent gun shop will sell you .44 lead balls - they are used in black powder shooting. No licence required for the balls alone.

Red

yeah, tried my local gun shop at the weekend, no joy... he says he sometimes has them in for catty's, but it's just a matter of waiting till he gets some next - no eta given

There's another gun shop I can try though... It'll be an excuse to take my shotgun in anyway... I need someone to tell me if it's strong enough to shoot magnum shot.

 

[wattsy]

Had I seen this post when it was first posted, I would have done it then.
However, I have removed a number of references to what might be taken as advocating illegal activity - namely poaching.

SF - your review is well written and balanced, but forum rules must be adhered to.

Ogri the trog

hunting with catapults is legal though isn't it? with landowners permission etc. i think the wording of the law is that its legal as long as you have the landowners permission, you're proficient enough to kill and use suitable projectiles and you intend to kill.

 

[Ogri the trog]

hunting with catapults is legal though isn't it? with landowners permission etc. i think the wording of the law is that its legal as long as you have the landowners permission, you're proficient enough to kill and use suitable projectiles and you intend to kill.

In certain circumstances, yes it is legal. But the species mentioned in the original post were subject to licensing and possibly a restriction on the methods used.

Ogri the trog

 

[Martyn]

TBH, I'm surprised it's legal, given the high chance of maiming an animal, rather than killing it.

I'm curious, the flatband catapults are very powerful, but it also takes a very strong arm to hold one steady enough to aim. I realise that "instinctive" shooting is recommended, though I think a lot of practice is needed to get good at that.

What kind of group size and consistency is considered the minimum acceptable before being "good enough" to take a shot at a live animal?

 

[farmershort]

TBH, I'm surprised it's legal, given the high chance of maiming an animal, rather than killing it.

I'm curious, the flatband catapults are very powerful, but it also takes a very strong arm to hold one steady enough to aim. I realise that "instinctive" shooting is recommended, though I think a lot of practice is needed to get good at that.

What kind of group size and consistency is considered the minimum acceptable before being "good enough" to take a shot at a live animal?

there are no 'catapult aiming consistency' police.

Personally I'm hoping to get my groupings to about 4 inches over 25 yards, but even this may be too much to hope for. If I can hit something on the head and kill it, then brill, if I don't hit it on the head, and I just stun it for a few seconds, or wound it, then it's only suffering for the number of seconds which it takes for me to run 25 yards.

Even given this delay, it's still less stress than your average commercial hen would be put through.

 

[Martyn]

there are no 'catapult aiming consistency' police.

Maybe there should be?

Personally I'm hoping to get my groupings to about 4 inches over 25 yards, but even this may be too much to hope for. If I can hit something on the head and kill it, then brill, if I don't hit it on the head, and I just stun it for a few seconds, or wound it, then it's only suffering for the number of seconds which it takes for me to run 25 yards.

Even given this delay, it's still less stress than your average commercial hen would be put through.

Well, most people say that you should be able to hit 2" groups at 30 yards, 10 out of 10 with an air rifle before considering yourself good enough to hunt live quarry, it is often said that anything less is irresponsible, inhumane and cruel. Wouldn't that also be true for catty's? Or is there some kind of special absolution for catapult hunters?

Are those kinds of groupings achievable for the average person using theraband flatbands, even at 15 yards?

Would you consider 4" groups at 25 yards good enough to hunt with an air rifle?

 

[wattsy]

Maybe there should be?



Well, most people say that you should be able to hit 2" groups at 30 yards, 10 out of 10 with an air rifle before considering yourself good enough to hunt live quarry, it is often said that anything less is irresponsible, inhumane and cruel. Wouldn't that also be true for catty's? Or is there some kind of special absolution for catapult hunters?

Are those kinds of groupings achievable for the average person using theraband flatbands, even at 15 yards?

Would you consider 4" groups at 25 yards good enough to hunt with an air rifle?

to be honest mate if you hit a rabbit anywhere except the legs with one of fish's catapults it won't go anywhere the impact energy is massive the animal would die of shock if the projectile didn't kill it straight away. are rifles are much more precise at longer ranges but theyaren't as powerful meaning there's a high risk of injuring the animal not killing it.

 

[wattsy]

In certain circumstances, yes it is legal. But the species mentioned in the original post were subject to licensing and possibly a restriction on the methods used.

Ogri the trog

thats fair enough mate i didn't know he'd mentioned anything like that. cheers

 

[farmershort]

Maybe there should be?

No

Well, most people say that you should be able to hit 2" groups at 30 yards, 10 out of 10 with an air rifle before considering yourself good enough to hunt live quarry, it is often said that anything less is irresponsible, inhumane and cruel. Wouldn't that also be true for catty's?

Then you've already got an answer to the question you posed yourself. good luck

Would you consider 4" groups at 25 yards good enough to hunt with an air rifle?

Yes. I'd hope for better, but I'll take what I can get. I hunt for food, not for fun. I don't see hunting as anywhere near as cruel as some commercial farming practices. If you're a veggie, then fine, enjoy your life choice... If you eat meat from a supermarket, then there's not much point getting on a soap box about cruelty. As long as I can stop the animal for long enough that I can grab it, that'll do me.

 

[Martyn]

Then you've already got an answer to the question you posed yourself. good luck

Well I was hoping for a reasoned answer rather than just a get stuffed response, but there ya go I suppose.

Yes. I'd hope for better, but I'll take what I can get. I hunt for food, not for fun. I don't see hunting as anywhere near as cruel as some commercial farming practices. If you're a veggie, then fine, enjoy your life choice... If you eat meat from a supermarket, then there's not much point getting on a soap box about cruelty. As long as I can stop the animal for long enough that I can grab it, that'll do me.

Not that it's relevant, but I'm not a veggie, I'm pro hunting, most definitely, I'm just anti irresponsible hunting of live animals by people using a weapon that they are struggling to hit the long side of a barn with.

Oh and I dont buy the "I hunt for food" thing. In deepest, darkest Leicestershire, I'm told the the easiest prey is to be had at Morrisons.

 

[farmershort]

Oh and I dont buy the "I hunt for food" thing. In deepest, darkest Leicestershire, I'm told the the easiest prey is to be had at Morrisons.

The point is, you don't have to buy it. between the pigs which we rear in a neighbours garden, and the quarry that I hunt, I never have to buy meat from the likes of morrisons/tesco/etc. This is my preferred way to live... well, it's halfway along the road anyway...

It's not irresponsible. breaking a rabbits leg in half and leaving it to die a slow painful death would be irresponsible. And the 'get stuffed' response was merely to counter the 'its irresponsible to shoot at an animal unless you can target it's heart/brain with pin point accuracy 100% of the time' response. I certainly don't know anyone who can do the latter in practice.