A once familiar sound is re-erupting from memory’s caldera. That’s not some crazy new expression from the “urban” dictionary titled above. Rather, it’s my onomatopoeic rendering of the sound a homemade slingshot makes, and I’ve just re-experienced it.
A safari hunter today, all grown up after an East African childhood and for decades “returned” to my passport country, I am reflecting on how I got my start. Having no resources, I like many classmates, was limited to making my own “catty” from local materials. We cobbled together sticks, twine, leather from American blue jean trouser patches identifying the brand, and surgical tubing procured from discarded mission hospital supplies to create the slingshots yielding that unique sound. Piff—phuthottt!
I learned to hunt with slingshots I made, developing my growing love for wildlife and hunting by chasing Ethiopia’s spectacular and varied bird populations around the country. Whether at our mission vacation spot, on camping trips to Lake Langano, just making our way to Awash National Park, or around Leimo Hospital mission station where Dad worked and Mom kept house, hunting birds consumed my extra time. Even today I find myself using a unique set of skills. Instead of more useful trainings in tracking, studying prey species habits and how they relate to the land, etc. needed to hunt with a firearm, I learned to key on motion and sound, being limited to bird hunting. My PH (professional hunter) says, “Look for something that doesn’t belong,” scanning through binoculars. Not knowing the territory like he does, it all looks foreign to me. Yet, a flash of wing, tail, horn and I see things he might miss! (I am adept at locating many a “cactus beast” very well, if you just have to know. Sunshine on the ears of cactus catches my eye, whether the prickly pear grows in Texas or as an unwanted introduction to South Africa.)
Store-bought slingshots just don’t have the same feel or ring to them. Uniform ammunition in the form of marbles or ball bearings work well with Daisy or Pocket Rocket offerings, but a bagful of stones is more suited to the homemade variety, custom made to draw all the way back to your ear before release. Bowhunting, particularly with recurve bows, uses the same instinctive type of shooting as my “catty”. Compound bows, like a good custom rifle, ought to be tuned or fit to the shooter’s physique by contrast. And, you get to craft your slingshot to suit your own taste.
Lease hunting in Lufkin, Texas, was my first exposure to whitetail deer hunting. There I began collecting forked sticks that would just last week be ready for new slingshots. After twenty years in my garage, the wood was truly seasoned. Similarly, I’ve saved Lee brand leather patches from blue jeans worn out over time. A trip to LOWE’s yielded latex tubing in a size I didn’t have to carefully split in halves, like the surgical variety my dad supplied, starting the final process. Whittling the grooves with my Winchester clasp knife was easy, and I used our kitchen pliers to quickly deepen them to fit the tubing purchased. (Interestingly enough, the knife is made using something called pakkawood. When I asked online where it comes from, a wag said pakka trees grow right next to the Arctic banana and the spaghetti bush. In other words, it is actually manmade, a urethane impregnated laminate/composite. )
After assembling two slingshots -- I guess you know “catty” is short for catapult -- trial shots in my backyard using stone gave a truly nostalgic, satisfying result. Any roving tomcat trying to get at our kitty is looking for trouble now! I guess the “professional small boy” Peter Hathaway Capstick refers to never does leave the grown man. Now I have rifles from .22 LR to .416 Rigby, taking a few small safaris learning to use them in Africa. Instead of being limited to “catty” and rocks, the pleasure is back. Piff—phuthottt!

Barry

Walter takes a slingshot with him on safari every year.

It is the only hunting instrument he can actually shoot without flinching

I will try to explain the slingshot I used.

We never used a frame, but, as you will see, that never made any difference to what we can do with it.

We used to buy multi coloured rubber bands.

Each colour is a different diameter.

I found that by tying a yellow and a green together, I get just about the right stretch with a full arm.

I used to cut a small piece of thin leather - about an inch long and half an inch wide.

I made a hole at each long end, and tied each pair of rubber bands on each side - that is one yellow and one green tied together.

We used these with small stones, until I discovered that in used #2 or # 3 pellets from shotgun shells, and used two at a time, they were absolutely deadly!

To use these, I put one end on my left fore finger, and one end on my left thumb - they work as the frame.

I could shoot these pellet extremely accurately, and kill birds up to pigeons with it.

Only trouble was, it messed up the skin between my fore finger and thumb, which eventually developed a very hard skin, and then it did not matter any more.

a slingshot is indeed a great tool- to terrorize baboons with- one time there where 3 babos sitting together and i zaped one with marula nut. he proceeded to beat up the one on one side for hitting him, while the 3rd one ate the nut

The best I ever did was the Harrier Hawk (top) alias Gymnogene, a pure luck shot that punched his skull. Had to get creative to get him down from the acacia tree. Sadly, I let him sit on my taxidermy table too long so, "Bad boy!" The Bruce's green pigeon was mine, the paradise flycatcher[Ethiopian race has those spectacular white trailers] and little bee-eater not. We had a kid at school who was a real artist and had eyes, borax, excelsior, etc. his dad bought for his little business. I was a wannabe, but it was fun trying, and bought a few of his. He did a Namaqua dove for me, too. We ate a few doves that we killed, although I am a white not dark meat guy. Sadly, all bird mounts stayed behind when my folks had to leave the Marxists behind.

Saeed, I like your idea!

Neat thread. Nice photos of your birds as well.

A slingshot seemed to be the armament of choice for East African boys from the time they can pull the rubber back until they get to a point where they can pull a trigger.

Your weapons look a little different than mine. Mine were also made before the days of surgical rubber or at least access to it.

Ours were made from smaller branch forks than yours and inter tube rubber. Some tubes had poor rubber that wasn't very elastic. If I remember correct, Dunlop was the rubber of choice. If there was a choice.

We would use a razorblade and cut off a 4' piece apx. 1/4 to 5/8" wide. We would keep the extra length tied off at the bottom so when the rubber broke it was easily undone and replaced. We would use 1/8 to 1/16 pieces of rubber to wrap the slingshot and hold everything in place.

Upon shooting a bird we would make a fire and cook it. We felt we were pretty tuff stuff and on our path to being a Great White Hunter.

Birds, iguanas, snakes, bushbabys, monkeys, basically anything that moved was our quarry. I was never able to kill a monkey although friends were successful. We were certainly successful in keeping them out of the gardens.

Birds and bushbabys that had the wind knocked out of them were normally nursed back to health and kept as pets. My African friends didn't understand this and thought I was mentally touched to have meat in my hand and not eat it.

Photobucket and I are not friends. I can share a couple of photos if anyone wants to post them for me.

BNagle, Thanks for taking me on a trip down memory lane.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
a slingshot is indeed a great tool- to terrorize baboons with- one time there where 3 babos sitting together and i zaped one with marula nut. he proceeded to beat up the one on one side for hitting him, while the 3rd one ate the nut

Good story. +1

quote:

Good story. +1

PM'd you. Send your pix and I'll post 'em up, brother.

Photos posted for AilsaWheels -








One more of mine -

Sling shots are banned in Australia (I know right) anyway when Walter bought his high tech sling shot out the lads bought out their wood and tyre inner tube one and wiped the decks with us . Koster was very good with it.

BNagle,

Thanks for posting the photos.

quote:

Originally posted by AilsaWheels:
BNagel,
Thanks for posting the photos.

Bob, you are quite welcome. The locals -- Ethiopia observes dietary restrictions due to Jewish influence carrying over to Orthodox Christian practices, therefore they avoid bird hunting per se -- liked to try my catty out. Invariably, keyed in to the final action as the rock lift in flight towards the target, they'd actually pull the thing outwards. I'd have to correct the disastrous attempt, starting with showing them to pull towards the ear and release it there.
I've seen the same inability to process "how to" when bowhunters on safari videos get local Maasai or whomever to pull and shoot arrows out of a compound bow. They can do wonders with throwing a spear, yet cannot master breaking the bow over, trying to muscle it (instead of observing and mimicking the bowhunter's technique), kind of like weightlifting on brute strength alone.

African nationals being better with familiar weapons tells about the importance of practice and muscle memory. That's why we dry fire, keep in bow shape, etc. I'd have to shoot my new slingshot a bunch to get the results we got as kids, although I haven't forgotten what happens if I lead a flying bird from right to left -- banged knuckles!

Which leads to another topic, cracking a bull whip sized too long for your physique. Ever wrap one of them around your ear? Still hurts!

Alisawheels:

We called them "catties" and my preference was red rubber from truck tyre tubes which were slightly thicker than the smaller tubes for saloons and light trucks.

The red rubber had a guaranteed elasticity over the black which featured some crappy stuff that had an almost "plastic" feel.

Some memorable photos you got there.

quote:

Originally posted by BNagel:

quote:

Originally posted by AilsaWheels:
BNagel,
Thanks for posting the photos.

Bob, you are quite welcome. The locals -- Ethiopia observes dietary restrictions due to Jewish influence carrying over to Orthodox Christian practices, therefore they avoid bird hunting per se -- liked to try my catty out. Invariably, keyed in to the final action as the rock lift in flight towards the target, they'd actually pull the thing outwards. I'd have to correct the disastrous attempt, starting with showing them to pull towards the ear and release it there.
I've seen the same inability to process "how to" when bowhunters on safari videos get local Maasai or whomever to pull and shoot arrows out of a compound bow. They can do wonders with throwing a spear, yet cannot master breaking the bow over, trying to muscle it (instead of observing and mimicking the bowhunter's technique), kind of like weightlifting on brute strength alone.

African nationals being better with familiar weapons tells about the importance of practice and muscle memory. That's why we dry fire, keep in bow shape, etc. I'd have to shoot my new slingshot a bunch to get the results we got as kids, although I haven't forgotten what happens if I lead a flying bird from right to left -- banged knuckles!

Which leads to another topic, cracking a bull whip sized too long for your physique. Ever wrap one of them around your ear? Still hurts!

Interesting how dietary restrictions influences behavior. In southern Tanzania most all protein was eaten. Even the cats.(some might have an aversion but most didn't) Not sure if the locals would have eaten hyena. It was against the law to hunt them back then.

The percentage of locals that had catties probably wasn't that large but those that had one were pretty deadly. We could all pretty much hit something the size of a desert plate at 20-25 yards every shot.

I never was very good at hitting flying birds. Even now with a shotgun my skills are marginal.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:
Alisawheels:

We called them "catties" and my preference was red rubber from truck tyre tubes which were slightly thicker than the smaller tubes for saloons and light trucks.

The red rubber had a guaranteed elasticity over the black which featured some crappy stuff that had an almost "plastic" feel.

Some memorable photos you got there.

Thanks.

Catapults or catties were also words we used. I remember having red rubber a couple of times but we normally dealt with Landrover tubes.

I bet you have a couple of photos you could share.

quote:

Interesting how dietary restrictions influences behavior. In southern Tanzania most all protein was eaten. Even the cats.(some might have an aversion but most didn't) Not sure if the locals would have eaten hyena. It was against the law to hunt them back then.

The southern tribe bordering the Mozambique border was mainly the Makonde (famously known for their ebony carvings)who to this day will devour anything except Hyena.
You might remember this tribe which identified itself through primitive tattoos on their faces, sharpened teeth and their women who wore ebony lip plugs.

While we do have to get a bit older each morning we wake up; nowhere does it say that we have to grow up completely.

I was always a sling man.