Anyone here ever use an atlatl?

22 March 2003, 09:17

Bill/Oregon

Atlatl: There are some neat Web sites on atlatls, and I have seen and examined them, and always wanted to spend an afternoon tossign spears with one. Have you taken game with an atlatl-thrown spear or dart?

22 March 2003, 09:14

Mssgn

Yep. I'm in a video used by the university of Arizona, et al. of paleo indian hunting implements demonstrating the atlatl. A friend of mine has the only license to hunt with one ever issued by NY State. They are incredibly easy to use. With an hour's practice you should be able to hit a hay bale at 100 yards. But no - we've never taken game with one -yet.

22 March 2003, 09:50

Hobie

quote:
Originally posted by Mssgn:
A friend of mine has the only license to hunt with one ever issued by NY State.

More details?

22 March 2003, 14:00

<Bruz>

With an hour's practice you should be able to hit a hay bale at 100 yards.

Hmmm, I have been practicing with a copound bow for weeks and do not think I could hit a bale of hay at 100 yards! They really that easy to learn and that accurate? Need some pics or a website! Thanks.

23 March 2003, 07:41

Oldsarge

Unless you're a professional baseball pitcher, an hour's practice with an atlatl and dart will leave you with a throwing arm so stiff and sore you'll creak for a week! As to the idea that you could hit a haybale at a 100 yards, this I've got to see! [Roll Eyes]

Those pre-technological peoples who still used them into the 20th Century (Inuit and Australian Aboriginals) thought 30 yards was a long shot.

I've owned an atlatl for years. I use it to demonstrate to the sixth graders the power of leverage and the technology of the Cro-Magnon people. They're easy to make but danmed hard to use. That's why they were replaced by the bow and arrow, an instrument that is damned hard to make but easier to use. I once spoke to a fellow who claimed to be the first person in a thousand years to take a deer in California with a spear-thrower but he gave no proof, other than a beautifully made hunting set.

It isn't legal here, Bruz, unless you can get the DFG to define it as a sub-set of archery, something they ought to do. After all, crossbows are legal. Certainly, it would increase your stalking skills. [Wink]

23 March 2003, 15:28

Atlatlhunter

Yes I have one. The only game I've taken with it is a rabbit (pure luck) and a few carp.

Accuracy is directly dependent on the quality of the equipment. If you make a "usable" one you could hit a basketball at 15 yards or so, if you really take your time and make a really good set that feels good to you and you can handle well, then you could probably hit a deer at 30 yards or so if you practice with it.

The main thing is most people don't make darts with a heavy enough tip. Or a dart shaft that's too stiff. The most important part of the set is the dart.

23 March 2003, 15:46

Oldsarge

quote:
The main thing is most people don't make darts with a heavy enough tip. Or a dart shaft that's too stiff. The most important part of the set is the dart.[/QB]

Absolutely! It frustrated archeologists for years until they figured out that the spearthrower itself was only part of the equation. The dart has to be flexible enough that when you throw it you actually load a spring that then uncurls off the thrower at it's hight point. I have my kids make darts out of long thin bamboo shafts with hardwood foreshafts and either antler or sharpened bamboo points. Effective looking? Man! Those things would work though I never let them try. I can just imagine the L.A. Times headlines if one of them skewered another!

23 March 2003, 19:18

<Bruz>

It isn't legal here, Bruz

Well Sarge, of course it is'nt...if it were legal the crooks and gangbangers could get ahold of them and the streets would run red! [Roll Eyes]

Maybe I can make one that looks like a hat in case the DEA busts me!

You sound like a great teacher. My favorite class was the one where the teacher took the mundain and had us apply the priciples to real life by making things, etc.

31 March 2003, 03:28

NitroX

I haven't used an atlatl, but have used an Aboriginal Woomera. What exactly is an atlatl?

I am yet to source an original hunting woomera for my collection but do have a number of original and replica Aboriginal hunting spears mainly from the "Red Centre".

Visited an Aboriginal centre some years ago where spearing throwing was one activity. All of the tourists threw crap. I watched them throw and picked out which "spears" (really just cheap imitations - ie tourists break them) flew well then took a turn and picked a couple out. (I like it when a hunter shows the tourists up [Big Grin]

).

The Woomera worked pretty well. The target was a hay bale, just missed the top with the first and skimmed the top of it with the second.

They definitely work and with a little practice are far superior to throwing a light shafted spear by hand and considerably more power from a standing throw.

An "atlatl" throws a shorter spear or dart doesn't it? Was this an eskimo weapon?

31 March 2003, 12:16

Boss Kongoni

After three years of tring to use one, I have a very tight 4' group. [Eek!]

No surpize, as a kid playing baseball I either threw strikes or dusted the batter.

01 April 2003, 12:19

Atlatlhunter

Nitro, "Atlatl" is an aztec word meaning "spear thrower" so "no" the atlatl is not eskimo in origin. But they did have what we now call atlatls or more properly, the "inuit throwing board" for the style they used. The woomera is another kind of atlatl. Just one of the many forms of spear thowers. Different people use different length spears, it's all personal preference. And the aboriginies used a variety of spears or darts for different uses. Heavier ones for larger game and thinner ones for smaller game. Also they use it for fishing.