Shepherd Sling: amazing accuracy with primitive rock ammunition!

hi everyone I've been practicing regularly with the primitive Shepherd sling for almost a year now I have been able to achieve hunting level accuracy with this weapon so today I want to share all that I have learned through this amazing journey now I have made a number of slings from various materials such as cordage paracord and leather and have a few tips on sling construction longer slings are more powerful than shorter slings but shorter slings are much more accurate my short sling is 27 inches in length the design of the sling pouch affects how the stone is released the three strand cordage pouch has minimal contact area with the stone this causes some stones to fall out prematurely during the cast conversely the leather cup pouch has too much contact area making the release timing less consistent for me the split pouch design offered the optimal amount of contact area the release end of the sling if it ends in a knot or a point will sometimes break the sound barrier thus causing a sharp crack this cracking sound spooks game attracts unwanted attention and causes my release finger to flinch thus decreasing accuracy so instead I made the release knot and in a puff ball with fibers of uneven length this will stay subsonic and thus silent now on to the sling stones ammo consistency has a huge impact on accuracy so first you want to collect smooth round pebbles from streams and creek beds then group them by size the larger this size pebbles and the smaller quail egg size pebbles should be discarded only the medium sized stones are kept for practice now after a few practice sessions you'll notice that some stones are consistently released too early these stones are much less dense than average and should be discarded you'll also notice that other stones can stantly released too late these stones are much more dense than average and should be discarded what you end up with is a collection of highly consistent stone ammunition there are a number of slinging techniques my favorite is the Greek overhand followed by the underhand due to their relatively easier learning curve when practicing with the sling a few important things should be kept in mind first your muscles need to be relaxed so do some stretching exercises before practicing your mind must be completely clear try not to think about anything when Slean distracting thoughts absolutely kills accuracy when aiming keep both eyes open and look at the target try to focus on a small point on the target if there isn't one then imagine a point at the target center of mass now you need to look into the target your eyes must lock onto the point on that target when the cast happens every part of your body will be in motion but that lock between your eyes and the target must never be broken or you'll miss when executing the cast remember not to put everything you got into it that will kill the accuracy instead reduce the casting power to around 70 percent of your maximum and make the hit now here is the hard part you need to practice a lot you need to practice every single day for hundreds and hundreds of days you need to practice until your arm and back or sword practice until thick hard calluses form on your release fingers practice until your muscles your eyes and your mind become one you need to practice until you are able to consciously purge all thoughts from your mind at a moment's notice after nearly a year and thirty thousand tests I can now hit a small game size target three out of every four tries at 30 feet and one out of every two tries at 45 feet thus I'm at the skill level of a child from an indigenous slinging culture an adult with a lifetime of practice from such cultures are able to consistently hit torso size targets at 150 feet according to European colonial accounts the primitive rock sling is indeed a powerful survival weapon in skilled hands and now that I have this skill it has become my favorite primitive projectile weapon and I hope that my experience can help those who want to master this weapon anyways thanks so much for watching if you like this video and want to see more please like share and subscribe to my channel thanks a lot and see you laters bite

Channel: Wannabe Bushcrafter

Views: 578,661

Rating: 4.6906056 out of 5

Keywords: sling, slinging, rock sling, shepard's sling, primitive, weapon, bushcraft, hunting, survival, small game, projectile, stone throwing, rocks, pebbles, woodcraft, primitive living, emergency survival, wilderness survival, sling pouch, sling design, primitive survival

Id: 28r-MQejnHg

Length: 5min 12sec (312 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 11 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/costas_0]

Practice!

[u/saippuakauppias]

While you were partying, I studied The Blade™

[u/TheMagusMedivh]

They should use these in The Walking Dead