Ballistic Hunting Weapons

Now we’ll move on to Crossbows. Believe it or not, Crossbow’s are largely unregulated in the UK. There are a few laws such as age limits and carrying in public but as far as power goes, just about anything is legal. There are 2 types of crossbow generally considered to be worthwhile, the recurve and compound. We’re going to exclude the compound crossbow straight away. They are expensive, require regular maintenance and once they break, that’s it unless you have the spare parts. The recurve crossbow has several points that make it an ideal weapon:

• Simple to operate
• Quiet
• Spares are small and portable
• High powered, extreme stopping power when in range.
• Easily repaired in the field

However, like most weapons, it has its drawbacks:

• Limited range
• Requires specialized ammunition
• Bulky and unwieldy
• Single shot

Conclusion on Crossbows. An excellent choice for medium to long term hunting in survival situations. A crossbow bolt is almost guaranteed to stop just about any small animal with even a mediocre shot. In survival situations we’re not worried about being “humane” we’re more worried about food and a crossbow will provide that food if you manage to hit it just about anywhere. Suggested crossbows, avoid wooden stocks, they require care and yet again, simplicity is key:

Standard Recurve
www.merlinarcherycentre.co.uk...
Doesn’t matter if it’s painted bright orange, I have used this crossbow on several rabbit hunting trips using just the standard open sights and it is a very reliable weapon. I suggest buying a few spare strings.

Barnett Panzer V Recurve
www.barnettcrossbows.com...
Although it looks like a toy this is a very capable crossbow. It can spit a bolt at 245FPS with only a 150lb draw weight and its synthetic body renders it impervious to weather. Spares are a bit hard to come by though, try and source a few spare strings before buying.

Finally we come to Catapults or good ole fashioned Slingshots. A few of you will no doubt notice I have omitted Bows from our choice. Although a longbow is a simple choice of weapon it requires massive amounts of practice to use effectively and you’ll end up using arrows at a ruinous rate if you are less than an expert at using the longbow. The main criteria of this exercise is identifying a weapon that can be used with confidence by the average user, it must have stopping power, relative accuracy and above all, be portable and easily repaired. The classic catapult meets every criteria. Benefits of the catapult:

• Very cheap to purchase
• Spares are cheap and portable
• Insane damage, a good catapult and 3/8” steel shot will kill just about anything you aim it at!
• Doesn’t require specialized ammo, you can use a stone/rock.
• Quiet
• Easy to master

Drawbacks:

• Range is limited to about 20m

Suggested Catapults. Well there’s only one company that springs to mind, Barnett. I’ve hunted with many catapults in the past but the Barnett Cobra stands out as the best. Considering it’s price, I won’t bother suggesting anything else:

www.merlinarcherycentre.co.uk...

Next week I will go into edible mammals in the UK and how best to hunt them.