atlatl hunting anyone?

[timbermilton]

anyone round here shoot with or hunt with an atlatl and darts? a hunting buddy of mine out in alberta has a few and showed me how to make and shoot with them. grandfather to the longbow they say. just want to see if there is a b.c. interest in them. checked the regs and dont seem like its illegal, least i cant find anything prohibiting the use of them. i will say that it takes quite some time to master it.

[Monashee]

There are a few guys on Vancouver Island experimenting with them , with a properly tuned dart and sharp point they will take down the biggest animal around if it hits them in the right spot

Best website for them seems to be here - http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/forums/24/World-Atlatl-Association-General-Discussion-Forum

lot of info , plans here as well - http://www.thudscave.com/npaa/

[abbyfireguy]

Is there not a minimum weight of projectile and/or launching device?

[brazen]

I never heard of these. That thudscave links have a good breakdown of fps and projectile payload etc. At least for these things you could get practice all day by pitching tennis balls for dogs, with a Chuck-It ball launcher. Now those are popular.

[Mik]

I was just at the "Beringia Interpretive Centre" with my kids up in Whitehorse, and we got to try out the "Atlatl". Like anything else, with some practice, one could get good with it.

[Grantmac]

Just like getting good with any hunting tackle I'd say start small: rabbits come to mind ;)

They were partially responsible for the extinction of mammoths so I'm fairly sure they could do the job on any current NA game species. Whether it is legal or not might be something worth looking into.

I get enough weird looks when I start broadhead tuning my selfbows at the range.

-Grant

[J_T]

The only concern I have would be how the legislation/regulations address their use. By definition they aren't a bow, so I doubt they are defined. (I could be wrong. Just put it up as a caution) Beyond the legal side, it would be a case of practice. With practice the user should learn range, accuracy, penetration and thus appropriate use.