The Rabbit Stick.

I know I have mentioned the rabbit stick before, but I did not show an image. I made this one quickly in the wood shed this morning. A rabbit stick is easy to make, and it is a hunting tool that does not stand out in an urban setting. There is no law that I know of restricting the carrying of a rabbit stick in forestry areas.
This one below I have made with a point on one end so it can also be used as a digging stick. It looks much like a dibber, and this one reaches from my elbow to the tips of my fingers on an open hand.
The rabbit stick is thrown sideways, and the idea is that it covers a larger area than a rock as it spins. For target practice a peg is set into the ground for a target. I once knocked a snake away from one of my sons with a stick when it rose up beside him. I was too far away to reach him in time, and had his younger brother in a pack frame on my back.

Hunting and Trapping Tools. Part 4. Final.

What tools can you make for yourself? Well the bow and arrow have been covered, a  spear is a well known common item. Throwing sticks or rabbit sticks are less well known though, and they can be very handy. I learnt to throw the rabbit stick many years ago. You can of course throw a rock, but the idea of the throwing stick is that it covers more area that a rock.
The first time I used a throwing stick in earnest for anything other than target practice, for which I used a peg hammered into the ground, was when one of my sons was struck at by a snake. I was too far away to reach him in time, and I had his younger brother in a carry pack on my back. If you ever learn to throw the tomahawk, I suggest you try throwing at a target with your knapsack on your back. It is a whole lot different!
I started running as best I could and snatched up the first good looking stick I came across. I was about maybe 25-30 paces away when I threw that stick and it struck the snake and knocked it aside.

The throwing stick I made myself had a point on one end so it doubled as a digging stick.

The Figure 4 trap trigger is pretty well known, and it works very well. This one is set with a dead-fall. As you can see in this image a small fence has been constructed to guide the animal in from one side only. If this were my trap I would turn the trigger so that the bait was closer to the fence, bringing the animal further under the rock.

You do not have to use a spring, but it will take some of the strain out of the snare if a large animal is caught.

This is cordage I made from inner tree bark. Depending on the size you make the cordage, you can snare anything from rabbits up to goats, wild boar and deer.

If you wish to practice setting survival snares I suggest you use knitting wool for the snare. It will not harm the animal. Instead of making an actual snare, simply lay the yarn across the trail at the height you would set the bottom of the snare. If it is trodden down you had it too low. If it is broken and lays along the trail then it was probably at the right height.

Rabbits on the other hand can be trapped at the burrow entrance. Make sure that the snare can not get caught on anything about the burrow, such as downed timber. Allow enough snare so that the rabbit can retreat down the burrow where foxes and cats can't reach it.

Cord attached to a sapling used as a spring.

The bait stick is suspended between two pegs, one peg driven into the ground on the left, the other attached to the snare and the cord running to the spring above. The snare cannot be seen, but it is layed out beneath the baited trigger. Depending on what you use for bait, you can trap anything from birds and rabbit to ferral cats and dogs.

Hunting and Trapping Tools. Part 3. On A Budget!

Here in part 3 we will look at items you might have been able to afford if you had little money to spend. If you are really on a budget NOW, then the guns will not be any less expensive, but of course you can make your own, or you can purchase second hand.
Other items such as second hand butcher knives and hatchets are available NOW, and will get you started in this facsinating and interesting hobby of 18th century Living History and Historical Trekking.

The wheel-lock was from an earlier period and lost popularity due to the more efficient flintlock. However this gun did work and it would be better than no gun. The wheel-lock required a key to wind up a sprung lock. Inside the loch was a serrated steel wheel. The cock held a piece of pyrite (I have read that flint could be used but it was not as good as pyrite). The pan having been primed, the trigger released the cock which lowered the piece of pyrite onto a now spinning steel wheel, causing the sparks for ignition.

The matchlock is an even older design and therefore a better chance of picking one up cheap. However, these were still being used, and someone in much the same position would not want to part with the only gun they have. There is a lovely and interesting story called "The Matchlock Gun" written by Walter D. Edmonds. This story is a true story and it is set in 1756. It is a kids story book and well worth getting.

This gun requires a slow match for ignition which is held in the serpentine. The match is not inserted in the serpentine until the gun is loaded and primed. However, it does mean that you have to carry a smouldering match cord with you all the time, and it can be seen glowing in the dark!

If you had been a Ranger in England, then it is possible that you would still have your English/Cymro Longbow, and you may even wish to take up the same occupation in the New World. In England the Ranger's job was to protect the deer in the forests and discourage robbers from harrasing the forest dwellers.

In the New World the early Rangers were hired to range the areas about the settlements looking for any sign of Indians, and later, French and Indians.

The handles on butcher knives in the early to mid 18th century were pinned, like these examples. Not riveted such as you find on modern wood handled butcher knives. three of these knives I found in a second hand shop, and one at the local markets.

Good examples of old hatchets that can be found in second hand shops.