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 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.