SimpleShot Slingshots
The long school day had worn me out, and the hour-long bus ride home failed to reset my brain. When I got off the bus, I walked up the gravel driveway, loading my pockets with small roundish rocks. My Mom yelled at my brothers and me “Hi boys,” as I snuck into the house and headed to the secret compartment beneath my bed to retrieve my trusty slingshot. My daily routine had become predictable since the day I received my cedar framed rock flinger from my Grandparents. Shooting cans in the backyard and stumps up in the woods had become my way of winding down and clearing my head. That day would be no different.
Fast forward some 35 years, and as I look back to that time, I realize that the fun and challenge of using a slingshot ignited a passion in me that cannot be extinguished. Once I was of age, I started hunting with a gun, and then I progressed to using a bow because I enjoyed the challenge. Now at age 45, I have once again picked up a slingshot. Talk about a challenge. Talk about feeling like a kid again. I started bringing my slingshot to hunting camp with me, and every time I take it out of my pocket, the faces of my hunting buddies light up, and a mischievous excitement fills the air. My slingshot accompanies me every time I sit in my tree stand, so when the deer are nowhere to be found, the chattering squirrels and pesky chipmunks had better take cover.
So, what gives such a simple implement this intense attractiveness? For me, the cedar slingshot was my first weapon, and the nostalgia of that has brought me back to my humble beginnings. For others, the attractiveness is in the simplicity and the inexpensive fun you can have with one. Slingshots are fun for all ages.
Unfortunately, my beginner slingshot eventually broke, but being crafty, I realized that making a functional slingshot is easy. In fact, after I broke mine, I made several out of the “Y” from a freshly cut tree. Some of those crude specimens worked well, and some of them did not, but none of them lasted. My recent reintroduction to the simple fun of slingshots came in the form of a SimpleShot® Scout slingshot. The basic design, easy assembly, replaceable bands, and low-cost, made it a no-brainer to get back into shooting. SimpleShot® has several designs that incorporate modern materials that are long-lasting, and they are engineered to be easy to use and very efficient.
The fun of using the Scout slingshot drove me a step further, and I obtained a more robust version from SimpleShot®, The Hammer. The Hammer is available in a kit; the slingshot has a wrist stabilizer and converts from a standard ball slinger into a bow sling in a matter of seconds. Now I have a use for the pile of leftover arrows that are leaning in the corner of my hunting equipment room. My effective range is approximately 7 yards and increasing, but more importantly, my teenage kids are getting involved, and we are enjoying some outdoor time together shooting cans, water balloons, and targets in the backyard.
If you are looking for some simple and inexpensive fun, I suggest that you check out the wide range of slingshots that SimpleShot® has available at www.simple-shot.com
