View Full Version : Blowgun on the trail...
Im considering taking my virtually weightless blowgun on the trail to use possibly hunting small game (bullfrogs, squirrles, rabbits, etc) Couple questions:
Are blowguns illegal in the various state/national parks?
And is a hunting license required to hunt small animals like this in the different states the trail passes through?
Also, while on the subject...are freshwater clams and snails common in the waters along the way?
and before its mentioned, the darts i use are very bright, ive used them hunting numerous times before and have never lost one from a missed shot....so stumbling upon stray darts wouldnt really be an issue.
YoungMoose
02-09-2009, 20:29
i have never seen or heard of some one bringing a blowgun of all things on the AT. but first time for everything. You might find clams if anything. But not snails.
You'll have no problems locating clams and snails in the Northeast waterways, just be aware of the water sources before consuming anything that comes from them. The Northeast, in particular, has been used for industry for a very long time, and there are traces of heavy metal pollutants in most waterways big enough to sustain heavy industry (and some that are just used as dumping sites for unscrupulous waste disposal companies).
Blowguns would be illegal in most if not all state & National Parks. Hunting laws would apply. I have a blowgun from Amazonia, but I have only used it to entertain kids during an assembly program. I'm fairly accurate with the thing.
puddingboy
02-09-2009, 20:42
If you know how to set snares you might want to try that as well. In my opinion they can be pretty effective, just remember to take them down before you leave.
Hikes in Rain
02-09-2009, 21:02
There was another thread on here some time back, concerning blowguns. Here (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39548&highlight=blowgun). You would need a license to hunt in each state, and it's been pointed out that there are probably some legal issues unless you confine yourself to vermin and such. (Shelter mice, maybe?) And you'd likely use more time and energy in the hunt than you'd get back.
I like blowguns! I've made a few, they're great fun.
sticks&stones
02-09-2009, 21:36
I heard possession of a blowgun in MA is a felony.
skinewmexico
02-09-2009, 22:42
I heard possession of a blowgun in MA is a felony.
That is hilarious.
Wise Old Owl
02-09-2009, 22:54
i have never seen or heard of some one bringing a blowgun of all things on the AT. but first time for everything. You might find clams if anything. But not snails.
I have found fresh woodland snails in SNP that would make a meal but they are very hard to find and very off AT trail.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2340081_prepare-garden-snails-eating.html
Ramble~On
02-09-2009, 23:04
Im considering taking my virtually weightless blowgun on the trail to use possibly hunting small game (bullfrogs, squirrles, rabbits, etc) Couple questions:
Are blowguns illegal in the various state/national parks?
And is a hunting license required to hunt small animals like this in the different states the trail passes through?
Also, while on the subject...are freshwater clams and snails common in the waters along the way?
and before its mentioned, the darts i use are very bright, ive used them hunting numerous times before and have never lost one from a missed shot....so stumbling upon stray darts wouldnt really be an issue.
Do you have a trail name yet ? :-? I might have one for you.
Hunting with a blowgun would be a tough job.
Jim Adams
02-09-2009, 23:21
might be fun against shelter mice...they are very accurate.
geek
drastic_quench
02-09-2009, 23:33
I think that would be a pretty arrogant and willfully ignorant act that spits in the face of the leave no trace ideals. No one should hunt or gather their way up the AT. Laws aside, the strip is too narrow and too busy to sustain it's natural balance against hikers that would do this kind of thing.
I'm a hunter myself, but I go about it the proper and lawful way - like all hunters should. You'd just be giving both hikers and hunters a lower reputation - which is all either group needs.
Rockhound
02-10-2009, 12:01
I heard a story of 2 hikers that carried a blowgun. They were dead set on small game hunting their way up the AT. The only thing they killed with it was a box turtle. I suppose that turtle was too quick for them to just pick up. I guess they were not very proficient with the weapon. Perhaps you are. Still the whole idea seems completely ridiculous. Leave the blowgun at home. It's more effort than what it's worth, there are legality issues as mentioned, and you will catch a lot more grief than game from all your fellow hikers
Thats whats great about White Blaze. You just can't make this **** up.
Mongoose2
02-10-2009, 12:51
Thats whats great about White Blaze. You just can't make this **** up.
True.....I think I will bring my speargun.....perhaps do some scuba diving and underwater hunting:)
neighbor dave
02-10-2009, 12:55
home made blowgun
1- length of 3/4 pvc pipe longer = more accuracy ,3 footer would be fine
1 -1 1/4 drywall screw
take a peice of paper and wrap it around the drywall screw head in a conical shape and tape it to the screw. make sure the cone is bigger than the opening of the pipe. easy to do
insert screw into pipe until the cone is snug, cut off excess with sissors.
then put it up to your mouth and make sure to blow,don't inhale.
works great.
daddytwosticks
02-10-2009, 15:10
Shouldn't the above post be moved to MYOG? :) Just trying to help.....:)
Im considering taking my virtually weightless blowgun on the trail to use possibly hunting small game (bullfrogs, squirrles, rabbits, etc) Couple questions:
Are blowguns illegal in the various state/national parks?
And is a hunting license required to hunt small animals like this in the different states the trail passes through?
Also, while on the subject...are freshwater clams and snails common in the waters along the way?
and before its mentioned, the darts i use are very bright, ive used them hunting numerous times before and have never lost one from a missed shot....so stumbling upon stray darts wouldnt really be an issue.
Just don't let us catch you practicing on the chipmonks !!
boarstone
02-10-2009, 16:42
I'd think you'd be welcomed in the shelters! Mouse packs lookout!
I have found fresh woodland snails in SNP that would make a meal
I strongly advise against taking any plants or animals from a national park. Mucho bad ju ju.
Lone Wolf
02-10-2009, 17:14
Also, while on the subject...are freshwater clams and snails common in the waters along the way?
Joe Mary lake in Maine at Antlers camp is loaded with clams
I heard a story of 2 hikers that carried a blowgun. They were dead set on small game hunting their way up the AT. The only thing they killed with it was a box turtle. I suppose that turtle was too quick for them to just pick up. I guess they were not very proficient with the weapon. Perhaps you are. Still the whole idea seems completely ridiculous. Leave the blowgun at home. It's more effort than what it's worth, there are legality issues as mentioned, and you will catch a lot more grief than game from all your fellow hikers
Once again...Box turtles (http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlife_news/world_turtle_day_08.html), which can live to be 120 years old, are threatened throughout Eastern North America. Killing a box turtle is a bad thing.
I would have shoved their blowgun up their cat-hole fillers.
Rockhound
02-10-2009, 17:22
I never met them. Just heard about it but I agree. Of course I'm not sure there would be room for the blowgun where you wanted to put it as they already had there heads stuck up there
WILLIAM HAYES
02-10-2009, 17:39
you don't need a blowgun and you don't need to hunt while u hike th AT
Do yourself and eveyone else on the trail a favor and leave the blowgun at home. You'll only make enemies on the trail and possibly get arrested in the process, I don't have a particular love for shelter mice but I'd be pretty pissed off if I saw someone shooting at them.
I'm not in favor of harming the little creatures along the trail but admittedly a blow gun is a lot of fun. I made one once from a 3 foot piece of 1/2" hot water pvc pipe. I cut the top out of a round plastic bottle so that it made a mouth piece and duct taped it onto one end. For darts I used push pins. As a sealer around the push pins I cut 1/2" inch foam rubber into a circle just larger than the inside of the pipe and cut a small hole in the center of it and slipped it over the plastic end of the push pin. It sealed really good and the darts flew unbelievably fast.
For a target back stop I used a piece of styrofoam from a computer box. At 10 feet away I could easily hit a 1" circle.
Ramble~On
02-10-2009, 18:57
Take your blowgun...but instead of hunting little furries you could sit around the shelter and impress your buddies like this....:D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L38QhDniAaA
You'd make lots of friends and everyone would think you're a swell guy!
:-? Course your trailname likely wouldn't be blow-gun.
The gene pool is an amazing thing..........
Cannibal
02-10-2009, 19:43
I carried a 18" blowgun on my thru last year for a couple of months. IT WAS GREAT FUN. I didn't use it for hunting, just play-time at the shelters. When it tore a hole in my packcover, I sent it home. Good way to kill time on a rainy day.
Unless there's something special in the water out there in Penciltucky, fresh water clams are the most bland, tasteless pieces of rubber I've eaten. I've eaten a lot of them and I've never found a way to make them taste yummy.
showcase
02-10-2009, 21:08
I tell ya what, have you ever had to shoot an snail in full sprint with a blow-gun. So exhilirating!!! ha ha
How about this? 2 blowguns made into hiking poles. Helps the knees, no reload time if you miss with the first shot. I like it so much I might do it myself! :-?
brooklynkayak
02-11-2009, 00:56
The only thing they killed with it was a box turtle.
I might be wrong, but most box turtles on the AT are on the endangered list. Rodents would be the best bet, many can be had if you have the time.
I think that would be a pretty arrogant and willfully ignorant act ..... No one should hunt or gather their way up the AT. Laws aside, the strip is too narrow and too busy( high population density) to sustain it's natural balance against hikers that would do this kind of thing. DITTO!
I'm a hunter myself, but I go about it the proper and lawful way - like all hunters should. ... DITTO!
I'm also a hunter and I totally agree w/ Cortez the Killer. To do it legally the whole AT U would need to know the individual state game laws and have individual state hunting licenses. I'm sure U didn't plan on doing this legally because if U had U would see that it is ridiculous.
Hunting your way up the AT??? Going to clean and eat what U kill??? Guess U plan on really "roughing it" between shelters and road crossings on the AT, huh??? Don't U think U will add to friction between hunters and hikers??? I hope U R smarter than that. Please, leave the blowgun at home!
I might be wrong, but most box turtles on the AT are on the endangered list. Rodents would be the best bet, many can be had if you have the time.
If you are hunting rodents, be aware that they may be carriers of hanta virus:
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings, or saliva. Humans can contract the disease when they breathe in aerosolized virus. HPS was first recognized in 1993 and has since been identified throughout the United States. Although rare, HPS is potentially deadly. Rodent control in and around the home remains the primary strategy for preventing hantavirus infection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanta_virus#History
Rabies is becoming common among the larger rodentia such as raccoons and skunk in the Southern states.
If the OP is really interested in supplemental harvesting of game, suggest best path would be fishing (though that would require licenses...Virginia, with almost 25% of the trail, would seem to be a likely candidate. North Carolina might be another). Just make sure you have a license. Wildlife officers have no pity on ticketing/arresting violators.
sheepdog
02-11-2009, 20:45
Once again...Box turtles (http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlife_news/world_turtle_day_08.html), which can live to be 120 years old, are threatened throughout Eastern North America. Killing a box turtle is a bad thing.
I would have shoved their blowgun up their cat-hole fillers.
you probably don't have to lead them much
Jack Tarlin
02-11-2009, 20:53
Cortez put it rather bluntly, but I have to agree with him.
There are all sorts of creatures out there that need frogs, squirrels, rabbits a lot more than you do, and everytime you kill one of these creatures for food, you'd be depriving some other creature (or its offspring) of a badly needed meal.
Nobody needs to be eating frogs or squirrels out there. The wildlife on the A.T. should be observed, photographed, and respected.
I really don't think it needs to be eaten.
You'll have no problems locating clams and snails in the Northeast waterways, just be aware of the water sources before consuming anything that comes from them. The Northeast, in particular, has been used for industry for a very long time, and there are traces of heavy metal pollutants in most waterways big enough to sustain heavy industry (and some that are just used as dumping sites for unscrupulous waste disposal companies).
I don't believe there has been heavy industry in the headwaters of any of the streams that cross the AT in Maine. Some "clams" you find in the headwater ponds are rare and endangered, so conscientious hikers should do a bit of research before gathering them. Also, unlike lakes and ponds, streams clean themselves rapidly. I wouldn't worry about eating any edibles found in the AT headwaters in Maine.
Otherwise, bring along your blow gun. You can practice on the shelter mice.
Weary
sheepdog
02-11-2009, 21:11
I don't believe there has been heavy industry in the headwaters of any of the streams that cross the AT in Maine. Some "clams" you find in the headwater ponds are rare and endangered, so conscientious hikers should do a bit of research before gathering them. Also, unlike lakes and ponds, streams clean themselves rapidly. I wouldn't worry about eating any edibles found in the AT headwaters in Maine.
Otherwise, bring along your blow gun. You can practice on the shelter mice.
Weary
Just when I think I have Weary figgured out, he throws me a curve ball. You da man Weary!!!
Feral Bill
02-11-2009, 21:45
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanta_virus#History
Rabies is becoming common among the larger rodentia such as raccoons and skunk in the Southern states.
Raccoons and skunks are not rodents. Skunks are weasels, raccoons in the family Procyonidae. Its still a bad idea to mes with them.
Nearly Normal
02-11-2009, 22:01
Take the blowgun, be a ****tard. All the interesting hikers are.
Lone Wolf
02-11-2009, 22:03
Take the blowgun, be a ****tard. All the interesting hikers are.
yup. yo :cool:
Nobody needs to be eating frogs or squirrels out there. The wildlife on the A.T. should be observed, photographed, and respected.
Except for invasive species, which should be exterminated on sight.
Im considering taking my virtually weightless blowgun on the trail to use possibly hunting small game (bullfrogs, squirrles, rabbits, etc) Couple questions:
Are blowguns illegal in the various state/national parks?
And is a hunting license required to hunt small animals like this in the different states the trail passes through?
Also, while on the subject...are freshwater clams and snails common in the waters along the way?
and before its mentioned, the darts i use are very bright, ive used them hunting numerous times before and have never lost one from a missed shot....so stumbling upon stray darts wouldnt really be an issue. Do a Whiteblaze search on them. I believe at least one other Whiteblaze member posted awhile back of his desire to carry and hunt with one during his upcoming thru-hike. Maybe he can answer your questions with a PM.
Take the blowgun, be a ****tard. All the interesting hikers are.
Hmmm... 4 asterisks (asterii?) Does that spell Basstard or Reeetard?
Truth either way.
fiddlehead
02-12-2009, 21:42
Reminds me of our hike in 2001/2002.
After a while, we bought a slingshot for some excitement and practice.
But, after 2 days, we made a rule: Anything you kill, you MUST eat.
We never did kill anything but in those first 2 days, we shot at a lot of birds which was NOT COOL!
got good at hitting trees and stumps though.
saimyoji
02-12-2009, 22:34
But, after 2 days, we made a rule: Anything you kill, you MUST eat.
this is a good policy no matter where you are.
sheepdog
02-12-2009, 22:39
this is a good policy no matter where you are.
Unless it's Afganistan.
Sheepdog, ZING Hahahahahahahahahah
I carried a handgun on my hike.....so go ahead and take your blowgun. Maybe even disguise it as a trekking pole.....heh.
The way the regs. are changing, it looks like you may have to have a permit to buy a blowgun.
Buy 'em while you can....
Nearly Normal
02-13-2009, 14:02
Hmmm... 4 asterisks (asterii?) Does that spell Basstard or Reeetard?
Truth either way.
Nope
Nearly Normal
02-13-2009, 14:05
Except for invasive species, which should be exterminated on sight.
Before or after the last ice age?
neighbor dave
02-13-2009, 14:26
:-?make sure you don't kill any insects while you're out there too!
ants, bees, mosquitos,beetles,tics,blackflies. they should all be respected:D:sun
Jack Tarlin
02-13-2009, 14:29
Why would you kill ants, Dave?
Mots folks stop doing this when they're around nine. :-?
neighbor dave
02-13-2009, 14:40
:-?i don't kill anything. no bueno
i'd have to disagree with your statement though, lot's of people above the age of 9 kill them for all kinds of reasons. some folks kill them and chocolate coat them then eat them. not me, i carry my food, always have, always will. :welcome
Nearly Normal
02-13-2009, 14:56
When them fire ants get on ya, where ever you are, you WILL come out of those clothes.
slamajama
02-13-2009, 16:27
whr u goin? cause i dont wanna be around a blowgun...j/k good luck on ur hunt...ill be wearing D/G orange...lol