About: I'm the kind of person who's mind doesn't stop. Literally, I take medication to fix that just so I can sleep at night. I have an unhealthy obsession with making things and believe, firmly, in sharing what I le…

One of the most interesting tools, in my opinion, used by paleo hunters was the sling. Unlike other hunting implements, it could be created on a moment's notice with very little effort and utilizing supplies that were available regardless of where they were. They were also extremely portable. Tied around the waist as a belt, or wrapped around the wrist, a sling made a perfect secondary weapon, in the event that the hunters primary tool became damaged or lost. Slings were extremely effective for hunting, however they required quite a bit of practice to master, tho an experienced slinger was known to take down animals as large as a wolf. With the advent of the bow, the sling fell out of favor, only showing up, occasionally, on the battlefields in great numbers as a cheaper alternative to archers, however it's general use as a hunting implement was rarely employed.

These days, slinging has become somewhat of a sport, with a loyal following that share designs and innovations mostly in online forums. There are even clubs that hold slinging competitions that test the slingers construction skill, and prowess with their sling. It's also becoming popular in dog parks, where owners are using slings to achieve more distance when throwing balls for their pets.

I've used a variety of different materials in sling making including hemp, jute, wool, alpaca fur, leather, even gathered dog hair, if you can imagine that. For this instructable, I'm going to concentrate on my favorite material which is deer hide. Deer hide has the advantage of being one of the strongest, lightest leathers available, allowing for finer string making, while retaining enough strength for an effectively powerful sling. It is also, somewhat, elastic, and unlike the rigid qualities of hemp, can give a bit of 'spring' to your finished sling, if only improving it's power somewhat. If you don't have any leather on hand, it isn't a problem. This instructable can be created with any material you have readily available, even and including creating your own. If you would like to start from scratch, I cover string making in my instructable on net weaving here;

Net Weaving and String Making Instructable

I'll also be including a video, I'd made quite a long time ago on sling making. If you can get past the quality (early days of youtube) it's pretty informative and shows some of the techniques I use. As usual, I hope you enjoy this instructable.

