Probably the most effective tool for hunting small game is a .22 rifle. But bullets can only be used one time. When you run out of ammo, you're left with what is basically now just a club.

But crossbow bolts can be retrieved and reused. Occasionally a bolt may get lost or broken, but I figure that a man with a dozen or so bolts can probably kill more rabbits and squirrels than a man with 200 rounds of .22 bullets.

So how practical are those hand crossbows? Are they legitimate small game hunting tools, or are they more suitable for merely shooting paper targets in your backyard?

Caveat to my input. As a shirt I have says: "Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion"

I think the crossbow is probably more toy than legitimate. I just feel that the rifle makes more sense. Plus, if you are going to shoot 200 rounds worth of squirrels and rabbits I'd hate to be you. That would be one whale of survival situation!! You better learn trapping and snaring techniques 'cuz the crossbow and the rifle can become equally useless "clubs" at any time.

I'd look for a youth model single-shot .22 (to save weight) and have it ready to go. I personally will never get rid of the Chipmunk .22 I bought over ten years ago. It is a great 2.5 pound rifle that would suit a survival situation for me. Yes, I am a touch over 6 feet tall, so shooting the little thing is cramped. But it works.

Again, refer to the quote at the beginning.

I had the same toughts about 8 years ago, but have religated my small pistol cross bow (40#draw)to a last ditch thing. I did use it to a few take Ptarmigan while on a long outing, but then they are fairly stupid birds and are easy to kill with a thrown rock or stick. I tried for a few rabbits and snow shoe hare with it but the 40# pistol is a little slow for either one. I though of trying a heavier draw but never got around to it. I still keep it around because it will be better than nothing at all, but personally won't use it until I run out of ammo.

I've never used a crossbow, but I would think they'd be a bit awkward to haul around as a basic survival hunting tool. Even a small "hand" one (never seen one of those personally, but I can imagine what you're talking about). For emergency hunting use I'd consider a slingshot even better - you'd have basically unlimited ammo using small round pebbles. But a "Wrist Rocket" style slingshot would still too awkward to routinely carry IMHO. Plus, I don't think I've ever been able to hit anything with one. Practice ahead of time would be needed, but I'd still consider this a dubious thing to carry as a normal item. It would depend on your circumstances I guess.

Your righ about a wrist rocket being a better choice (IMHO)IF YO PRACTICE with it. I have a folding wrist rocket in my pack with 100 1/4 inch ball bearings. I have tacke several small game animals with it and ones like it over the years.

I agree with Ray, A Wrist Rocket is about the best overall for a survival situation. Besides, I prefer to save my ammo for bad guys who want to disturb me. Also, marbles make great ammo, almost as good as ball bearings, IMHO.

I also like a sling for the same reason as the Wrist Rocket.

"Wrist Rocket"

A long time ago I went through a phase where I spent a lot of time shooting with a Wrist Rocket. My favorite was a folding version as it slipped easily, with fodder and spare rubbers, into a surplus ammo pouch. I got fairly good at shooting.

The main weakness of those units is the rubber tubing.

The latex rubber degrades quickly when exposed to sunlight or ozone. You can usually tell when they are getting because they develop a darker amber exterior sheen. You can often see surface cracks. Typically worse where they slide over the rods of the handle. When you see this they need to be replaced. Failure to replace them in good time risks the tube coming back at you. If it happens at full draw you can lose an eye. From experience, being lucky, I can say it stung the hand something fierce. I couldn't use my finger for some time.

Sunlight and ozone attack the rubber so limit exposure to both. More drastic is the effects on the rubbers of petroleum products. The oil in insect repellents, Vaseline and motor oil can destroy a set of slingshot rubbers in a a couple of hours.

If your planning on using a rubber powered slingshot I would inspect the rubber frequently and replace them when they show any weakness. Although I never did, seriously consider wearing safety glasses. Those rubber tubes hold a lot of power when fully extended. I used to put a 3/8" lead ball through a piece of 3/4" plywood with power to spare.

Gets me thinking. Somewhere around here I have at least two Wrist Rockets I haven't played with for most of twenty years. And I recently saw the replacement rubbers for them on sale.

Crossbows are IMHO quite acceptable as survival weapons. Granted that most of the small 'pistol' models are something less than serious tools I have seen them put to some use. We use one to shoot lines through the attic of a building. With that sort of power I figure you could shoot squirrels and rabbits at perhaps 30' or so. Which may be quite good enough for many of the brush clogged southern forests. Assuming your willing to do a bit of stalking, hiding and using trickery to get close enough.

Looking at cheap unit I could see myself making bolts out of materials at hand. Biggest wear item would be the string. So I would keep a supply of appropriate light line to make replacements.

Snares and traps would be more efficient but you would have to stay in the area longer and regularly check them to keep your game from being lunched by predators and/or the game dying a slow death. Their presence would make yours known. Not a problem in most cases and if it is your land but something to keep in mind.

Larger and more powerful crossbows are certainly much more capable than the discount store pistol version. These were the original sniper weapon. The later 500 pound pull and above crossbows were essentially primitive anti-tank weapons used on the armor of the day, knights.

Crossbows are simple, adaptable and quite capable of doing a number of serious jobs. The larger versions can rival the power of many rifles at moderate ranges.

With a nod to both their strengths and limitations both slingshots and crossbows can easily justify their weight and cost. Neither would be my immediate first choice for short term survival but as an adjunct to other resources when I might be operating from a fixed base I think they pull their weight.

here in california we use these:

http://wrightlife.com/images/large/5210-large.jpg

you may laugh, but when used horizontally don't get hit with one.

competition models reach out to 200 yards.

bsmith

We (the crew) used one of these to bombard another patrol boat as we pulled alongside of them during some wargames off of the NC coast.

I don't want to get into the events that were subsequently to take place and that culminated in us having a few $K in damages and being out of the SAR business for about 5 weeks (it takes time to arrange for repairs).

This is a very DANGEROUS weapon!!!!!

How do you hunt rabbits with THAT?! Do you launch the rabbits AT the ball bearings?! ;-)

Actually, they use these things to launch rolled up free T-shirts into the crowd at our Colorado Avalanche hockey games. Quite potent - they can easily hit the upper part of the second deck. They have some compressed gas cannon they use to hit the third deck nosebeed section. If you got blindsided by one of those slingshot'ed or cannon'ed T-shirts they'd probably knock you right off your deck.