How To Make Hunting Weapons

By: S.L.Dickinson

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Want to know how to you make hunting weapons? When we think of making hunting weapons, we think of making primitive hunting weapons. Three of the easier primitive hunting weapons to make are the throwing stick, the spear and the atlatl and we will make them in the primitive method using a few tools.

Items needed to make hunting weapons:

  • Large knife
  • Wood
  • Fire

The process to make the throwing stick:

  1. Select suitable limb. Find a limb or branch which is approximately wrist thick. It can be nice to have a slight bend in the middle, similar to a boomerang. It is often preferable, ecologically, to find a dead fall to take the limb from as long as it is still solid and not rotten wood. You will want a piece about the length of your arm, plus another foot or so for another tool.
  2. Cut limb to length. Use your knife to chop the limb off the tree. Cut the limb into a section about the length of your arm with another section about a foot long.
  3. Shape the throwing stick. Thin the stick down a bit, making it more aerodynamic. Think of a thick boomerang. This is where the other section of limb can come in. If you place the stick on the ground and lean it up against something, you can use your knife and the limb section to tap the blade down the length of the stick, helping you plane it down. Make sure to always work away from yourself or any legs, arms, fingers or toes you wish to keep in relatively good condition.
  4. Practice with your throwing stick. The best way to throw it is sidearm. Set up pine cones or targets and target them until you are ready for an animal.

The process to make a spear:

  1. Select a limb or sapling. You will want to find a long, straight limb or sapling a long as you feel comfortable with throwing. If you are making a fishing spear, select one with a forked end.
  2. Cut pole. Use your knife and cut down the sapling or limb. If you made your throwing stick first, you have a small section of limb you can use to hammer your knife through the sapling by rapping the stick on the flat spine of the knife (this is also a good trick for cutting firewood to length or splitting wood if all you have is a knife). You want to clean it of all small limbs and bark with your blade. 
  3. Create spear point. Using your knife, chop the end of the spear into a pointed sharp shape or fork barbed shapes for fishing.  
  4. Harden the point. Use fire to harden the tip, by slowing running the tip through the flames of the fire until they darken. Take care not to actually burn or char it.

The process to make an atlatl:

  1. Select and cut limbs. You will want two types of limbs. A sapling similar to that of the spear, but shorter. The second will be about the length of your arm but smaller on one end, thinner than your wrist for a handle and thicker toward the other end. Cut them down and to length with your knife.
  2. Make dart. What you are basically making here is a smaller, shorter spear. Again, length depends upon what you end up being comfortable with. Use the same process to build as you did the spear.
  3. Make launching stick. You are making the precursor to the bow. What you are making is a stick with a cup in the end of it to launch the dart from. Use your knife to shape the stick and cup out the end. Make the cup as smooth as possible so that the dart will sit well in it. You will want the cup to raise up slightly in the back to help hold the dart in place.
  4. Practice launching dart. It takes some practice to balance the dart and throw it, so practice before you go out hunting with your weapons.


Posted on: May. 14, 2010