Beginner Hunting Weapons you can DIY

This article will show you how to make a variety of hunting weapons that you can actually make at home, without having to spend a fortune. There’s a very useful section also in this article where you can see how to make primitive, yet effective, inexpensive stone hunting weapons.

If you are an extreme person, I have listed some air rifles for survival and security, which i think you might find interesting.

However, it is important to know first some other techniques used in hunting, like for example hunting for white-tailed deer.

Hunting for Trophies or Meat?

You can hunt for antler trophies or meat, or both. Each hunting approach will be different:

1. Outfitters – Pay to Play Hunting

Pay to play hunts are conducted in two ways. The first way is when you pay to hunt a certain territory for the day. The second way is when you pay per animal you harvest. The land is managed by the owner and you search for your animal within a certain area of that land.

Outfitters can help you locate the specific animals you seek (sex, size, number of prongs), which is helpful if you want a particular trophy to mount back home. During off-season, the outfitters carefully maintain and control the pay to play areas so that they know exact numbers of white-tailed deer, what gender, and where they reside.

In states such as Texas, professional outfitters have high-fence areas that make locating a target easier. As you consider booking a hunting trip to bag your first white-tail deer, check out what is included and what isn’t included. You might need to pay separately for extra targets, dressing/butchering, accommodation, travel, and trophy mounting, and that can add up quickly.

2. BLM Public Hunts (Bureau of Land Management)

Taking a hunting trip on public land is one of the simplest and most affordable ways to do your first hunt. It is recommended for experienced hunters, since the land is uncultivated and wild; it is as close to our ancestors’ traditions as it gets.

Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah are the best states where you can hunt for free on essentially your land.

3. Private Land

Have you ever been driving in your car thinking, “Who owns that? It looks like the perfect place to hunt deer. I wonder who owns it?” Well, there are plenty of ranch owners who are  more than happy to have hunters target deer on their land. In a way, it is similar to an outfitter setup, however because the land isn’t crafted with deer hunting in mind, the landscape will be more difficult. Check to see if the owner allows hunting on their property. Drop a letter into their mailbox or reach out to them in the community. It’s also a great way to establish a hunting friendship. And make sure to learn survival basics before venturing on your hunts.

Here are some easy DIY hunting weapons that you can make at home.

1. Slingshot

One of the easiest homemade weapons to make is a slingshot. Ammo for a slingshot is literally lying around everywhere. You can use things like stones, pieces of broken glass, or anything that will fit into the pouch of the slingshot.

Making your own slingshot isn’t hard at all. The first thing you’ll need to do is find a strong  fork of wood, ideally hickory, dogwood, or oak. The fork should have a minimum of 30 degrees, and it should be well dried.

Here are the other items that you will need:

• ¼-inch latex surgical tubing
• Leather strips
• Fine string, such as dental floss
• Saw
• Knife

Directions:

• Make notches on each prong of the fork with your knife. You want the notches to be deep enough to keep the bands in place, but not too deep to break the prongs when you pull them.
• Wrap one end of each prong with the rubber tubing until it doubles up on itself. Secure  the tubing with a zip tie or wire.
• Cut the leather into 2-by-4-inch squares and punch holes in both ends.
• Put the loose ends of the tubing through the holes in the leather and tie them off. You may need to adjust the length of the pieces of tubing depending on how long your  arms are and how much power you want.

2. Bow and Arrows

You can make a bow by using a solid branch, sapling, or a piece of PVC pipe. It is relatively easy to build and can be used even when you’re on the run. A long bow is the traditional type of bow with one string. Here’s how to make one.

Materials for the bow:

• A straight branch or sapling with few or no side branches, twists, or knots. The resulting stave should be 5 feet long and 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter.
• A piece of 2-inch diameter PVC pipe can also be used, but it will be less durable.
• Paracord or another type of cordage that is not too stretchy.

Directions:

• Stand the sapling or branch on one end, and find the exact middle of it. This will be the middle of the stave.
• Mark 3 inches on either side of the middle to mark the handhold position.
• Take some time to bend the stave and find out which way it bends naturally. The inside of this bend will be the inside of the curve of the stave, or the belly. The other side is the back of the stave.
• Use your knife to whittle away the wood at the middle to form the belly of the stave. You want to remove wood only from the belly. You can bend the stave while doing this to make a nice curve. Don’t make it so thin it will snap.
• Use your knife to notch each end of the stave. The notch should be at a 45-degree angle when facing you while you are holding the bow.
• Secure the cordage to the bow at each end, known as stringing the bow. There should be a 5-inch gap between the string and the belly of the stave.
• Tiller the bow by hanging it horizontally from a tree branch from the handhold of the bow. Pull down on the string. If the bow curves evenly from both ends, then it’s well balanced. If one end curves less than the other, you will need to remove more wood from the belly at that end until the curve of both ends is even.

Here’s how to make the arrows

Materials for the arrows:

• Branches for the arrows. These should be straight and pliable, such as from maple, willow, or dogwood.
• Feathers or pine needles

Directions:

• Remove any small branches from the branches you want to use as arrows, and remove the bark. Make sure the branches are smooth.
• If the branches have bends, you will need to heat the bend over a fire and bend the branch in the opposite direction to remove it. Then, hold the arrow still while the bend cools down.
• Cut the arrows to the chosen length.
• A nock should be cut into the arrow, and the string of the bow should sit there.
• Glue feathers or pine needles at the end of the arrow near the notch. This will help provide some air resistance.
• Sharpen the other end with an arrowhead if desired. These can be made from stone, shell, or steel.

3. Knife

Knives can be made from many different kinds of materials, and they are one of the easiest homemade weapons to make. You will want something strong, with a solid handle. Obviously, you can make a fully functional, proper knife with a wooden handle and a good blade.

To make a knife, you can forge metal (even a wrench will do) into a knife handle and blade. Fortunately, you can do something simple, like take an old saw blade and make it into a knife or shape a butter knife into something sharper and more lethal.

You’ll have to know how to work with whatever you have at hand. Here’s how to make a knife  out of a butter knife that is strong and functional.

Materials:

• Butter knife
• Drill (optional)
• Paracord or other type of cordage
• Marker (optional)
• File

Directions:

• If you want, you can drill a hole in each end of the knife handle to make attaching the paracord easier.
• Wrap the handle in the cord. If it’s nylon, then make sure it’s wet when you wrap it. If it’s a natural, cellulous fiber, wrap it dry. Leave a tail halfway down the handle as you start wrapping and wrap over the tail.
• Finish wrapping and tie it off. You can add a loop in the handle if you want.
• At this point, you can cut the blade down if you want. Use the marker to mark where you want to cut it, and score the blade at that spot. You can then snap off the end. Otherwise, work with the knife blade as is.
• File the blade and sharpen it so it has a sharp edge and point. You can do this with a file or whetstone, or use a stone you find outside. Even the curb outside your home would work in a pinch.

4. Throwing Stars

The throwing stars are easy to construct and can be very useful when you need a weapon that is portable and can be used from a distance. Throwing stars can be made from any scrap metal lying around. And in an emergency or apocalyptic situation, scrap metal will be abundant everywhere.

If you are desperate, you can make some throwing stars from scrap metal. If you have the tools, you can make more refined throwing stars. Here’s how.

Materials:

• Paper
• Hardened steel (This can be an old shovel or saw blade or anything else you have on hand.)
• Hole puncher and hammer
• Spray paint
• Drill
• Metal saw
• Sandpaper

Directions:

• Draw a star pattern on paper and cut it out.
• Place the pattern on the metal.
• Use the hole punch and hammer to mark where to drill any holes you want.
• Use the spray paint over the pattern to leave its outline on the metal.
• Cut the shape out of the metal.
• Drill the holes.
• Grind or file the edges of the star points to finish them nicely. You can dunk it in cold water every once in a while to cool it down.
• Sand the piece if necessary.
• Use a knife grinder or whetstone to sharpen the edges.

5. Spiked Bat

If you need homemade weapons for the zombie apocalypse or for catching big wild animals, what better one to have than a spiked bat. So easy to make and so very effective against not only zombies, but dangerous people and animals. Since so many people are familiar with The Walking Dead, even the sight of this weapon is guaranteed to strike fear into people’s hearts, even if you use nails instead of simply wrapping it in barbed wire.

Materials:

• Wooden baseball bat or other strong length of wood
• At least three dozen 6-inch nails
• A drill
• A hammer
• A vice

Directions:

• Secure the bat and drill a series of holes at the non-handle end of the bat.
• Drill these holes through the center of the bat so they go through from one side to the other.
• Drill the holes in lines – the more holes, the more spikes you’ll have.
• With the bat in a vice, hammer the nails into the holes so the head of the nail is flush with the surface of the bat.
•  The ends of the nails should be long enough to stick out the other side of the bat.

EASY TO MAKE PRIMITIVE WEAPONS

Here is a bonus section where you can create simple stone weapons without the above-mentioned materials.

These are primitive weapons that can harm, injure, or kill humans as well as  animals. You are responsible for ensuring the safety of all persons, animals and property around you when  making, testing or using these weapons.

1. Making a stone knife

Knap a piece of flint stone to a spearshape. Sharpen the cutting edges leaving them serrated for sawing, or leave them serrated for cutting or scraping. It’s possible to make a very efficient and sharp knife from flint.

2. Making a stone axe

A survivalist’s axe is a very useful tool, but you probably won’t be able to cut a large tree with one, although it is possible. Without glue, split the shaft and wedge your axe head into it, then tighten the top to hold the axe head on. An axe can be used as both a tool and a weapon. It is best to use a short or medium length shaft as the longer the shaft, the greater the force applied to the axe head risking smashing it.

3. Clubs and sticks

An effective and easily-made weapon for catching small animals and larger birds is the rabbit stick. The stick should be about 1 metre (3.3 feet) in length, flattened at one end, with a carved wing section at the end. With its length and weight the stick is a convenient weapon; it is nearly impossible to miss a prey with a large stick. It is also useful for knocking down fruit and nuts from trees.

4. The sling shot

The sling is possibly the ultimate survival weapon because it is incredibly easy to prepare, is quick to deploy, and quite deadly in use (with a lot of practice). A sling has a small pouch or cradle in the middle of two lengths of cord. A single stone (or several small stones) is kept in the pouch. One cord has a finger loop, the other a knot. Both cords are held in the hand, then the sling is swung and with a flick of the wrist the knotted end is released, and the pouch is pulled away in an instant. The pouch’s rotation motion actually permits the projectile to fly off the tangent of the circle . The sling works by essentially extending the length of the arm, allowing stones to be launched several times farther than if they were thrown by hand alone. The effective range depends on the weight of the stone, the strength and length of the user’s arm and the length of the sling. A single, heavy stone can kill a larger animal while several smaller stones are used together can strike smaller prey, for example, a running rabbit.

5. Sling

The sling is inexpensive to make and is historically used for hunting game and for fighting. The pouch can be made of any flexible material (leather, plastic, cloth, etc.) or the rope itself can be platted to form the cradle.

Start by making a sling of cords 30 cm long (12 inches) long (or the length of your lower arm measured from the elbow to the palm of the hand) and practicing with small stones until your release point coordination is good. Even a small sling can kill small prey at 18 metres (60 feet) and it doesn’t require whirling it several times to get it up to speed. Slings can be used with an overhead or underarm movement, depending on what best suits the user.

Best Survival Air Rifles for Hunting And Security

1. Umarex Ruger Targis Hunter .22 Caliber Pellet Air Rifle

The Umarex Ruger Targis Hunter .22 cal is a great looking air rifle. It is a spring piston survival weapon that has a decent 1200fps output. While some air rifles are capable of still making quite some sound, the Umarex air rifle uses a SilencAir Noise Dampening System so as to keep your position quiet, or to not disturb the nature around you (animals that might get stifled from loud noises). It is essentially a non-removable air rifle suppressor that has a very strong impact on muzzle noise.

A magnum air rifle, the Umarex has a very simple break barrel system, so if you dislike it when some air rifle cock, this might suit you much better. The amount of effort required to cock this rifle is 34lb. This air rifle also comes with an adjustable (Picatinny) 3-9×32 scope and has an all-weather stock and 2-stage trigger.

2.Benjamin Marauder PCP Air Rifle

Benjamin Marauder air rifle is a PCP (compressed air) with great accuracy. The build of this survival weapon is impressive, with features such as raised aluminum breech, metal trigger, a  synthetic stock, and a very durable body.

Benjamin Marauders have been described as high-power air rifles with no recoil. It has a similar feel to its design and capabilities, just without the kickback. We liked the .22 Marauder as it was what I wanted in an air rifle. In hunting, these rifles have been used for many years and are capable of dropping any game that a 25 caliber can, as long as you aim well.

You can customize this air rifle to your own preferences in a number of ways. Sure you can add a scope and bipod, but the more popular customizations are to decide whether you want to use a gun with a hand pump, or you can decide to use an air tank if you don’t mind spending the money (and you have a place where you can fill it up). The bolt on this rifle is also customizable for left-handed firers, so should you need to, you can reverse the bolt switch. The manufacturers can do this for you.

3. RWS Model 34 .22 Caliber Pellet Air Rifle

The RWS Model 34 .22 Air Rifle is a German-made hardwood stock air rifle with a great ambidextrous design, two-stage trigger, adjustable scope, and an easy break barrel cocking  system.

The survival weapon is a great addition to any survivalist’s kit because it is a commonly used small game hunting rifle capable of taking out accurate shots. It can also be used for .177 or .22 caliber ammunition as they gain above 1,000 fps on average. An added benefit for small game hunting is the 4*32 scope with a plex reticle for target precision and adjustable parallax for range control.

4. Ruger Blackhawk air rifle

Ruger’s Blackhawk is an impressive spring-piston-based air rifle with a great 1,000fps velocity and a 4×32 scope. The Blackhawk features a polymer black stock with checkered grips, a blued metal finish and a solid rubber recoil pad.

As the name implies, this is the kind of pellet gun that shooters enjoy because of its heavy, dense body. It felt similar to a hunting rifle as soon as I picked it up. The Ruger Blackhawk’s break-barrel system is impressive. It’s easy and smooth to crack the weapon, and I love the pop that happens when I do it. I believe this would be a great air rifle to teach anyone how a real gun feels and to be happy that it has a good feel and is safe to shoot.

In case you’re looking for a low maintenance, easy-to-use rifle to shoot rabbits, birds, and small creatures outside, as well as improving your target practice by plinking rusty cans on a log, then the Ruger might fit the bill.

5. Ruger Air Magnum .22

Ruger’s Air Magnum air rifle is the .22 version of the Ruger Blackhawk. It uses a spring piston break barrel system to reload and fire the weapon, and is an impressive hunting rifle that works at 1,200 fps.

As opposed to other air rifles, Ruger is a solid system and makes a little more noise because of its sheer power. After using this one myself I was able to make quite an impact on trees at 75 yards. This is one of the cheapest quality air rifles out there. Because of the low price, many users of the rifle have modified the scope so that there are some issues with its use, but it can easily be replaced by a UTG or Hawke lens.

CONCLUSION

Regardless of the hunting weapons, whether the DIY, primitive or air rifles, they must be handled with safety and caution. The hunting weapon that this article tackles is cost-effective and  easy to make. It’s up to you what to make and how to use it. Enjoy building your own DIY hunting weapons or selecting the best air rifle gun for hunting specially designed for you!