Hunting Technique

[SASpearo]

Maybe all the self professed archers can post some info on how they better their aiming / grouping - how it would pertain to spearfishing, of course - target practice etc etc ???

[crazyfrenchmen]

Hi,
i'm an archer and also a spearfisher. There's a spearfishing club near my place that do target practice once a week in winter because the water visibility and temperature gets too low. Info is here http://rennes.webcity.fr/article.asp?id=10566 with pictures. Basically, for those not fluent in french, they shoot at a target at 10' in 8-10' of water. They do that in pool and old excavation hole. They also say that shooting at a target at the same range with no current in the same position all the time is not like hunting. So you dont become a good hunter by shooting at target. The important thing with a bow is not for it to shoot straigth, it must shoot constantly the same way. So to be a good shooter, forget about the bulleye. Aim at the center of your target and shoot. Do that as many times as necessary to always hit the same spot. After that, you'll only have to compensate for the deviation, the drop etc to hit your mark.

Good hunting

[freediver48]

Hi,

If I am shooting a bow that I know I will shoot at my local 3-D range, which means that you walk around a course in the woods and shoot at targets in life-like poses. This is very good parctise for hunting since distances are not known. If I do not know the bow I will shoot it at a target with known distances. In particular, if I have never shot the bow I'll start very close to the target and only move back once I'm shooting good patterns. If I'm hunting I'll generally use a compound bow with a trigger release. The trigger release is like any trigger, it should be squeezed not pulled. I will practise at distances way greater than I hunt at, this helps in developing confidence for shorter shots. I hope this is what you were asking about.

Best wishes,

Doug

[thin_air]

i would have to say the most important thing is to always have to same posture....

i learned this the hard way after shooting for 1 year.
steps:
1. try numerous positions/posture and find the position that you like the most.
2. practice getting in that posture, as soon as you draw your weapon you should be getting in that posture, now you dont nessacerily have to shoot every time you draw but make sure that you can get in the same posture time after time, once it is commited muscle memory you move to the next step.
3.start shooting at a target and always aim for the same spot. it doesnt matter if you miss all the time just shoot until you see all of you arrows/spears go in the same general direction. (this only applies if they are the same)
4. start learning how to compensate for the tendency. if it shoots low and to the right shoot high and to the left. it helps to have a constant point to focus on (on the projectile or weapon).
5. once you are shooting nice tight groups around the bulleye move forward or back a couple of yards and learn how to compansate for distance (this takes time)
6. learn each individual spear/arrow. this means you need to shoot 1 arrow/spear many many times with the aimer aimed at the bulleye and watch and see where it lands. usually all of the arrows will be a little different. but individuall arrows/spear will probably be off by 1-2 inches from the exact center when shooting at normal distance. HINT; i number all of my arrows and i know that number x goes up and to the right and the number y goes to the left and down by 1 cm at 15 meters ect.
7. practice and learn to compansate for each individual arrow/spear. be carful though i have broken many nocks from 15 meters from my arrows hitting each other.
8-100000000000 PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

well if anyone has any better way please tell me

thanks

[SASpearo]

It's kinda difficult to practice with a speargun. I found this neat little dive shop (actually not that small) about 5 minutes walk from my office. Now get this - they've got a 15m dive tank on the premises!!

Even better - After a little weedling I can now go there anytime I want to get wet. This should do wonders for bottom time / stamina.

I still have to convince them about my speargun though Would be kinda bummer to shoot out one of the glass panes and go floating out with it.

Is there anyone else from South Africa on these forums ?

Regards,
RC

[andrsn]

RC,

thanks for the shared experience/experiences

i'll share a few techniques of my own. you might get a kick out of them.

my favorite tool is a knife and a spoon. just simple ones from your local diner. for mid-water species, i opt for the spoon and will chuck one, while at the suface, towards an out of range fish. the falling, flashing object is irrisistable and most all come in for a close look. dive, aim, lead, and fire! for bottom species, i'll whip out one of the table knives. i'll bend it to a degree(which determines how fast it will sink) and let it drop to the floor. most grouper and snapper will at least stop in their tracks and take a peek. sometimes this is all you need to get off that long shot.

as far as using flashers, we love them. sometimes it seems a little unfair, but when it's slow, there's no better tool. we'll use a flasher for both drifting and when we anchor. when we anchor, we'll most always burley up the water with a fresh fish. both of these tactics will most definitely bring in more than you can bargain for. it's just not much fun when you can't get the sharks to leave your spot alone.

safe hunting everyone,
anderson

ps. vince!... i'm a fort lauderdale native. how long are you going to be there? keep me posted, i know alot about the area, especially off the coast. could even tell you which bars will hold your best selection of friendly women!

[SASpearo]

This is my float system .... took liberties from a lot of other people's ideas, especially Terry Maas - he started it all .....

First of all, excuse the graphics - I'm a programmer not an artist.

This is my main float system for deep water / big fish. It's a little complicated, but easy to operate, store, clean etc etc.

I use an old bodyboard / boogieboard to make the float itself. It's two pieces of about 50cm long by 30cm wide that I fibreglass over. I cut it using a heated wire (just a piece of wire chucked in the fire) and also make the hole for the bolt and hinges with the same wire. It gives a fairly straight cut, and is fairly neat as well. It just smells like crap.

Once it's cut to size and shaped, I just run one layer of fibreglass over it. This isn't really nessecary, but I prefer to do it this way - I can paint on it etc etc. If you don't want to fibreglass it, you'll have to use two BIG washers on either side of the board for the ring bolt.

The line itself is made up of 12mm Latex tubing and parachute cord / braided dacron line. This is the interesting part of the excersise ...

You're gonna need 2 times more line than tubing - and everything's gotta go inside. I have a couple of these lines made up, 10m, 20m 30m etc, and as I've made up snap clips on both sides they're easy to swap out for different dives. Wat you do, is find a vacuum cleaner with about a 2 - 3 Monica suction power (that's quite strong), some cotton wool and some fishing line. You tie a small ball of cotton wool to the end of the fishing line and push it into one side of the tubing. Apply the vacuum cleaner to the other end and Viola ! string goes through. Of course the tubing's gotta be straight, etc etc. Took me some time to get this right the first time, let me tell you !

Once the fishing line is in the tube, just tie the cord to one end and pull it through. When it gets to the other side, tie a knot in the tubing and the line, making sure that the line cannot slip back into the tube. Then, tie the knotted end to a tree / car / ex girlfriend whatever really, and streeeeetch the tube until all the line is inside. Now tie a knot on that side as well and all the chord should be safely tucked in. Unstretch the tubing and stopper the ends. I've tried several things to do that, but the best seems to be two washers and some fibreglass resin .... see picture. You'll have to tie a stopper line around the resin to get it to shape and to stop the plug from slipping out. Make sure you've got a good loop of line outside the tube to attach clips to.

The hinges are simple as well. Drill two holes in each board where the hinges should be, and loop a piece of the Latex tubing through them. Secure with a knot / crimp whatever, and a nice Voila ! once again, a nice rubbery hinge.

OK. So this is how it's supposed to work .... The line gets attached to your spear. Wether or not you do this with a three way setup to your gun as well is up to you. Personall, I've got my gun on a surfing leash and my float line directly to my spear. No connection between gun and spear. The line goes through the ring bolt (it's outside diameter is bigger than the ring, so that it'll take some pressure to get pulled through) and the terminates in a knot on one of the floats. The excess line gets put in the bag on the back float, and as it's needed (to play a fish or dive deeper) it gets pulled through the ringbolt - as the line stretches so it gets thinner, and gets pulled through.

Whew. What an explanation. Now, the reason why I use this system is quite simple. Besides making me money (I make these up for other people) It serves a lot of purposes.
1.) The line does not get tight quickly as with a normal static line. This means less spear rip - outs.
2.) The line feeds itself when diving / playing a fish. No need to attend it when it's going out.
3.) When playing a fish, you can lie on the back half of the float and pull the line through the ring bolt and into the bag.
4.) The line itself floats - because it's sealed on both sides. This means no more tangled lines in Kelp. It's also quite easy to see where it's tangled if it does get tangled
5.) The float is large enough to carry spares - flashers, water, etc etc.
6.) You can fold it up (with the rubber hinges) and put it in a small car's boot.
7.) You can make the float as big as you want. Or as small. The line can be changed easily. If you want to extend the line, add monofilament to the spear side.
8.) The line on the inside stops the tubing from stretching too much, and also servers as a backup in case the tubing goes.

Oh the flag. It's a screw in car antenna - one of those thingies with the "spring" in the middle. And any type of flag really - Alpha, red , white, plague, pirate .... whatever.

Happy huntin all ....

[shorty]

After reading this thread and "Speargun Rigging", I am thinking of redoing my setup. Just a few questions though.

Where can I get parachute cord/braided dacron line? Military Surplus?
How much does it cost?
I was looking at a Riffe 25' bungee but it was $75. Parachute cord sounds really good. All other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
shorty

[SASpearo]

Well, parachute chord is just a name for the type of chord. And braided Dacron is a type of fishing line that's actually braided. Good tackle shops sell it. The parachute chord (sometimes called accessory chord) can be found in most rock climbing shops ...

Otherwise just use a DECENT monofilament nylon line with a HIGH breaking strength. Remember that this line will be sealed inside the tube, iow airtight / watertight etc. You can also make your end loops out of something else - like cable etc. Just make sure the joins are GOOD .......

All the puctuation is 'cause I've broken one of these lines before .... +- 60kg yellowfin Tunny just broke a perfectly good 50 meter line ..... bloody expensive excersize ....
Lost spear: $10
Lost line: $30
Educational purposes of my swearing afterwards: Priceless ....

[freediver48]

Hi,

Actual parachute cord is constructed of nylon. It has a stranded core and a woven mantle, just like climbing rope, this makes it very stretchy. The design with a highly stretchy cover requires nylon. Dacron does not stretch much at all, so if you want stretch use chute cord, it is also more available and much cheaper. I use 1200lb test halibut line, which does not stretch much at all and encase it in plastic tube. The rest of the construction process is the same as SaSpearo's except that I seal the ends with hot glue.
I hope that this helps. Chute cord is available is most outdoor stores, cheap.

Best wishes,

Doug

[andrsn]

guys,
check out Bill Kitto's site when you get a chance. he has quite a bit of DIY(do it yourself) info on alot of rigs.

safe hunting,
anderson

[SASpearo]

I was just wondering about the hot glue idea ...... Do you reckon it would work in Latex tubing ??

I've just finished getting my feeder chord (fishing line) through two new lines - a 10m (30ft) and a 30m (90ft) - both Latex, and I've managed to get my gritty little hands on some decent Para chord for a change. I almost burnt out the office vacuum cleaner as well

Today's my official last day at work ... of for three and a half weeks of nothing but some spearing action, freediving fun and Bundaberg on the beach .... talk about getting my karma restored .....

Have a great festive (silly) season all !!!

Smelly feet!!

Riaan C

[freediver48]

Hi SaSpearo,

The hot glue works better than latex seal in plastic tube according to my tests, but I do not know about latex tube, why not try a bit. Like Kitto suggests, I use shrink wrap over the tube and swivel and had a problem with seals until using the hot glue.

Sounds like a great break!

Doug

[SASpearo]

Hi all ! Hope you had as great a season as me .... Man ! What a holiday.

I tried a couple of new ideas on my rigging - some of them from the forum, some of them from other spearos I met over the holidays ...

I tried the hot glue idea in Latex tubing - it works like a dream ! Ten times better than silicon sealer ....

What I did is this: I used a cable wishbone with the cable crimped into a loop, the two knobbies in line with each other. Then I attached the inner line to the one end of the wishbone (inside of the knobbie thingie) and slipped the whole thing into the tube. To do this I applied some KY jelly (Don't ask! ) to the tube and it just slipped in. I used a 11mm Latex tube for the line and parachute chord for the inner line. So, I had a nicely crimped and bound cable end on either side of my line ! I sealed the ends with a hot glue gun (Tested on a piece of offcut first) and let it cool. I bound the latex with some fishing line on the outside right after inserting the glue, so that it squeezed the glue all around the knobbie thingies.

It looked pretty impressive, and it was watertight / airtight. I put a bit of shrinkwrap around the bound bit and shrinked it. Heeeee haaaa ..... ver professional look ! Some tuna clips on the cable and away we go !

I tried a new Tuna rig as well .... a 30m bungie line attached to a break away on my gun on one end, and a 5l float on the other end. Then a FAT piece of mono about 20m long to another float (this one had a small netting pouch attached to it to coil the line into - the moment you pulled the first float underwater it came out) and this seconf float attached to another bungie of 10m attached to another float. Worked like a charm !!! I had one fish (37kg yellowfin Tunny) take the whole rig under water - with me hanging onto the last float ! Took me 25 minutes to land the mother. Photo's should be developed soon - will post them !

Anyone else get up to mischief this season ?

Regards,
R

[andrsn]

vince,

i'm heading down the middle of february and also some time in march. we're camping down at knight's key just north of the 7 mile bridge to do some spearfishing for 4 days. i'm basing out of lauderdale, so keep me posted on your plans.

how many years illegal are you? when i'm diving, i'm never in the mood to go out, i'm that exhausted. plus, i'm still holding out for a mermaid.

for a note on this thread, my technique has been changed. i'm lighter now(with lead) which is great for deep hunting, but when i get into the shallower areas i have to add(minus on the safety side) or else i scare everything off just trying to get down. (&boogie!) so, i'm trying to weigh the options here. hmmmm?

what are you guys diving w/ as far as lead goes?


anderson