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Hunting Technique
- Thread starterSASpearo
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Does anyone have suggestions for targets i could use with a pole spear? That shampoo bottle thing didn't sound too horrible to me, i could use a rock tip and just shoot away. Anyone have any suggestions? It doesn't have to be anything that moves either, but im just starting, and i need to practice distance, speed, accuracy, etc.
Hey skarz,
If you just need targets, you may also use plastic fuel cans. Saw that in a video where the guys were testing the accuracy and the power of different spearguns. Fill the can with sand and shoot away...
Other than that you can just try shooting fish - the best moving target! Since youre using a polespear you obviously won't be chacing monsters anyway.
IB
If you just need targets, you may also use plastic fuel cans. Saw that in a video where the guys were testing the accuracy and the power of different spearguns. Fill the can with sand and shoot away...
Other than that you can just try shooting fish - the best moving target! Since youre using a polespear you obviously won't be chacing monsters anyway.
IB
plastic fuel cans are kind of expensive, I'd recommend empty laundry detergent bottles. Just fill them with sand just like the fuel jugs, and shoot away. They are also more environmentally friendly as fuel jugs might leak out some fuel residue, even if you think they are clean.
well I wouldnt use a $100 slip tip, but it shouldnt damage your tip. Consider that the tip of your spear is designed to occasionally hit the rocks and such, thin plastic is no problem.
This is a pretty awsome thread 
when I first found Deeper Blue I used to re read this one quite alot, I learnt so much, its a shame we dont see Riaan here much these days but his work is away from computers out in the bush so I guess we can forgive him
Regards the target practice bits above, with my new guns although they are bang on accurate, I find in the heat of the moment I dont always have time to aim properly and as a result I seem to shoot high but how high depends on the amount of paralax (Im looking slightly down at the tip so in relation the spear is aiming slightly upwards). So as a means of avoiding this, of late Ive been tilting the gun over to 90 degrees, so that the hieght axis of the gun is in line with the body length of the fish, so now all I have to do is get the new vertical axis of the spear in the middle of the fish (easy) and aim just behind the head and bingo my hit rate is near perfect on a slow moving fish nearly always a head shot and so fast.
Im pretty chuffed with the technique anyway, probably find out now that everybody does it but they werent going to tell me
when I first found Deeper Blue I used to re read this one quite alot, I learnt so much, its a shame we dont see Riaan here much these days but his work is away from computers out in the bush so I guess we can forgive him Regards the target practice bits above, with my new guns although they are bang on accurate, I find in the heat of the moment I dont always have time to aim properly and as a result I seem to shoot high but how high depends on the amount of paralax (Im looking slightly down at the tip so in relation the spear is aiming slightly upwards). So as a means of avoiding this, of late Ive been tilting the gun over to 90 degrees, so that the hieght axis of the gun is in line with the body length of the fish, so now all I have to do is get the new vertical axis of the spear in the middle of the fish (easy) and aim just behind the head and bingo my hit rate is near perfect on a slow moving fish nearly always a head shot
and so fast. Im pretty chuffed with the technique anyway, probably find out now that everybody does it but they werent going to tell me
Alison
I went in a pool last night and shot my new gun - the "Eurocan" - It shot wonderful by the way (all shots in a 3" group at 15')
I have not really tried shooting the gun sideways yet... I am shooting in the pool again this weekend due to rough seas so I will try this method.
I am interested to hear more hunting techniques... I compare spearfishng to bowhunting on land.... I love both...
I went in a pool last night and shot my new gun - the "Eurocan" - It shot wonderful by the way (all shots in a 3" group at 15')
I have not really tried shooting the gun sideways yet... I am shooting in the pool again this weekend due to rough seas so I will try this method.
I am interested to hear more hunting techniques... I compare spearfishng to bowhunting on land.... I love both...
Re: Hunting Technique-General tips
I hope this is not too basic but I continue to be surprised at how many spearo's have not had the opportunity of dry land basic hunting expertise.
I have been able to hunt underwater successfully by using all of my dry land experience that does translate to underwter tactics.
SAspearo has outlined a few, but there are some general do's that define hunting vs casual swimming around with a spear gun in hand.
a) Focus: like any sport you have to have it. Think about the hunt before the hunt, visualize your actions, plan your strategy, attention to details. Get into the water knowing you will be successful.
b) Tenacity: keep trying, hunt hard, hunt when you are thinking you are cold, hunt when you are tired, or bored ,or are about to give up.
c) Be comfortable, be part of the enviorment,vigilant and cognizant without putting too many "predator vibes" in the water. It is a documented scientific fact that quarry feel it when you are overly aggressive and over stimulated in a predator mode. Fish know it when sharks turn it on, and deer and elk know it in the woods on opening day, plains game know it when the big cats turn it on. It is why the first timer, or the camp cook, or the guy taking a crap at his blind kills the monster of the woods..it never fails and I have lived it and seen it. Same natural thing applies in the water.
d) Prepare and do your homework. keep a log of tide, time of kill, wind, temp etc. It works. Talk to the locals, especially the hook and line guys, and share your insights and spots. Google earth is a free down load and it is my map for finding the spots no one thought were there. I map my spots with a red dot and file them, then hit them hard and repeatedly.
E) Patience Focused, detemined patience is why cats and lions kill as well as they do.
f) Stealth and quiet..camo works, painting spear tips, shafts, and crimps black are little attention to detail that add up to the slight edge that work. I can never understand a guy wearing camo wetsuit and black mask hunting with a silver reflective gun and chrome spear tip.. You can read the boards and see the controversey on camo, but anything that breaks up your outline is good and effective.
Leg weights keep my body balanced, in trim ,and my fins quiet when I surface hunt.
G) Honor the quarry, and the game laws. Hunting is not killing, and killing is not hunting. The more you hunt, and succeed, the more you instinctivley know the difference. ...and your peers will know the difference as well.
I hope this is not too basic but I continue to be surprised at how many spearo's have not had the opportunity of dry land basic hunting expertise.
I have been able to hunt underwater successfully by using all of my dry land experience that does translate to underwter tactics.
SAspearo has outlined a few, but there are some general do's that define hunting vs casual swimming around with a spear gun in hand.
a) Focus: like any sport you have to have it. Think about the hunt before the hunt, visualize your actions, plan your strategy, attention to details. Get into the water knowing you will be successful.
b) Tenacity: keep trying, hunt hard, hunt when you are thinking you are cold, hunt when you are tired, or bored ,or are about to give up.
c) Be comfortable, be part of the enviorment,vigilant and cognizant without putting too many "predator vibes" in the water. It is a documented scientific fact that quarry feel it when you are overly aggressive and over stimulated in a predator mode. Fish know it when sharks turn it on, and deer and elk know it in the woods on opening day, plains game know it when the big cats turn it on. It is why the first timer, or the camp cook, or the guy taking a crap at his blind kills the monster of the woods..it never fails and I have lived it and seen it. Same natural thing applies in the water.
d) Prepare and do your homework. keep a log of tide, time of kill, wind, temp etc. It works. Talk to the locals, especially the hook and line guys, and share your insights and spots. Google earth is a free down load and it is my map for finding the spots no one thought were there. I map my spots with a red dot and file them, then hit them hard and repeatedly.
E) Patience Focused, detemined patience is why cats and lions kill as well as they do.
f) Stealth and quiet..camo works, painting spear tips, shafts, and crimps black are little attention to detail that add up to the slight edge that work. I can never understand a guy wearing camo wetsuit and black mask hunting with a silver reflective gun and chrome spear tip.. You can read the boards and see the controversey on camo, but anything that breaks up your outline is good and effective.
Leg weights keep my body balanced, in trim ,and my fins quiet when I surface hunt.
G) Honor the quarry, and the game laws. Hunting is not killing, and killing is not hunting. The more you hunt, and succeed, the more you instinctivley know the difference. ...and your peers will know the difference as well.
good tips spearinhand, i try to always focus on silnce and slow smooth motions, sometimes, especially with groupers and snappers, i do some dives close to the fish without looking at them or moving in for the kill just to get them relaxed to my presence.
This is a grat post we need more on tips and technique and less on toys and comparing size
This is a grat post we need more on tips and technique and less on toys and comparing size
