Australian spearthrower

[KuKulzA28]

Atlatls, woomeras, hul'che, etc. are a very ancient and effective weapon system... those 6-7' darts are pretty deadly and penetrate quite well. Seems by the colonial/imperialism age only Australia, Papua New Guinea, Alaska, Florida, Central America, and South America (in some places) retained its use. The Spaniards seemed most terrified of the atlatl than any slings, bows, macuahuitl, tepoztopilli, etc. that the Aztecs fielded in some of their accounts....

Do any of you guys use atlatl/woomera for hunting or even just practice with them?
I know this forum seems more interested in swords like tulwars, yataghans, kris, and the occasional mandau...
but hey, nothing wrong with some paleo-weaponry or "stone age" weapons.



Here are my two atlatl reproductions, the straight one is based off a Tapuya thrower (S. America) and the one with the loops is based off a Pre-Colombian Mexican atlatl (near Aztec Empire)... They are a lot of fun to hurl my 6' darts with. Hopefully someday my skills are great enough to hunt!

Mine are thrown with a different grip than the woomera however. Interesting, different techniques...