Russ Guthrie’s 7 year old grandson assisted him on a research project to determine the effectiveness of the atlatl and dart for the purpose of deer hunting. They are both from Pennsylvania. The research was conducted on a deer farm which is a legal venue for this kind of thing. I am leaving the youngster’s name out of this for privacy reasons.

The purpose of the project is to show to a skeptical public that deer hunting with an atlatl and dart is effective. Russ worked with his grandson over time to help him become proficient with the atlatl. Practice was an essential part of the process.

The equipment used was made by Thunderbird Atlatl. The grandson’s gear consisted of a 22” Kanakadea atlatl and 1/2” x 6 foot ash dart weighing 6 ounces and an Ace broadhead of 160 grains. Russ’ gear was a 26” Kanakadea atlatl and 9/16” x 7 foot dart weighing 8 ounces with a 200 grain broadhead. The reason for the lighter gear for the youngster was so he could manage it easier.

The youngster made a good shot hitting just behind the diaphragm in the liver area. The deer went down after only 15 yards according to Russ. Russ then shot the deer with a second dart to finish the deer off quickly. Either shot would have been fatal by itself. There is a report of this experiment posted at Paleo Planet:

http://p081.ezboard.com/Russ-Guthries-7-Year-Old-Grandson-Nails-Deer-With-Atlatl/fpaleoplanet69529frm68.showMessage?topicID=684.topic

And YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEWhGHfCJA

The results are self explanatory.

Bob Berg