Primitive Hunting At Its Most, Uh, Primitive

Dec 1, 2015
Editor's Note: This feature first appeared in our companion service The Archery Wire. If you're doing media planning and not considering using The Archery Wire, here's some of the great content you're missing.

When most sportsmen think about primitive hunting methods for pursuing deer, archery hunting with recurves and longbows or round-ball Kentucky blackpowder rifles might come to mind.

But last month a hunter in the Show-Me State catapulted backward in time – practically to the stone age – by harvesting a trophy whitetail with a device few seasoned hunters have even heard about, much less know how to pronounce or use.

When Paul Gragg first decided to go hunting deer with an atlatl this season, he said his hunting buddies gave him a hard time.

"I heard all the jokes," said the Defiance, Mo. deer hunter. "My friends were all laughing and teasing me about it."

But after downing a 15-point buck with his primitive hunting tool the afternoon of Oct. 24 in St. Charles County, well, let's just say his friends aren't making fun of his choice of hunting method any longer.

With its name derived from an Aztec word for "throwing board," atlatl hunters hook arrow-like hunting darts — more like a spear — into the end of the device, which is generally a wooden piece about two feet in length. The leverage of the atlatl allows them to throw the projectiles much faster and at a much greater distance than one could throw a spear without it.

"When I first started doing it, I thought there was no way this was going to work," Gragg admitted. "But after I practiced it for a little bit I was getting fairly good at it. Once you get the feel for it you can throw them pretty well. You can feel that sweet spot in your motion as soon as you let it go. You know right away whether you had a good throw or not. It's a lot like throwing a baseball."

Currently, only Missouri, Alabama and Pennsylvania permit the atlatl for deer hunting, while a handful of other states list the device as legal for rough fish, some gamebirds and non-game mammals.

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports Gragg, 49, is no stranger to hunting the tough way. He grew up on a farm where he was chasing deer with a bow and arrow by the age of 16.

During his adulthood, pursuing trophy bucks has become his passion. Using various methods including muzzleloader and archery, Gragg has managed to bag some big bucks at places like Peck Ranch, Eagle Bluffs and Howell Island Conservation Areas.

"I've been fortunate enough to have good places to go and a lot of time doing it," he said. "I think my top five bucks have an average score of 183 altogether."

Gragg's hard-won trophy using the atlatl scored 169 Boone and Crockett gross points. The hunter said he will have it mounted and find a special place for it on his living room wall, but he's not about to stop seeking the next hunting challenge.

"My goal was not to harvest the trophy that I did, but I just wanted to get a buck under my belt with the atlatl," said Gragg. "I was in complete shock right off the bat."

- J.R. Absher