How Dangerous is a Boomerang

Boomerangs..... There is an astounding amount of cleverness in these things too....

And the Abbo's threw the hunting boomerangs, into herds of flying birds...

I am not sure about anything else bigger - like kangaroos, emus etc.

Must look it up:

https://www.throwsticks.com/the-hunting-boomerang

Hunting boomerangs – aborigines call them kylies - are usually heavier as well as larger and are made a bit differently from returning boomerangs, mainly in the shape of its airfoil. Many non-returning boomerangs have one arm much longer than the other, so they do not fly in a circular path but are easier to aim, fly faster and are more deadly when used for maiming or killing animals.

Furthermore, they can be thrown sideway when needed since they do not return.
Exceptions are special boomerangs for hunting birds that do return to the thrower after it misses its target, to be picked up for throwing again. They may be used against flying flocks such as bats or ducks, individual sitting birds, or perhaps smaller animals.

There are many ways a non-returning boomerang may be used for hunting. King Tutankhamen of Egypt used them to hunt ducks, probably throwing them at ducks rising from the water. If a heavy boomerang barges into a flock of ducks, it is bound to hit one or two if thrown correctly. Ducks and other waterfowls flying off from the water surface do it in one direction, so a leading throw can hit and most probably hurt the wing or neck enough to bring the fowl down.

Native Americans, notably the Hopi, also use the boomerang to hit small game such as rabbits and hares, but perhaps deer as well once in a while. Australian natives could throw it against an emu to hit the neck and break it, or one leg to immobilize it. The same may be done with a kangaroo or wallaby, if throwing is performed with skill and the boomerang is heavy enough to at least stun the animal. A sharp boomerang is then used to disembowel the animal to kill it. Another way is using the boomerang by deliberately throwing it against the tree’s leaves, to scare roosting birds to flying into prepared or throw-up nets.

But boomerangs went out of style after the bow and arrow was invented and adopted as a more efficient hunting weapon of choice. The Australian aborigines, being one a few peoples that never used the bow arrow, preserved the boomerang and skills of its use. So today, when we think of boomerangs, we think of Australian natives and returning flying wedges of wood.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang