Matt, that’s exactly what I’m doing with almost 1000 activations now.
I don’t always hit the right branch and a few times I had trouble getting the weight to drop back down.
My brother wanted to help me once and threw with too much momentum. The result was that the weight wrapped itself around the branch several times and is still hanging in the tree today. 
See the clip in German.
73 Chris
I can fully recommend W4GO’s sound advice. One additional note: The line should be long enough so that the throw weight (in my case, an arborist’s throw weight) can come down unhindered. If this is not the case, the weight may swing around a branch.
So you never throw your weight higher than half of the rope length (plus allowance for you not throwing vertically up).
I don’t use the bag that real arborists use, but lay the rope on the ground. You might want to clear it somewhat before, with time you get a feeling how clean the space should be.
My line is about 15m, this brings the wire high enough for EU S2S contacts.
As we say, “practice makes a master”: At first, my throws were abysmal and it took me much time to get it where I wanted (and ignoring the advice as all young apprentices do about not pulling the weight back, I lost a throw weight on DM/BW-235). But now, I can choose a branch and mostly get it with the first shot.
If I can do it, so can you!
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
Has anyone tried a catapult with any success?
I have laid the line out on the ground, or on a tarp, to help reduce tangling on sticks / leaves / shrubs. But the bucket makes life much easier. Just feed the line into the bucket and let it fall naturally. The smaller plastic peanut butter jar takes a little more time to load, but I actually get fewer tangles, and I can just drop the weighted tennis ball in the jar and transport it that way, rather than winding up the rope separately. Takes very little time to use.
If you’re concerned about the extra weight, use your billly for the throwing bucket, then you can boil up a cuppa once you have the antenna up.
It’s not the weight, it’s the cost (must have some Scottish ancestors up the line 
). Seriously, I shlep around much more dead weight. I have learned to read the ground and estimate where the rope can be laid out and what cleanup must be done (freshly harvested ground is worst).
But thanks for the tip about the tarp. This is also useful for other stuff. Another several hundred grams that help me regaining some fitness …
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
Yes and No… All the wire antennas at the home QTH are between trees so getting the wire up in the air is an ongoing problem. I did try a catapult along with some light gauge fishing line and… well it sort of worked but I found it difficult to stop the fishing line snagging and I’m a rubbish shot so I did better with a throw bag. I use an arborist throw bag and a length of arborist throw line and an Ikea big bag which I use with some success at home. The throw-line is slippier than most cord and seems to make its way through the foliage fairly easily. I have not tried this on a summit as I have only activated a couple that are forested - too many sheep here for trees!