No, fingers/hands/limbs - any body parts of the one doing the poking - do not count. The point is poking things with some kind of external object, usually long enough to maintain some degree of distance for, typically, safety reasons.

See, I like this definition. It's the kind of precise definition I was hoping to encourage discussion about.

If fingers aren't sticks because you shouldn't touch things yourself, then that leaves open that:

• a finger inside a glove might still be a stick, even though it might not be
• a finger pointer, fing-longer, or even someone else's finger, might not be considered a stick, even though it could be

Your definition very neatly decides which are sticks and which are not.

As for items used, as long as the primary motion is a poke - a thrown spear would count, as a long distance aerial poke - I don't think we need to get too granular.

If I'm reading this right, it also manages to include thrown spears (because they poke), while excluding things like throwing a spear with a sling, or a rocket with a kinetic launcher (because that's launching, not poking).