Bob Wright
Hawkeye
I was on another forum rememberin' turkey shoots, an event I haven't seen advertised in many years. Boy! were they fun!
Turkey shoots were held near Thanksgiving in the fall of the year, usually when the weather had turned brisk. There were events for shotguns and .22 r.f. rifles, though several times I used a revolver.
For the .22 rifle: Shoot through a wooden board that had a hole drilled through it to either punch a hole in a paper backing or break a clay pidgeon on the back side of the board, without hitting the wooden board. Shoot to cut the rope of suspended turkeys or hams. Usually three shots allowed, and the meat had to fall within a certain time limit. (The suspended meats were not the award, having hung there most of the day.) A luck target had a paper printed with 1" squares numbered from one to nine at random. The total score of the squares hit determined the winner. The shooter could not see the numbers. Drive a nail started into a piece of wood.
For shotguns, there was a trap range, with usually four men competing, a shoot til you miss affair. Also paper targets were used with the shot pattern determining the score, also random numbers.
And, best of all, in addition to the smell of burnt gun powder was the smell of wood smoke wafting by on the crisp air. Ribs were being barbecued, along with smoked turkey drumsticks, corn dogs (Pronto Pups) corn on the cob. Home made lemonade, iced tea, cokes of every kind, even hot coffee. Beer was not allowed, both as a safety precaution and the request of Baptist sponsors.
Fees were charged to participate in any event, and usually the cause was some charity, school band, football team, church fund raising, whatever.
These were as much fun as the state fair.
Bob Wright
Turkey shoots were held near Thanksgiving in the fall of the year, usually when the weather had turned brisk. There were events for shotguns and .22 r.f. rifles, though several times I used a revolver.
For the .22 rifle: Shoot through a wooden board that had a hole drilled through it to either punch a hole in a paper backing or break a clay pidgeon on the back side of the board, without hitting the wooden board. Shoot to cut the rope of suspended turkeys or hams. Usually three shots allowed, and the meat had to fall within a certain time limit. (The suspended meats were not the award, having hung there most of the day.) A luck target had a paper printed with 1" squares numbered from one to nine at random. The total score of the squares hit determined the winner. The shooter could not see the numbers. Drive a nail started into a piece of wood.
For shotguns, there was a trap range, with usually four men competing, a shoot til you miss affair. Also paper targets were used with the shot pattern determining the score, also random numbers.
And, best of all, in addition to the smell of burnt gun powder was the smell of wood smoke wafting by on the crisp air. Ribs were being barbecued, along with smoked turkey drumsticks, corn dogs (Pronto Pups) corn on the cob. Home made lemonade, iced tea, cokes of every kind, even hot coffee. Beer was not allowed, both as a safety precaution and the request of Baptist sponsors.
Fees were charged to participate in any event, and usually the cause was some charity, school band, football team, church fund raising, whatever.
These were as much fun as the state fair.
Bob Wright
