...competition is for NASCAR, NFL and the Live Pigeon rings in Mexico or Spain- not for our precious wildlife resources-RWTF!!
There are pigeon rings, to my knowledge, in the good ol' US of A in Pensylvania, NY, MD, VA, NC, and IN. There is no greater sport than standing alone to the mark (everyone starts at 31 yards). And everyone else is watching. You say, "Trapper ready?"
"Ready..."
"
Pull"
And a dun grey projectile springs at random from one of the array of nine traps spaced 5 yards apart and "drives" for the nearest 18-inch high boundrary fence about 15 yards from the traps (or sometimes comes right at you!).
Bang! Bang! Two shots required (even if you blank him with the first barrel), or the traper will mark him "lost bird." Kill him in bounds and you score; A dead bird outside the fence is as much a "lost bird" than if you missed him clean. Kill 5 birds in a row and step back a yard for your next 5 bird round. "Races" are usually 20 birds, although some venues hold 25 bird competitions. Kill 23 of 25 and you probably win it outright. Twenty-five in a row is almost unheard of.
This is a tough sport with no 25-, 50-, or 100-straight patches awarded. As a minimum, each "pull" costs $7.00 or more, so it's not for the financially challenged. And then there's the mandatory stakes and side bets (although some mitigation for seniors and women). This is not a "personal best" or handicap-type sport. Everyone starts even at 31 yards, and steps back a yard according to proven excelence on the given day, by going 5 straight. While not for everyone, I find live birds (euphemistically called "flyers") as a refreshing break from the "machine shooting" of Trap and Skeet, where the targets are a far cry from real life presentations of wing shooting, shooting on the wing, or "shooting flying," which started this tread. The variations of sporting clays, five stand, and ZZ Birds have added interest to shotgun competitions, but, still, the targets start out fast and get slower, the exact opposite of real-life shooting flying.
As for pigeons being a "precious wildlife resource," beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but in most major cities the pigeons rank with rats and cockroaches on the wildlife hit parade. Different strokes... EDM
