[CNYCacher]

I would've been happier if they had clarified that the Turkey shoot is not actually shooting at turkeys, it's a shooting event where they raffle turkeys. . . meh. It was good article.

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Turkey shoot was a golden opportunity (http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2007/10/22/news/local_news/news03.txt)

[Bazooka Joe71]

Turkey shoot was a golden opportunity

By Jason Gabak / Special to The Citizen
Monday, October 22, 2007 9:46 AM EDT

AUBURN - On a sunny, warm and colorful fall Sunday, nearly 500 people came to the Falcon Sportsmen's Club's annual Turkey Shoot.

Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of the highly anticipated fall gathering. For all five decades, the gathering has been an important fundraiser for the club.

“This is one of the main moneymakers for the club,” said Harvard Harding, club president. “We wouldn't be able to keep the club alive without it.”

For many participants, the shoot has been a long-standing family tradition.

Steve Ball, of Port Byron, said that he has been going to the shoots for more than 25 years along with his father Walt, who won one of the numerous turkeys that were raffled off and given as prizes through the afternoon.

“I just like to try my luck,” Ball said. “I've been coming to these for a lot of years. I like the competition; I like to see how I can do against all these other people that makes it a lot of fun.”

This year along with the more traditional trap shooting, the club decided to mix things up a little, adding a series of shooting games to help keep the competition interesting and give every range of shooter something that may appeal to them.

“We just decided to try to do a little more,” Harding said. “We wanted to have something for the competitive shooters and we wanted to have something for people to just have a little fun with, more games and things like that.”

There was regular trap shooting competition from 16 yards away and handicapped shooting from 27 yards away alongside the popular pond shooting and Annie Oakley.

“People really seem to like the pond shooting,” Harding said. “You aim for a plate across the pond and behind the plate there is a little target and if you hit you get a prize; it is one of those games that is all about luck really. Annie Oakley there are three shooters, you take the first shot and then the next shooter is up if they make it, the first shooter is out, if the third shooter hits it the first two are out. These are just fun games that help make it a little more interesting and everyone seems to be enjoying it.”

This combination of competition and fun has been a big draw for a lot of competitors over the years.

“I've always liked shooting,” Josh Donovan, of Auburn, said. “I got into this with my father and I started coming here to shoot and got into these competitions. They are pretty cool, you get a little bit of competition and you get the fun side of things too, I like both parts of it.”

And for all 50 years, every bit as traditional as the shooting has been the food.

Alongside the usual hot dogs and hamburgers, Polish fare like pigs in the blanket, kapusta and kielbasa have been a big part of the turkey shoot.

“This started as part of the Falcons in Auburn,” Harding said. “So the food has always been a part of it. We have a bunch of volunteers that do all the cooking and get everything together. This is definitely a day about shooting, but it is also a good day, a good time to get people together and have food and have a good time here at the club.”

[TexasRifleman]

I would've been happier if they had clarified that the Turkey shoot is not actually shooting at turkeys,

Reminds me of the WKRP in Cincinnati episode where Les Nesman threw free turkeys out of the radio stations helicopter at Thanksgiving.

No one told him turkeys don't fly very well :)

[Cougfan2]

Reminds me of the WKRP in Cincinnati episode where Les Nesman threw free turkeys out of the radio stations helicopter at Thanksgiving.

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face, Texasrifleman. I saw the original episode and laughed so hard my sides hurt.:D

[Starter52]

Oh, the humanity! :D