cheesy
Well-known member
I've done the "European" shoot twice. Paid for by a vendor I use, I think it was $300/gun. 20 shooters. 300 birds.
Where we did it there were 15 stations in somewhat of a circle around a tower in the middle. Circle diameter was probably 200 to 300 yards, depending on where you were exactly. The tower was in the bottom of a creek between two fields, creek 'trees' made it about 100 yards across. Mature, dense hardwoods, mostly elms, hackberrys, and hedge (osage orange, bois d'arc, depending on where you're from). Some of the shooting stations were out in the fields where you could see the bird coming from a good 50 or 60 yards before shooting, some were down in the bottom of the trees giving you only a short window to shoot from, not over a second in the clear.
Where we shot at there were 2 shooters at each station, and if they took a direct aim at one another, they'd probably connect, but it would have to be totally intentional. Most stations couldn't see other shooters due to the heavy trees and terrain. A few stations if a bird went between two stations there was potential for 4 shooters shooting at the same bird, those instances were pretty few and far between.
Dog work was reserved for the dog handlers. They set up a good 30 or 40 yards further out of the circle, if a bird went down they'd send the dogs out for the retrieve. They were all volunteers there just to get some dog work in, mostly duck hunters with labs, but a few GSP's thrown in the mix.
I think of myself as a pretty fair shotgun shot, this shoot made me look stupid. When the bird has a 30mph or 40mph tail wind behind it, is flying 10 yards higher than the highest mature tree around, and you've only got a fraction of a second to snap your shot, it is difficult. Even the ones out in the open and you can watch as it approaches, where the bird had a full head of steam it was hard, birds were all flying a lot higher than 90% of the wild birds I've ever shot, even when doing a lot of blocking when I first started hunting pheasants.
After 20 birds we'd rotate stations. 20 birds time 15 stations, 300 birds released. We never shot but about 60% of the birds if I recall. The rest went in the farmground surrounding the area. The next day we brought the pointers in and hunted up what other birds we could find from the previous day.
The shoot was definitely not hunting, but it beat sitting on the couch watching pre-season baseball. Had a lot of good friends there, a lot of good-natured ribbing between everybody for missing the 'gimmee' shots, and just a good time in general.
Where we did it there were 15 stations in somewhat of a circle around a tower in the middle. Circle diameter was probably 200 to 300 yards, depending on where you were exactly. The tower was in the bottom of a creek between two fields, creek 'trees' made it about 100 yards across. Mature, dense hardwoods, mostly elms, hackberrys, and hedge (osage orange, bois d'arc, depending on where you're from). Some of the shooting stations were out in the fields where you could see the bird coming from a good 50 or 60 yards before shooting, some were down in the bottom of the trees giving you only a short window to shoot from, not over a second in the clear.
Where we shot at there were 2 shooters at each station, and if they took a direct aim at one another, they'd probably connect, but it would have to be totally intentional. Most stations couldn't see other shooters due to the heavy trees and terrain. A few stations if a bird went between two stations there was potential for 4 shooters shooting at the same bird, those instances were pretty few and far between.
Dog work was reserved for the dog handlers. They set up a good 30 or 40 yards further out of the circle, if a bird went down they'd send the dogs out for the retrieve. They were all volunteers there just to get some dog work in, mostly duck hunters with labs, but a few GSP's thrown in the mix.
I think of myself as a pretty fair shotgun shot, this shoot made me look stupid. When the bird has a 30mph or 40mph tail wind behind it, is flying 10 yards higher than the highest mature tree around, and you've only got a fraction of a second to snap your shot, it is difficult. Even the ones out in the open and you can watch as it approaches, where the bird had a full head of steam it was hard, birds were all flying a lot higher than 90% of the wild birds I've ever shot, even when doing a lot of blocking when I first started hunting pheasants.
After 20 birds we'd rotate stations. 20 birds time 15 stations, 300 birds released. We never shot but about 60% of the birds if I recall. The rest went in the farmground surrounding the area. The next day we brought the pointers in and hunted up what other birds we could find from the previous day.
The shoot was definitely not hunting, but it beat sitting on the couch watching pre-season baseball. Had a lot of good friends there, a lot of good-natured ribbing between everybody for missing the 'gimmee' shots, and just a good time in general.
