Pigeon shooting
As pigeon shooting , sometimes live pigeon shooting is called a shooting sport that has been practiced since the early 19th century in a rule-based form. However, pigeon shooting was criticized as early as the 19th century for its cruelty to birds. Today there are only a few countries where this form of shooting sport is legal. These include Spain, Mexico, and some US states. Making bets is an important part of pigeon shooting. The more modern and bloodless version of this sport is clay target shooting .
history
The first club exclusively dedicated to pigeon shooting was founded in a London suburb in 1812. It was called Old Hats because the pigeons were kept captive under old hats until they were released by pulling on a thin rope. In addition to England, this form of shooting sport was also practiced in the European countries of Spain, Italy, Belgium and Monaco. In Brussels and in Ostend , Belgium , around 35,000 pigeons were shot every year towards the end of the 19th century. In Germany this sport was practiced at the Heiligen Damm . In the beginning, practitioners were mostly wealthy landowners. The first American club to practice pigeon shooting was founded in Cincinnati in the early 1830s . The birds that were shot at the beginning did not only include pigeons. Blackbirds , sparrows and even bats were also used as targets .
Pigeon shooting became so popular, especially in the USA, that this sport served as a livelihood for some show shooters. The best known were William Frank Carver and Adam H. Bogardus . William Frank Carver even went on a European tour, during which he shot pigeons to entertain the Prince of Wales and was awarded a medal for it.
exercise
In front of the shooting range there are tin boxes, the walls of which are only loosely joined together, so that the structure collapses when a wire attached to it is pulled. A pigeon is put into each box , which has usually been mutilated beforehand by tearing out the feathers and etching the wounds, blinds on one or both eyes, breaking the bones and so on, so that it does not circling its flight, but straight upright or after one specific side takes.
In response to a command from the shooter, the wire is pulled, the box collapses, the frightened pigeon flies away, and the shooter must try to hit it in such a way that it falls to the ground within the fence, otherwise the shot will not count.
After a half-dead pigeon fell at the feet of Monegasque Princess Grace Kelly in the 1960s, shooting at live pigeons was banned there. Germany, Holland and other countries had already banned pigeon shooting at that time. In England a related bill failed due to opposition from the House of Lords. As a substitute, shooting at electric pigeons ( helices ) was introduced in the federal states , which should simulate live pigeons with comparable flight characteristics.
In addition to the actual shooting, this discipline also includes betting.
supporting documents
Individual proof
- ↑ Blechman, p. 74
literature
- Andrew D. Blechman: Pigeons - The fascinating saga of the world's most revered and reviled bird , Grove Press, New York 2006,