The Outhouse

Hmmm ..... interesting !
GUN BARREL CITY RADIO

Outhouse Humor
Maw is outside hangin' up the laundry, when she hears Paw in the kitchen. Maw walks in and says, "Paw, get out there and fix that there outhouse seat." Paw says, "All right, Maw." Paw walks out to the outhouse, looks at it, and says, "Maw, there ain't nothin' wrong with this here outhouse seat!" Maw says, "Yes, there is. Put your head down in the hole." Paw says "I ain't puttin' my head in that there hole!" Maw says, "Well you're gonna have to if'n you're gonna fix the problem!"
Paw puts his head down in the hole (just a little bit mind ya) and he hollers, "Maw, there ain't nothin' wrong with this here outhouse seat!" Maw hollers, "Now pull your head out of the hole." Paw goes to lift up his head and he says, "Oww! OWW! Maw! MAW, my beard's stuck in the cracks in the seat!" Maw says ......... "Aggravatin', ain't it?"

Turkey Shoot: Most people picture a place in the backwoods. Targets nailed to a post, tree, or hung from an old clothes line and a handful of Old Timers testing their luck with their trusty shotguns. Turkey Shoots have probably been around since the invention of the gun and this 'vision' of the past still exists, year round. Many are seasonal, and it may surprise the novice to learn that the 'season' for some is in the dead of winter... snow, a burn barrel to warm your hands while you wait your turn, and, if you're lucky, an outhouse. It could be logical to assume that the other seasons were occupied by planting, harvesting, building and whatever else was necessary to survive. It could also be that sheer boredom and cabin fever played a role! In any case, the tradition lives on, but it has also grown and expanded. Today you'll find Turkey Shoots in huge buildings built specifically for this purpose. Buildings that sometimes include, heat, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, electricity, furniture and even kitchens so that we can take our chances at cleaning a target with all the comforts of home. There are, of course, many stories and opinions as to how it all started... if you'd care to share your version, or one that's been passed on to you, we'd be glad to share it with everyone. Numerous magazines, publications and writers have contacted us asking for a history of this sport... now we're asking you!

Types of targets we know of..... tell us about yours!
Better yet send us one or a picture of it!

Post to target set up?

Star, take out the star in 3 shots

	5 x 5 card with and X = closest to X wins
	4 x 4 paper with an X = closest to the center of the X wins
	3 x 5 paper with an 'O' = highest shot count in the 'O' wins
	Block of wood with an X = closest to center wins
	Printed target with pin head size red dot = take out the dot
	Printed target 5/8 red dot = take out the dot in 1 shot
	Printed target 9/16 red dot = take out the dot in 2 shots
	Printed target (as above) turned backwards!
	Paper target with several X's = Shooters place bets on X's
	Same as above (paper target) turned backwards!

CLICK HERE FOR SAMPLE TARGETS

One post.
15 target holders.
89-91 feet.
First come,
first choice of target!

Target on a 'clothesline'.
A pulley system

One post.
One target holder.
Lots of shooters!
Could take awhile
but it's worth it!

29 targets
29 man bench
24 - 33 yds

Olympic History: Shooting
The art of marksmanship had a different role long before it became a sport. Shooting dates back to man's earliest origins as spear-throwing contests improved hunting skills.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, the first shooting clubs were formed in German-speaking countries -- exclusively for men -- and the wheel-lock musket was used. Bows and wheel-lock muskets were shot from the standing position at first and by the 16th century, public matches showcased firearms with rifled barrels.
Matches and shooting festivals -- usually one-shot matches fired at painted wood targets -- were usually held on holidays and prizes were usually of gold. In 1710, target shooting made its way to the U.S. and the events were called "turkey shoots" at first with food items being the prizes.
In the 1790s, the U.S. developed match rifles with long barrel and double-set trigger features. By 1825, formal match shooting began and trapshooting contests followed five years later. Countries began forming their own national federations around the same time and eight nations formed the International Shooting Union by 1907. Shooting was an event at the 1896 Games in Athens and missed only the 1904 and 1928 Games.
Copyright � 2000 SportsLine.com, Inc. All rights reserved. CBS "eye device" is a registered trademark of CBS Inc.

Target Shooting
I INTRODUCTION
Target Shooting, indoor and outdoor sport in which contestants fire small arms at stationary targets. The sport is similar to trapshooting (see Trapshooting and Skeet), which uses catapulted targets.
II RULES AND EQUIPMENT
The standard target is a square of cardboard with concentric black and white rings around a black circular center known as the bull's-eye. The object in target-shooting contests is to place a series of shots inside the bull's-eye. Both rifle and pistol matches are contested with various classes and calibers of firearms. Typical events include team and individual matches for women, men, and juniors. Contestants are classified, in ascending order, as tyros or beginners, marksmen, sharpshooters, experts, and masters. Rifle- and pistol-shooting championships are sponsored each year by USA Shooting and the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Shooting events are also included in the Olympic Games.
Rifle matches are divided into small-bore and high-power events. High-power rifles are .30-caliber arms that are fired at distances ranging from 200 to 1000 yd (182.9 to 914.4 m); small-bore rifles are .22-caliber arms that are fired at distances ranging from 50 to 200 yd (45.7 to 182.9 m). Both types usually weigh considerably more than standard hunting guns, a characteristic that lends the target arms great stability and accuracy. The small-bore and high-power events are subdivided into contests for firearms with optical sights and those with metallic sights. The chief component of an optical sight is a small telescope mounted on the barrel, which provides a magnified view of the target. Metallic sights are comparatively simple mechanical guides affixed to the barrel that are designed to facilitate the proper aiming of a rifle; such sights provide no magnification and thus impose a greater test of shooting skill than do optical sights. Contestants in rifle matches fire in turn from prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing positions. The highest overall score determines the winner of the competition.
In pistol shooting, contestants fire handguns at targets 20 to 50 yd (22.9 to 45.7 m) distant. The arms used are .22-caliber, .38-caliber, and .45-caliber revolvers and automatic pistols. Each contestant fires 30 rounds in a typical match: 10 rapid-fire shots at 25 yd, 10 slow-fire shots at 50 yd, and 10 timed-fire shots at 25 yd.
III HISTORY
The sport of small-arms target shooting dates from the invention of the pistol and the rifle in the 16th century. For several centuries the sport was contested only in sporadic impromptu fashion, because the firearms of that period were too undependable and inaccurate to meet the requirements of large-scale, organized competition. Turkey shoots and weekend target-shooting matches were popular among the frontiersmen of colonial America. During the American Revolution (1775-1783) and the American Civil War (1861-1865) rural sharpshooters played a strategic role as snipers. Popular interest in rifle shooting reached new heights after the Civil War, when the sport became a favorite diversion of city dwellers, groups of whom organized weekend target-shooting excursions into the countryside. New advances in the manufacture of weapons and ammunition, meanwhile, resulted in high standards of accuracy and reliability. By 1870 conditions were ripe for organized regional and national competition. Reviewed by: USA Shooting Microsoft � Encarta � Encyclopedia 2002. � 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.