Meat shoot

Meat shoots are commonly mistaken as block shoots, ham shoots, turkey shoots, etc. This is, however, a misnomer.^[1] They are typically run as fund raising events by small rod and gun clubs, gun owners associations, or Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters. Rules vary depending on location, but the general idea is that using shotguns or other small target shooting weapons, participants shoot at paper targets to try to win prizes (often, hams or turkeys, or select cuts of beef).

Events usually include a numbered sign-up sheet on which shooters write their name to indicate for which prize they would like to compete. Different lines on the sheet correspond to different specific prizes (e.g. line #1 may be competing for a ham). Shooters can often buy as many chances to shoot as they would like.

There are target cards numbered from 1 - 20 for each shoot. All targets are paper, all shells are light target loads, and both are provided by the club to keep everything fair. Each set of 20 targets is also numbered to match the number of the corresponding sign up sheet. The targets are hung out one at a time, and each shooter fires one shot at one target, in the numerical order of the sign up sheet. The targets are inspected/measured by a judge with a magnifying glass, who doesn't see the shooters' names or the sign-up sheet, just the 20 numbered targets, from one shooter at a time. This helps to keep the results unbiased due to anonymity. The card with a hole closest to the X in the center of the target is the winner... It doesn't matter how many pellets hit the card; the one closest to center is the one that counts.

References

1. ^ Nicholas Mead