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Bucks County pigeon shoot draws heat

A pigeon is released or catapulted into the air and starts to takes flight. A few yards away, a gun club member quickly aims and fires a shotgun, usually striking the bird.Some of the hundreds of pigeons released in a typical daylong shoot die instantly. But as many as 70 percent are only wounded, animal-rights activists allege, and dying birds can languish for days. The result is "an animal-rights vs. sportsmen's-rights issue," said State Rep. Mike Tobash (R., Schuylkill), a defender of the shoots, which are legal in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Gun Club — one of three clubs that stage live shoots — has conducted them since 1877.

Seventeen wounded pigeons that died after SHARK members retrieved themfrom the Delaware River and along shore during the Philadelphia GunClub's shoot on March 31. (Johnna Seeton)
Seventeen wounded pigeons that died after SHARK members retrieved themfrom the Delaware River and along shore during the Philadelphia GunClub's shoot on March 31. (Johnna Seeton)Read more
    by Bill Reed<br/>INQUIRER STAFF WRITER<br/>
    Published