ChatterBank3 mins ago
clay pidgeon shooting???
3 Answers
why is it called clay PIDGEON shooting when the things dont even look like pidgeons, why not call it clay DISC shooting?
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No best answer has yet been selected by gingerflaps. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Huntsmen used - and even still do - to shoot actual pigeons. Purely for practice purposes and so that they can guarantee targets will be available when they want them, clay targets were introduced. The name 'clay pigeons' simply stuck to them...they might as easily, I suppose, have been called 'clay pheasants' or 'clay partridges'! A 'birdie' in golf has nothing to do with birds either.
Just as additional information, Ginger, I was amazed to find how long clay pigeons had been in existence. They have actually been around - originally in the USA - since the 19th century.
The sort of people who went huntin', shootin' and fishin' in Britain at that time, I would have thought, always had the real thing on the doorsteps of their country mansions. If not, they could easily have sent a farm labourer or two galloping off as targets! (Joke)