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Aturkey shoot is a term for an extremely one-sided battle or contest.[1]
The term likely originates from a method of hunting wild turkeys in which the hunter, coming upon a flock, intentionally scatters them. Once the flock is scattered, the hunter sets up and waits, as the scattered flock will return to that point individually, making them easy targets.[citation needed]
The term has several usages in the context of shooting.
A "turkey shoot" sometimes refers to a turkey hunt where wild turkeys are shot.[2]
It may also refer to a shooting contest in which frozen turkeys are awarded as prizes, sometimes more generically known as a "meat shoot." The shoot is most commonly held using shotguns aimed at paper targets about 25–35 yards away. The winner is chosen according to which target has a shot closest to its center crossmark. The random nature of the pattern of pellets that a shotgun shoots removes almost all skill from the contest and allows every shooter an equal chance. Turkey shoots are still popular in the rural United States today.[3][4]
Original turkey shoots date back at least to the time of James Fenimore Cooper and were contests in which live turkeys were tied down in a pen and shot from 25–35 yards.[5] If a turkey was killed, the shooter received it as a prize.
Another contest provided a caged turkey with a protective wall. Above the cage was a slot in which the turkey could raise its head. Single-shot rifles were used, and if the shooter was skilled and fast enough, the turkey was shot in the head, rewarding it to the shooter as his prize. This contest was depicted in the 1941 Gary Cooper film Sergeant York.[6]
In military situations, a turkey shoot occurs when a one side outguns the other to the point of the battle being extremely lopsided, as in the following famous examples:
