• THE THREE PILLARS OF TRAP SHOOTING PART IV
    Mar 14 2025

    There are in every sport remarkableindividuals that become legends, and thesport of trap shooting as we know it today belongs to three of the mostinfluential and remarkable marksmen in trap shooting history, in what I call TheThree Pillars of Trap Shooting: Ira Paine, Adam Bogardus, and Doc Carver. Thelatter two are in the Trapshooting Hall of Fame and certainly deserving of thehonor; Paine is not, Why? I don’t know, but, perhaps, it may be that historianshave recognized him more of a pistol and revolver shooter than a shotgun trapshooter, spending a great deal of his time as he grew older pistol and revolvershooting. But that doesn’t seem to hold much weight as Carver was certainlyknown as much for his rifle shooting as he was for his shotgun shooting, maybemore so for his exhibition rifle shooting.

    Maybeanother reason Paine is not in the Trap Shooting Hall of Fame is that when hefirst started shooting and for several years afterwards, it was in the dayswhen they used black powder, shot muzzleloading shotguns at wild pigeons, from fiveunknown traps with shotgun held below the elbow until “pull” was called, thepurpose being to place the shooter in the same unprepared condition at the riseof a bird as he was supposed to be at the rise of a bird in actual fieldshooting. This was the modus operandi both in England and America along withshooting 21-yard rise from ground traps. Paine, William King, John Taylor,Miles Johnson, and Edward “Ned” Tinker were considered giants in those days ofwild passenger pigeon matches, attested to by their scores they made indifferent matches.

    Andmaybe another reason is because he died at age 53, so his short life spanshortened his shooting career, while Bogardus was 80 at the time of his deathand Carver was 87. But he lived long enough to see feathers fly in akaleidoscopic dazzling shower when he broke his patented feather-filled glassballs as his eyes never forgot how to look along a shotgun barrel.

    Thereare so many stories and incidents about Ira Paine’s pigeon, glass ball, andexhibition shooting career that it is impossible to relate all of them. Butthere are some which must be told to make this story complete, so I would liketo give you just a short summary of why I think he should be and needs to be inthe Trapshooting Hall of Fame.

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 51 mins
  • E58 TRAP SHOOTING PART III
    Jan 25 2025

    A continuation of Part I and II of Trap shooting, with Part III covering the three great trap shooters of the time--Captain Adam Bogardus, Doc Carter, and Ira Paine. It covers the period of time when pigeon trap shooting had advanced from live pigeon shooting to glass balls to Ligowsky clay pigeons.

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 19 mins
  • E57 HISTORY OF TRAP SHOOTING PART II
    Jan 6 2025

    E57 is the history of trap shooting in the United States from its beginnings in the 1820s after the sport had cross the Atlantic Ocean from England. It goes from wild pigeon shooting to glass balls to clay targets, and listen as you will discover how trap shooting developed and progressed in America. E57 covers three famous trap shooters in the early days--Captain Adam Bogardus, Doc Carver, and Ira Paine. E57 picks up where trap shooting began in England. E58 will pick up where E57 leaves off and will be podcasted in the near future.

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 26 mins
  • E56 PIGEON AND CLAY TARGET SHOOTING ORIGIN PART I
    Nov 30 2024
    let me tell you about the origin of trap shooting, which began in England. Reporting on sporting events in England began in the 1710s and 1720s, this at a time when the population of England began to double between 1700 and 1800, and a new leisure class of titled, gentry and upper-middling groups emerged. Wagering needed winners and losers, so wagering and gambling has long been ingrained in British society. Clearly hunting was a rural sport. But in pigeon shooting it attracted rural and city spectators, the landowning aristocracy and gentry, farmers, townfolks, and countrymen, even though the pigeon enclosure grounds could be a few miles outside a town. But it was innkeepers and tavernkeepers who contributed probably the most at its inception as they gained financial benefit form hosting pigeon shooting and they existed in taverns and inns up and down England for over a millennium, the best were located on turnpikes near large towns and cities, a turnpike being a road kept up in good shape by levying a toll on the user such as coaches and stages. In these establishments, wagering was generally associated with some form of sport such as horse racing, cockfighting, cricket, and pigeon shooting where the latter had an enclosure, along with their other functions of providing refreshments, food, lodging, meetings, and trade activities. Realizing the potential for revenue that could be generated, inns’ and taverns’ keepers began promoting many contests. The two played a highly significant commercial role, often helping arrange, advertise, and host pigeon-shooting matches. London was the key center for pigeon shooting and contests, tied to the inn-and tavern subculture, and aristocratic gambling patronage, and crowds were often large. It was wagering most especially the high stakes “wagers” between wealthy individuals on sporting contests that generated media coverage, wider spectator interest, a larger betting market, and growing numbers of events, increasingly on a commercial basis. Wagering encouraged the development of pigeon shooting rules and regulations in which to create “fair play” in gambling terms and to avoid subsequent disputes. For spectators, wagering provided a strong form of identification with the shooters and the sport. The wagering of the wealthy also gave real impetus to the emerging sport of pigeon shooting. It was a sport that required matching and eventually handicapping, which were attempts to equalize competition and create an uncertain outcome that encouraged wagering. In pigeon shooting, matching shooters was part of the ritual surrounding contests, encouraging status, honor, prestige, dignity, and respect. So, this preamble hopefully gives you the listener of my podcast some idea of the origin of pigeon shooting, of how it all started, along with its earliest development in England. And, in doing so, I believe you will marvel at how well they shot with the old, clumsy, untrustworthy, smoothbore, muzzleloading flintlocks using black powder, for when the shooter fired, there was an appreciable moment of time between the instant of pulling the trigger and the instant when the shot left the muzzle, and if the priming was damp or blown away by the wind, the gun could not be fired at all, and with black powder, which they used, shooting with a double barrel on a windless day, the smoke would hang in front of the muzzle and blind the shooter on many occasion preventing him from firing his second barrel. If that wasn’t enough, they had to hold the butt end of the gun below the elbow until the pigeon was on the wing. It seems a miracle that pigeon shooters could manage all these inferior weapons so effectively. let me attempt to tell you about the origin of trap shooting, which began in England. Furthermore, I must be forthright and tell you that the exact time when pigeon shooting and matches came into vogue that I have found no authentic records verifying such, as newspapers did not begin reporting on sporting events in England until in the 1710s and 1720s, this at a time when the population of England began to double between 1700 and 1800, and a new leisure class of titled, gentry and upper-middling groups emerged. Wagering needed winners and losers, so wagering and gambling has long been ingrained in British society. Clearly hunting was a rural sport. But in pigeon shooting it attracted rural and city spectators, the landowning aristocracy and gentry, farmers, townfolks, and countrymen, even though the pigeon enclosure grounds could be a few miles outside a town. But it was innkeepers and tavernkeepers who contributed probably the most at its inception as they gained financial benefit form hosting pigeon shooting and they existed in taverns and inns up and down England for over a millennium, the best were located on turnpikes near large towns and cities, a turnpike being a road kept up in good shape by levying a toll on the user such as coaches and stages. In these ...
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 10 mins
  • E55 THE OLD HOME PLACE HERB PARSONS
    Oct 25 2024

    A True magazine article that chronicled Herb’s accomplishments tagged him as the “Showman Shooter” and the moniker stuck.

    On the way to an exhibition, Herb would stop at a supermarket where he collected what he called his "groceries." He bought oranges, grapefruit, potatoes, cabbages, turnips, and several dozen eggs. Wherever he went, the town’s people were about to witness one of the greatest shooting exhibitions of all time—a combination of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Annie Oakley, Doc Carver, P.T. Barnum and a Vaudeville comedy routine.

    In 55 frenzied minutes, Herb typically shot, non-stop, more than 15 Winchester firearms 52 different ways at more than 800 targets, scoring 99 percent on them. The ones he missed, he said, were “hens.”

    Herb was hired in 1929 by Winchester to be a salesman for the Mississippi territory. Winchester advertisements from the era called Herb the “Winchester Wizard.” He came to epitomize the idea that being good with a gun was a way to become a better man, and nothing could better illustrate just how valuable our Second Amendment really is to all Americans. Upon Herb’s early passing in 1959 at age 51, he had been a Winchester man for 30 years. His love of hunting and shooting was only surpassed by his devotion to family and church.

    Show more Show less
    38 mins
  • E54 GREENBRIAR CLUB JOHN OLIN KING BUCK
    Sep 18 2024

    With the end of War World II, Olin leased from Crowe in 1945 some 1,880 acres, of which 1,100 acres was timber in Prairie County, approximately six miles southeast of Hazen. It was immediately christened the Greenbriar Club, so name by John Olin’s younger brother Spencer, who was, besides being a duck hunter, an avid golfer and his favorite golfing course was the Greenbriar Club in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Over the years, however, the locals knew it as the “Winchester Club.”

    John Olin was the president of the Olin Company and Winchester-Western small arms and ammunition company, while his brother Spencer was vice president.

    Having no clubhouse, Olin rented two floors of the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Olin always boarded in room 410. He had a number of famous guests over the years, including Herb Parsons, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Nash Buckingham, General Nate Twining, General Jonathan Wainwright, Richard Bishop and many others.

    Olin often brought along Walter Siegmund, who was general sales manager of Olin Industries. He was also a great sportsman and judge for the National Duck Calling Championship.

    Having no clubhouse, Olin rented two floors of the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Olin always boarded in room 410. He had a number of famous guests over the years, including Herb Parsons, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Nash Buckingham, General Nate Twining, General Jonathan Wainwright, Richard Bishop and many others.

    It was at the Greenbriar Club where Olin's Lab, King Buck, retrieved his first duck and his last duck over a five-year period.

    King Buck successfully completed an unprecedented 63 consecutive series in the National Championship Stake and was the National Retriever Field Trial Club champion for two successive years, 1952 and 1953, in a feat not to be duplicated for nearly 40 years. Overall, King Buck finished 83 national series out of a possible 85.

    His royal name was given its due, when, in 1959, it was decided that the federal duck stamp for that year should commemorate the work of retrievers and their contribution to waterfowl conservation. And so, for that occasion, the single time that the Migratory Waterfowl Stamp has ever been other than a duck, Maynard Reece painted a portrait of perhaps the greatest duck dog of them all: King Buck.

    In 1955, Olin built a one-room clubhouse with a fireplace to replace staying at the Riceland Hotel. In the early 1960s, the IRS disallowed his business deductions for the club.John sold his Prairie County duck paradise to multi-millionaire Robert “Bob” Brittingham, of Dal Tile of Dallas, Texas, and a hunter of great refute. A magnificent lodge was built in 1983. Today, the club is still in existence, and owned by three brothers of the Kemmons Wilson Company (Holiday Inn fame) and two other individuals.




    Show more Show less
    19 mins
  • E53 THE BEST OF THE BEST--CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
    Aug 12 2024

    Three thousand duck enthusiasts slowly gathered around the stage at 2:00 p.m. to watch some of the best: Art Beauchamp, Chick Majors (1945 Word Champion), Tom Burge (Missouri State Champion), Carl Zieglowsky (Iowa State Champion), and W.C. Cross (winner of the championship in 1957 and 1958). Then there was Daryl Cates, of Memphis, the youngest ever to enter at 13 years, having won the TennesseeState title.

    Dressed in their best hunting togs, forty men, with testosterone flowing, tooted, and chattered four calls – the open water call, woods call, mating call, and the comeback call. However, one contestant – number 13 – dressed a little different, strolling to the stage in a band outfit. Although unusual, many in the audience thought it might be divine guidance, especially after 50 or more ducks passed overhead when the Arkansas State Teachers College band played earlier during the day.

    Contestant number 13 was a high school senior, 17, proficient with a clarinet and a caller, having captured five previous calling titles – the first at age 12. Each year thereafter, a trophy was added to the trophy case. Nevertheless, this was the first entry in the world championship.

    Show more Show less
    27 mins
  • E52 THE HOLY GRAIL OF PUNT GUNS
    Jun 6 2024

    Hopefully, someone can unravel the two great mysteries of this extraordinary and historic relic--a monstrous three-barreled punt gun: where is and what happened to this Holy Grail of a unique and unusual monstrous punt gun and who was the gunmaker Lizerad? ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

    Show more Show less
    26 mins