Posted on 02/11/2013 4:04:43 PM PST by SJackson
The big news last week was that President Obama apparently enjoys skeet shooting.
A photograph of the president firing a gun at skeet was widely circulated, and some scoffed at the notion that Mr. Obama actually enjoyed the sport on a regular basis. But new information reveals that skeet shooting at Camp David is not just a pastime, but a necessity.
The wily skeet has been a favorite prey of hunters for several decades. Prior to that, the skeet population was beginning to wreak havoc across much of the United States. In the 1950s, wild skeet were increasingly blamed for auto accidents and crop destruction, so the government began asking hunters to target them.
The natural habitat of most North American skeet are gun ranges, rural back yards and some country clubs. Just as hogs respond to loud calls like "sooo-eee," and cats to soft beckonings like "here kitty-kitty-kitty," skeet largely emerge from hiding in response to a quick shout of, "Pull!"
Hunters everywhere soon learned that if they stood upright in the open with shotgun in hand and called out "Pull!" skeet - usually in pairs - would come flying off the ground and into the air in a curving, rainbow arc, allowing just enough time for the hunter to fire away, blasting the skeet to smithereens and sending the critters falling back to earth in two to three separate pieces each.
Naturally, this aroused the passions of PETA, which saw skeet shooting as a particularly cruel sport that rendered a defenseless skoot (the singular term for skeet) nearly unrecognizable. Also of concern was the manner in which skeet were being bred for increasingly-popular skeet shooting tournaments.
Skeet have the unique ability to remain motionless for years at a time, making their capture difficult. So, as the need arose for a supply of skeet that would satisfy the growing demand for tournaments, skeet breeding farms - often called "factories" by their critics - began springing up.
But the breeders' practice of stacking the helpless skeet into sealed boxes with little room for the circulation of air, and the storing of such boxes of live skeet in cold, dark warehouses, led to new regulations designed to treat the skeet more humanely, before they were ultimately blown to bits.
Along with new restrictions on breeding came limits on how many skeet were permitted to be "harvested" each season. But those limitations led to a natural increase in the wild skeet population, which once again began to plague motorists, farmers and even some residential homeowners, with skeet sometimes clogging gutters and drain pipes.
Therefore, in recent years, the limits on skeet shooting were largely lifted, and today skeet are rarely seen along highways, in cropland or on rooftops.
Scientists have long debated just how skeet are able to engage in their familiar short bursts of flight. Like the bumblebee, the skeet's body shape does not seem amenable to aerodynamic capabilities.
Many scientists subscribe to the theory that millions of years ago, skeet once had wings and flew long distances, even crossing continents and oceans.
Archeological expeditions have found skeet fossils in various parts of the world, but most abundantly in China, leading experts to surmise that the Far East was where skeet originated.
Some early skeet fossils do exhibit evidence of wings, and although evolution apparently resulted in the loss of such addendums, most skeet are still capable of short bursts of flight.
Some authors have postulated that skeet may have been responsible for the rash of flying saucer sightings in the 1950s, before the popularity of skeet shooting killed off most of the larger members of the species.
It is widely believed that if skeet shooting did not exist, many skeet, over time, could once again grow to proportions of 20 to 30 feet in diameter.
What was not known until last week was that Camp David, Maryland, had become infested with skeet.
The president told a magazine recently that, "In fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time."
Asked if his whole family engages in the sport, Mr. Obama said, "Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there."
In fact, due to the proliferation of skeet on the property, the First Lady is reportedly reluctant to let daughters Sasha and Malia go outside at Camp David without first being sprayed heavily with skeet repellant (the most popular brand is Skeet-X), and wearing heavy clothing to guard against skeet bites, which can cause red, itchy welts.
In popular culture, skeet are typically depicted as cute, cuddly creatures, such as in the classic 1941 Disney cartoon, "Skeeter," which recounts the adventures of a young skoot orphaned after hunters kill his parents.
The film inspired a live-action sequel, "Skeeter Come Home," telling the story of Skeeter's efforts to find his way back from being lost in tall grass. A short-lived 1970s television series, "The New Adventures of Skeeter," was criticized for repetitive plotlines and the cost-saving decision to have Skeeter portrayed by an abandoned tortoise shell.
For more on the history of skeet, check out Jane Goodall's excellent four-volume study, "The Skeet Diaries," chronicling her 25 years spent living among wild skeet in the South American rain forests, and her discovery of an ancestral link between skeet and the lesser understood "bostonian bruinis," more commonly known as the hockey puck.
Not to be a buzzkill when it comes to “skeet humor” but
the target most commonly used is the same target used
in trap shooting and sporting clays. I trap shoot and
we refer to the targets as clay pigeons, clays, birds,
clay birds, or just targets. The term “skeet” refers
mainly to the style of how the target is presented to
the shooter. In skeet shooting the targets are released
from two towers opposite each other at an angle away
from each other. The shooter stands behind and between
the towers. One clay projects right to left and the other
left to right. The shooter will shoot at both targets.
In trap shooting the shooter stands behind a bunker from
which one bird is released from the bunker at various
angles. Usually there are five stations. Shooters take
turns shooting from each station. After five shots the
shooters rotate to the next station until the round
(25 shots) has been completed.
I raise this issue only to spare some FRiends from
embarassment when discussing skeet shooting with
someone with range savvy.
A hog can kill and eat a rattlesnake but a skeet can kill a hog if the hog eats one.
“..there really are birds called snipe and you can hunt them, if you can find them.”
Every once in awhile we would come across them while grouse hunting. The snipe are migratory. Also dang hard to hit! About the size of a robin - so not much meat either.
I seem to recall some outrage over the shooting of clay pigeons in the Olympics one year. Some gal had posted a letter to the editor or something!
Skeet are defiantly NOT halal, they actually have small cloven hooves..... unlike snipe that are a real delicacy..... if you can find them. :)
The upside is that skeet are very tasty when prepared with a bread and onion stuffing and served with a parsley garnish and baby roasted potatoes.
How long do you soak them to get the orange color out?
You baste them with butter while they’re in the oven, and the orange turns to a very savory-looking brown. ;-)
As a young L/Cpl at Camp LeJeune, I shot clays, skeet style, with the 2nd FSSG Team. We are just funnin’ with the story presented, and I’m really sorry that I have to tell a fellow FReeper such.
Let me buzzkill you...all I have to plant my garden in is clay. I have to make my own dirt. Are you self sufficient?
Skeets are devious Bastages. They best be advised to leave the hog killin’ to us.
Good for you that you know the real story. However, not all of
the respondents are necessarily L/Cpls @ Camp Lejeune who
are experienced shotgunners @ ranges. It is a pity that I have to
tell a fellow FReeper “If the shoe don’t fit, don’t wear it.” Besides
that, it was actually the author of the article who apparently
messed up, confusing shooting type with targets. I like sarcastic
humor as much as the next person but those who might come
away from this thread with a misconception might end up with
egg on their face if they someday say “skeet” when they mean
“clay pigeons”. I guaranty you that there are a few libs out there
who know the difference.
As a matter of fact I am as self sufficent as need to be. I can grow
food and shoot and live in a house in the center of 360 degrees
of a pine and oak forest.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.