1914, HEBCULES POWDER CO. 1MPSH00TTNG .Points yoT rso vice and .Expert f XJDz6/i Hints on. Gun CkiD Organization ana a Model Constitu- tion and Bij-'Laws Harry S . V/aison Compliments of Hercules Powder Co. V^lrmn^roiT i Del . B Copyright 1 9 14 W Hercules Powder Co. Wilmindton, Del. ©CI.A386561 OCT (6 1914 ■> l'< : >":• !: i* S:-:l il TRAPSHOOTING A WORD TO THOSE WHO NEVER TRIED IT -^ rapshooting — as keen as tennis, as scientific as golf, as delicate as billiards — is fast becoming one of the leading sports in America. To the man or woman who has yet to make its acquaintance, it opens an unsuspected vista of interest and healthy fresh-air fun. The novice never dreams of the possibilities for enjoyment that lie before him until he has tried it. To those who have once fallen under its spell, it is irresistible. Those who know nothing of trapshooting will tell you it consists merely of hitting a flashing disc of clay with a load of shot from a scatter gun. Let the doubters try to hit that disc and fail, as they probably will at first, and the sport instantly be- comes marvelously elusive, fascinating, beset with all sorts of unsuspected mental problems and brim- ming with excitement. The best way to test the lure of this, the cleanest of all sports, is to try it once. That is usually enough to fasten forever your allegiance to the brotherhood of that fraternity of which the doxology is the death song of the clay pigeon: "Pull— Bang— Puff!" It is not difficult to put this to the test. No expensive paraphernalia is required, nor is initiation to the sport hedged about with embarrassing ritual. The nearest traps may be at the country club, set in the midst of rolling green lawns and close to a sumptuous club house, or the local trapshooting club may boast of nothing more extensive in the way of equipment than a small frame shack and an open field, but in either case your reception will be a warm one. There will be plenty of devotees glad to lend you a gun, and to proffer advice and instructions for demolishing the skimming clays. Once he has tasted the pleasures of what he con- siders the greatest sport on earth, your trapshooter feels a profound pity for all who have missed the joy of hearing the referee call "dead." And he is never happier than when teaching a novice the first simple rules of the game. There is nothing selfish about this sport; it is meant for everyone, men and women, boys and girls, the more the merrier. This is one of the things that makes trapshoot- ing the most generous sport in the world, where fellowship exists in the highest degree, where com- petition is keen but where defeat and a smile always go together and where an alibi cannot creep in. You hit them or you miss them, and there is nobody to blame but yourself. The conquered never be- grudges his victory to the conqueror in trapshoot- ing. The story is written clean and immutable on the score sheet and there is no appeal. As you read this, somewhere the guns are popping; somewhere an enthusiastic band that is anxious to welcome you into its ranks is gaining health and recreation from a pastime that you, too, could easily enjoy. Tired brains, forgetting worry, are taking on a new alertness; shaking nerves are growing steady; flaccid muscles getting strong, - — z> - _- stimulated by invigorating exercise on the firing line. Make up your mind now for a trial at the traps, and then don't put it off. Next Saturday will be a good time to start. Get out into the fresh air in the companionship of congenial sports- men and sportswomen. You will find them to your liking, these good fellows who are to be found at the gun club, rain or shine. And remember, you need only try it once to be convinced. TWO-EYE, OR BINOCULAR SHOOTING Let us take it for granted now that you have made the first step toward becoming a trapshooter, or are about to do so. Whether you are a beginner or one who has grown old (in years; trapshooters never really grow old) in pursuing the cleanest of sports, it is hoped that you will find something of interest and benefit in the following discussion of the more technical points. There are a few fundamentals which must be mastered if you w T ould become successful in pulver- izing clay pigeons. The first of these is two-eye, or binocular, shooting. Years ago it is probable that all shooters of the scatter gun closed one eye and squinted along the barrels at the object they wished to hit. Many fair shots still stick to the old-fashioned way of one-eye shooting, but you will find all the top-notchers shooting w T ith all the eyes they have and often wishing they had a few more. Experimentation has shown that to hit swiftly moving objects when the time in which one has to shoot is extremely short, the best results are ob- tained by pointing the gun in identically the same manner you would point your finger. Time is precious in trapshooting, and the person who stops to aim with one eye is sacrificing one of the essentials to success — swiftness in shooting. To achieve the highest degree of skill of which you are capable you must shoot with both eyes wide open. Why ? The answer is simple : Pick out some object across the room. With a swift movement, throw -i.*- '4-, M$v.*'.V; i -■ >2 %^ i'^m shoot ? It is the object you desire to hit which should claim your attention. THE SHOOTING POSITION With the necessity of two-eye shooting thor- oughly impressed on your mind, let us take up the subject of shooting positions. A golf instructor will teach the details of playing every shot except the putt. When it comes to this feature, he will say, "Putt in the way that comes easiest, that is most natural to you." And so in trapshooting, stand in the way that comes most natural. For right-handed persons this will be with the left foot slightly forward and most of the weight on it. Your position must not be strained. You must be poised to swing easily from the hips in order to follow swiftly and surely the various angles at which the clay birds are thrown from the traps. % \ '. K : ' THE "LEAD" AND THE "SWING" This matter of angling birds brings us to one of the most important subjects we shall have to treat: the "lead," or that place at which you must point your gun so that the shot will meet targets flying away from you at an angle. Lead is one of the most discussed questions in trapshooting. It means different things to different shooters. One may tell you he led a target two feet and broke it, and another may declare he led an exactly similar target not at all and smashed it equally well. The significance of these varying opinions is that one shooter swings his gun faster than the other and that in the case of the shooter who held right on the nose of the target, his gun swung so rapidly that between the inception of the impulse that pulled the trigger and the time when the shot actual- ly left the barrel, the gun was carried far enough ahead to break the target. The other man, swing- ing more slowly, had to use a greater lead because if his brain had registered the command to pull the trigger at a time when the gun was pointing directly at the mark, the target would have passed out of the range of the pattern by the time the shot left the muzzle. If you shoot correctly, lead is governed by the rate at which you swing, and the distance you will have to lead a quartering bird will be determined by experience. It would ''■" «fc3J n 10 seem obvious that it is desirable to learn to swing fast enough so that if you decide to pull the trigger when you are pointing right at the bird, the im- perceptible time which elapses between your decision and the action of pulling the trigger will allow the gun to swing ahead the correct distance. This is probably what happens in the case of those shooters who tell you they never lead quartering targets. They swing so fast that they do not have to consider the lead question at all. As the speed of the swing is slackened, the lead must be lengthened until we come to that class of shooters who simply point at a spot ahead of the target and pull the trigger without any swing at all, or who swing way past and then stop and pull. Stopping the swing is the most common fault of novice shooters and many old-timers are not exempt. Remember to keep your gun mov- ing until you see the target transformed to a cloud of dust on the sky. And if you have a tendency to stop swinging, keep on even after this; it cul- tivates the habit. The quartering bird is a hard proposition, but to some shooters the straightaway is hardly less difficult. Of course, as it goes directly away from the traps, the straightaway gets off faster and allows the shooter less time. The tendency of the be- ginner to stop his swing is even greater on straight- aways than on quartering birds and as a result he undershoots if he fires before the bird has reached the top of its rise, and overshoots if he fires after the target has commenced to descend. He lifts his gun, stops it and pulls the trigger. The target, not stopping, climbs above or drops below his pattern with annoying persistency. You must learn to shoot before the clay bird has reached the m f m ■ top of its rise. Follow it by raising the gun as it rises and keep on raising it as you pull the trigger. CHOOSING THE GUN The man or woman who can stand easily, who shoots with both eyes open, who will swing smoothly and quickly with angling birds, who will "lift" as smoothly on straightaways, who will pull the trigger firmly and not with a jerk, needs only a gun that fits to have within grasp a fair measure of success. A twelve gauge, full choke gun, weighing from l}/2 to 8 pounds, with 30- or 32-inch barrels and with a trigger pull of from 4 to 4J^ pounds is recom- mended for trap work. While lighter guns are easier for some people to handle, they are apt to give too much recoil with the regular trap load of §4 grains of dense powder, or 3 drams of bulk powder, and 1% ounces of shot. Unless they buy a gun especially designed for trapshooting, and it is not wise to do this until sure of the lines on which it should be built, most persons start out with a gun that has too much "drop" in the stock. To determine the drop, lay your gun on a table so that the top of the barrels rests flat against it. Then measure the distance between the surface of the table and the comb (that part of the stock on which your cheek rests when the gun is at the shoulder) and also between the table and the heel (the top part of the stock at the butt) . If your gun were absolutely "straight/' both comb and heel would touch the table with your gun in this posi- tion. As a matter of fact, most guns built for field shooting have a drop of from 2 to 2 Y2 inches at the comb and from 3 to 3^ inches at the heel. A trap gun should be straighter than this. A drop of from 1% to l^/g inches at the comb and from 2 to 2 ^ inches at the heel will fit the average man or woman. si 1: : S %. iiS I 13 As a general rule, a person with a thin face requires a thicker stock than a full-faced person. If your gun fits you perfectly, when you throw it to your shoulder and drop your cheek against the comb you will find that you are looking straight down the rib to the sight. Obviously, the thick- ness of the stock and the proportions of the shooter's face are factors which enter into this. Throw the gun to your shoulder and point at some near object with both eyes open, then close your left eye (if you are right-handed) and if the gun is aligned correctly it probably fits you in this respect. The length of the stock is another important consideration. Generally speaking, a person with long arms needs a longer stock than one with short arms. It is better to buy a gun that is too long than one that is too short because it is easier to have the stock cut down than to have it lengthened. A fairly satisfactory way of determining whether a gun is the correct length for you is by holding it to your shoulder with the finger on the trigger, then let the butt of the gun fall into the crotch of your arm at the elbow with the barrels pointing up. If you can do this 14 without changing the position of your finger or of your hand on the grip, you can be fairly certain that the stock is not too long for you. We hear much talk about the balance of a gun or the way it "handles." An old shooter will take your gun, throw it to his shoulder and perhaps tell you that it "handles like a club." It is usually difficult to get him to explain any more fully than this and you may be puzzled to determine just what is the matter. A gun is balanced right for you when its center of weight comes about half way between your two hands when holding it at the shoulder. Find the central point between your hands and if at that point the gun will balance across your finger, it is balanced right for you. It should be clear that in this case the weight of the gun will be divided equally between your two hands when aiming. If a gun is too heavy at the muzzle it is hard to swing it quickly enough and it has a tendency to make you shoot low and behind. A gun that is too light at the muzzle has just the oppo- site effect on your shooting. CHOOSING THE POWDER The choice of the powder to use in trapshoot- ing is as important as the choice of a gun. The qualities to be sought for are uniformity of strength and quickness, good velocities, even patterns and light recoil. A powder that is variable will throw you out on your "leads" and a powder that does not give sufficient velocities will tell against you, par- ticularly when shooting in a wind. The value of a light recoil will be easily appreciated. The powders which are recommended on account of the above qualifications are Infallible and E. C. The former is a "dense" powder, which means that to get a given result it takes less of it than to get the same result with black powder or a "bulk" smokeless powder like E. C. Both these powders are equally good for trap work, but for some classes of shooting Infallible has the advan- tage because it is waterproof. The proper loads to use at the traps are 24 grains of Infallible or three drams of E. C. smoke- less shotgun powders, with 1J^ ounces of No. 7^ chilled shot. Any of the standard makes of loaded shells are good, and the above loads can be secured in all of them. It is always well to specify the kind of shell and the kind of powder when buy- ing ammunition. THE FINER POINTS are the fundamentals but are These are the fundamentals but there deeper problems in trapshooting that have in many instances escaped even old devotees of the game. .>- -:- The "Shooting Groove" is an expression some shooter once coined and it is — well, in effect it is the thing which wins championships, that hangs up long run records and which differentiates a 95% shooter from a 75% one. It sometimes changes a 75% shooter to a 95% one for a short time. When you get into this shooting groove you know it by a feeling of positive certainty that you are going to break target after target as they whiz away from the trap house. You know that you are going to hit them and keep on hitting them, that you have forgotten how to miss, that the birds are so close and so easy that all you have to do is to point in their general direction and pull the trigger. 17 ti$i£hu> ^•a^H«fe When a shooter is in this shooting groove it means that his bodily machinery is working smoothly, that his eye is true, and that his brain is telegraphing through swiftly operating nerves to muscles that are responding accurately and instantly. It means that he has confidence that knows no wavering, and that while he may at times seem almost careless, so precise are the directions of his mind and so perfect is the execution of his muscles that he instinctively points his gun at the correct spot every time. This wonderful can't-miss feeling is the supreme reward which the goddess deputized by Diana to preside over the destinies of huntsmen who follow the fast-flying blue rocks, bestows on her faithful devotees. 18 You have all known it sometime — you who are regulars at the "score." You will all know it sometime — you who are serving your novitiate at the traps. And when you get into this shooting groove, when you begin to feel the confidence, the ease and the certainty that bird after bird will dis- appear before your gun; when eye and brain and trigger finger are working like a machine well oiled with everything in tune, you will know to a supreme degree why trapshooting is the greatest sport in the world. It may last only for a run of 25, or it may carry you into the hundreds without a miss, but in either case it will leave you with a zest for the game that nothing can balk. The memory of it will obliterate the disappointment occasioned by many poor scores. CONCENTRATION This groove, to most trap shots, is simply the feel that they are "right" but in the analysis of it and its application to your own individual case, there is an interesting study which may aid you greatly to stay in it once you have discovered it. For one thing, you may be pretty sure that it will take concentration to keep the goose eggs out of your score. Some of the old-timers look as if they were shooting with a happy abandon that requires only about half their attention. But you may be sure that in spite of appearances they are attending strictly to business. In trapshooting, one of the most important acquirements is the ability to exclude from your mind everything except the de- termination to break the next target. Go after every bird as though it were the only one you were going to shoot at and as though your only chance for a good score lay in breaking that disc. in ■■■ I 19 ltm-j *m mh. "*&7iC~ s=»;-f7 -i,, » M*& : .^' To give an idea of how important concentra- tion is and how easily it is upset: It was in the final string of a shoot-off for the clay bird championship of one of the Mid- Western states. Two contestants had tied with 95 out of 100 birds. Up to the 15th bird in the shoot-off, both men had broken every target. But at that moment an unexpected thing happened. A tame, live pigeon, flying over the grounds and apparently not in the least frightened by the noise, alighted on top of the trap house. The man whose turn it was to shoot at this moment, was just about to call "pull" when the bird flapped down into his range of vision. Attendants drove the bird away but by that time the concentration of the shooter who had been delayed was so disturbed that he missed not only the next target, but five in succession thereafter. Of course, ne lost the match. He had been shaken out of the shooting groove by a little I 7 / 20 annoyance. If it had not been for the trifling interference of the pigeon he would probably have held on to the end with a good chance for the championship. One of the best amateur shots in the East once said he shot through a hundred bird match to decide a club championship without taking his eye from an apple core lying in front of the plat- form except when it was his turn to shoot. He did not see one target broken or missed save those he himself shot at and he declared that not one thought except to look at the apple core entered his head between turns for him to shoot. This in- stance is not cited in order to prove the efficiency of apple cores in winning matches but it illustrates the sort of concentration that wins at the traps. You have probably noticed that quite often w T hen one man in a squad misses, the other members will follow suit although they had been consistently breaking everything before. This is simply on account of the mental reaction on the other shooters occasioned by the first man's miss. Pay no attention to your y^^»i- - ■ ■ 2] competitor's lost birds unless you want to duplicate his misses. FLINCHING The bane of some trapshooters' existence is what is known as flinching. Shooters who can consistently point their guns at targets and pull the trigger just when they want to are sure shots. But it is the inability to perform this act of pulling the trigger at the right moment that keeps down the scores of many who would otherwise be very ex- cellent performers. This is called flinching. One of the surest ways to get into the flinching habit is to shoot a load of powder that gives a heavy kick or recoil. Another good way is to shoot a gun not adapted to you, or to seize the grip of your gun too tightly. You can't pull the trigger evenly and smoothly if you grip your gun like a vise. if* ■■'■' ii >: #fgi #T ■TBI 5 *«*■#'* At times, some of the oldest and best shots fall prey temporarily to this trapshooters' disease. You can readily spot a flincher on the firing line. The muzzle of his gun will give a spasmodic jerk every now and then as he fires and the time in which he shoots will be irregular. Usually the jerk of the gun is downward. Then again, flinching will be manifested by a jerky stab instead of a quick, smooth swing at the target. Much has been said about cures for flinching, but the fact that several of the best shots in the country are victims of the habit is pretty good evidence that there is no remedy which is certain. Many people have cured themselves of flinch- ing, however, by shooting lighter loads and by changing the measurements of their guns. If there is any chance that your stock is too long, try remov- ing the butt plate, or if it seems too short, add a recoil pad. If your grip does not fit the hand 23 %'S?'^ comfortably, wind it with tape if it is too small and have the local gunsmith rub it down if it seems too large. If this does not cure you, stop shooting for a while and that may break the habit. If every- thing fails, remember the fellows who break over 90% in spite of flinching and you will see that there is no reason to give up hope. PHYSICAL CONDITION In conclusion, just a word about physical con- dition. We have characterized trapshooting as the cleanest sport — cleanest in the fellowship it pro- motes, in the manly attitude it encourages and in the gentlemanly acceptance of defeat or victory, departure from which is seldom seen. In addition to this, it encourages clean living, because to shoot well, to have nerves working as finely as they must work if you wish to achieve success, you must keep in good training. This demands abstinence from i 24 all habits that clog the nerve centers and that pre- vent perfect co-ordination between eye, brain and trigger finger. Success at the traps, as at most everything, is relative. Some of us long to excel at sports and are not satisfied unless we are among the top- notchers. Others find more pleasure in the social side of their pastimes than in the development of highly specialized skill. Trapshooting appeals strongly to both these classes. While we have devoted a large part of this article to discussion of the technical side of trapshooting, we should be sorry to convey the idea that one must be very "scientific" to enjoy this sport. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Whether you want to be- come an expert or merely like to "bang away" and get your share, you will find that time spent at the gun club will pay you well in the kind of fun that makes life worth while. i ' 25 SAFETY FIRST DON'T load your gun except when on the firing line. DON'T walk from No. 5 to No. 1 position with your gun loaded. DON'T throw a gun to your shoulder without first breaking it to make sure it is unloaded, except when on the firing line. DON'T point a gun at anyone even though you know it is unloaded. DON'T annoy the other members of your squad by explaining why you missed. DON'T speak to a man who is about to shoot. DON'T walk up to a man who is about to shoot, in changing your position. DON'T leave your position till the last man has fired his final shot. DON'T dispute the referee's decision. DON'T whisper "pull." Call it in a strong voice. DON'T get angry if the puller balks you. He's doing his best and you'll miss if you worry. DON'T plead ignorance as excuse for a mis- take. Learn the Interstate Rules for Trapshooting. Copies may be secured from the Hercules Powder Co. , 26 HINTS ON TRAPSHOOTING CLUB ORGANIZATION If you can get together twenty-five people who will each pay dues of one dollar a year you can start a trapshooting club. If your local dealers will extend credit, you can get started for less, provided in both cases, that your ground rental is light, and that you and the other members do the work of installing equipment, etc. You will need one or two traps which cost in the cheaper grades from $4.50 to $6.50 each, F. O. B. factory; and a couple of thousand targets, prices varying from $4.50 per thousand at some Eastern points to $9.00 per thousand at some places in the far West, depend- ing on the cost of delivery from the factory. It will be seen from these figures that if you buy targets at the bottom price and charge a cent apiece for them, the club will make a profit of $5.50 a thousand, while if you have to pay the top price you can make $6.00 profit by charging a cent and a half apiece, or, 15 cents for ten. It is not wise to charge for targets more than enough to net the club from $5.00 to $6.00 per thousand to cover the expense of handling and trapping. So much for what it is possible to do. Obviously, it is not advisable to start a club on such a narrow margin unless it is impos- sible to raise a larger amount, but it is better to start in too modest than in too pretentious a way. In most cases the first step tov/ards organizing a club should be to gain the support of local dealers in guns and ammunition, news- papers, and the local sportsmen. It is easy to convince progressive dealers that the club will help their gun and ammunition business and they are usually glad to help get it started. Don't play any favorites, you will need the good- will of all the dealers and it is best to divide the club's patronage between them. The newspapers will support you both because a live trapshoot- ing club will make news for them and because it will advertise your town. Local sportsmen should welcome a plan that will allow them to shoot and keep in practice all the year round, but remember that success will largely depend upon your being able to interest and 27 hold the interest of men and women who are not at present shooters. Find out from your dealers just what the equipment you can afford will cost delivered and be prepared to answer all questions. When you have done this and gained the support of dealers, press, and as many prospective members as possible, call a meeting. Be sure to hold it in a convenient place. It is not necessary to complete the organization of the club at the first meeting and often it is unad- visable. What you want is discussion by everyone in order to create enthusiasm. If the first meeting accomplishes this, the second one will probably bring out a larger number. When the time is ripe elect officers and adopt a constitution and by-laws. For your guidance a form of constitution and by-laws is appended which you can easily alter, if necessary, to fit your requirements. Of course, the officers should be men whose names will gain respect for the club. Great care must be taken in selecting a secre- tary, for most of the detail will be handled by him and he must be a worker. Between m.eetings look for a suitable location for the club grounds. Above all, the grounds should be easily accessible. You don't want a location that will be hard to reach without an auto- mobile. Next in importance is to secure a good background. Trees or buildings in the line of flight of the targets make them hard to see and keep down the scores. The ideal place 1 t ijy&mC-- : i 28 TT T F*- "f ® ® * 2 3 * DIAGRAM 1 DIAGRAM I. AUTOMATIC TRAP -Firing Points 1 to 5, spaced three to five yards apart. ® "•■tr- -v*-~ -&~ ® IS 5 3 * DIAGRAM II DIAGRAM II. SERGEANT SYSTEM F* — Firing Points 1 to 5, spaced three to five yards apart. T* — Traps, spaced four feet apart. DIAGRAM III DIAGRAM HI. DISTANCE HANDICAPS F* — Firing Points 1 to 5, spaced nine feet apart at 16 yards. T*— Trap. T*— Trap. is a level field with no obstructions in the background so that targets will be seen against the sky during their whole flight. In order to make shooting safe there should be no buildings within three hundred yards of the firing line in the direction of fire. The traps should be laid out so that the shooters will face about northeast. This will allow you to shoot late in the afternoon without looking into the sun, and is also a good layout for morning shooting. In referring to equipment, our opening paragraphs mention only that which is suited to small clubs of moderate means. Three of the cheaper traps, before mentioned, set Sergeant System (see diagram II) will give a fair sized club a satisfactory outfit. An automatic trap is necessary for clubs that want to throw a maximum number of targets. One manufacturer sells these to gun clubs for $35.00, or $40.00 with an attachment for throwing double targets; prices are F. O. B. factory. Another concern rents traps for throwing its targets for $30.00 the first year and $10.00 a year thereafter, with a rebate of $15.00 when the trap is returned. This price is reduced when two or more traps are rented. The diagrams published herewith will give a general idea as to how the field should, be laid out and complete instructions will be furnished by the manufacturers from whom you buy your traps. Don't be in a hurry to build a club house unless your club is prosperous. A shack that will be ample for a small club can be erected for about $100.00 while, of course, there is no limit to the amount you can put into an attractive building if your means allow you to build one. A WORD OF WARNING Don't get discouraged because someone started a club in your locality which failed. Most failures of this kind would have been avoided had the officers of the club been warned as follows: Don't run the club according to the ideas of the best shots only, to the discouragement of the beginners. Don't encourage members to overshoot. It is too expensive and if allowed it will soon kill enthusiasm. Never have more than 50 targets in the regular events at club shoots. Twenty-five would be better; say two ten-bird events and one five. Offer prizes* as often as possible at club shoots. They help keep up the interest and they need not be more expensive than a box of shells. If you have enough members to make it feasible, divide them into classes according to their ability and from time to time offer prizes for the high man in each class. Get up team races with neighboring clubs. A good way to run these is to allow all members from each club to shoot, the ten highest from each club to constitute the team and their scores to be counted. Get a couple of intelligent boys to act as trappers and pay them for their work. When you hold regular tournaments, pay your scorers and referees. Don't expect to get satisfactory service from unpaid help. The above remarks are founded on a wide and varied experi- ence with gun clubs all over the United States. We believe that attention to the advice as well as to the warnings will enable you to avoid most of the mistakes which have been made by others in the past. In conclusion, we want to assure you that representatives of the Hercules Powder Company, who are experienced in all matters * Hercules Powder Company is glad to donate prizes to live gun clubs. pertaining to trapshooting and club organization, will be glad to aid you whenever it is possible. We solicit correspondence with those that contemplate starting trapshooting clubs and shall always be glad to give advice and offer suggestions upon request, MODEL CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS NAME This club shall be called Trapshooting Club. PURPOSE It shall be the purpose of this club to promote trapshooting, good fellowship, and sane protection of fish and game. MEMBERSHIP Men and women who are in sympathy with the purposes outlined above are eligible to membership. OFFICERS The active members of the Trapshooting Club shall elect the following officers by ballot at the annual meeting which shall be held each year: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Field Captain. OFFICERS" DUTIES The President shall preside at all meetings, call special meetings and generally supervise the club's activities. The Vice-President shall perform all the duties of the President in the latter' s absence. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep all scores and records of the club in proper form and attend to all clerical work. The Treasurer shall take charge of all moneys belonging to the club and shall be responsible for their safe keeping. He shall pay all bills which have been approved by the President and Secretary. It shall also be his duty to collect dues from members. The Field Captain shall have charge of the club grounds and all shooting shall be under his supervision. 31 MEETINGS The dates of meetings shall be decided by members of the club at the annual meeting of the club. Special meetings shall be held at the call of the President. The President shall always call a special meeting when any three members request him to do so in writing. It shall take members to constitute a quorum. ELECTION OF MEMBERS Members shall be elected by a ballot and the names of those proposed for membership shall be submitted to the club's Secretary in writing at regular club meetings. The proposer and seconder shall sign applications for membership. DUES The annual dues for membership shall be payable to the Treasurer in advance. BY-LAWS 1. Targets shall be charged for at the rate of cents each, except that if the club holds any regular tournaments, this price may be increased at the discretion of the officers. 2. The Interstate Rules* shall govern in the regular events at all club shoots. 3. No more than 50 (25 is preferable) targets shall be included in the program of regular club shoots. 4. At the regular club shoots there shall be no sweepstakes or shooting for money among the members and at all times members who wish to do so shall be allowed to shoot for targets only. 5. Members who wish to shoot on days other than those regu- larly set apart by the club, shall be responsible for the hire of trap- pers and any other expenses incurred. 6. By a majority vote of members the above articles may be amended at any regular meeting when a quorum is present, provided a written notice of the proposed change shall have been given to all members 30 days before the meeting at which the amendment is put to vote. * The Hercules Powder Company will gladly supply you with copies of the Interstate Rules on request. 3/VpHIC CO..H.Y. .. I I llliHWlSlll ° F C0NGRESS 020 237 112 7