Pigeon-shooting

Various forms of pigeon shooting exist. Most commonly used "pigeon shooting" refers to wild pigeon shooting which is part of regulated hunting world wide. It can also refer to target shooting as the targets, clay disks, are often referred to as "clay pigeons" or some times, but not often, "pigeons". Live Pigeon shooting is the sport of shooting live pigeons released from mechanical traps upon command. The word "live" is used to differentiate from regular wild pigeon hunting. Because wild pigeon hunting is regulated and has bag limited life pigeon shooting does not use wild pigeons. It was widely popular in the nineteenth century, when it was also called Trap shooting (the pigeons would be released from traps). Many countries had banned live pigeon shooting as a sport by the 1920s but the sport remains legal in multiple states in the USA, some Mediterranean countries, Spain, Mexico and some South American countries. Up until WW I live pigeon shooting was one of the great spectator sports of its time.