Homesteader shooting hawks with a Krag bolt-action rifle, 1940
Shooting is the act or process of firing guns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Shooting is not limited to small arms. For example artillery rockets and missiles can all be shot. The act of firing such weapons is also called shooting.
The word shooting can refer to game hunting which implies the hunting of upland game birds such as grouse or pheasant, rabbits, deer or other game animals.
Shooting can also refer to the sport of target shooting. This includes shotgun (skeet or trap), all of which use sporting clays.
Further, shooting refers to the sport of rifle and handgun precision marksmanship. Here, stationary paper targets or reactive metal targets are used.
There is also a growing sport of Cowboy action shooting. Here, competitors wear attire from the late 1800s and fire period weapons (single-action revolvers, lever-action rifles, and either double-barrel or pump-action shotguns) at a variety of metal and reactive targets.
The topic of shooting also encompasses the practical shooting sports of IPSC and IDPA competition. These strive, with varying degrees of success, to simulate the conditions and requirements of defensive pistol combat. Their goal is to train participants for real-world self defense using one's personal handgun of choice.
And, there is yet another practical shooting sport - 3-Gun competition - in which contestants use handgun, rifle, and shotgun to engage various paper or steel targets during the course of fire.
All of these various forms of shooting can be fascinating and rewarding activities for people of all appropriate ages. The utmost consideration, and one which takes precedence over everything else, is safety. Like many activities such as mountain climbing, skiing, or sky-diving, there is an element of danger involved. And especially here, this danger demands a sober understanding and respect for firearms and the specific rules for the safe handling of them. This is compounded by the fact that unlike the aforementioned sports (with the possible exception of skiing; see avalanche) the danger can easily extend beyond the participants -- a stray bullet can injure or kill people other than those actually firing or handling the arms involved.
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