This seems to be a uniquely rural/middle America activity. It's pretty blue-collar, as the participants are typically the people who make America go. Truckers, factory workers, machinists, mechanics, farmers - people who typically get their hands dirty for a living.
These shooting matches are a great moneymaker for the community clubs or conservation clubs that put them on. Usually the prizes are some form of meat item - usually a half-beef is the top choice for the winner, with various choices of beef and pork for the other top finishers - although occasionally you might hear of one that offers cash instead.
Here's what happens at one of these.
Before it starts, you make your selection of any number of boards to shoot at. These boards are usually about 6 inches by 8 inches, though there is no uniform dimension from place to place.
Then you take a knife and mark a cross anywhere on the board. Many places, in addition to offering meat, also offer a cash prize called the half-pot for an extra dollar, for which you can mark a second cross on your board.
You determine how many shots to shoot. These events are strictly for 12-gauge shotguns, so the more shots you shoot, the better chance that your shot will splatter toward your cross. There is usually a mnimum purchase of 5 shots, max anywhere from 12 to 20, all at a dollar per shot.
Mark your name on each board and the number of shots for each, then go turn your boards in to the folks running the match. After they take your money and stamp your boards, they'll ask you which of the available rounds you want to shoot, as well as which post you want to be at. Consistency is important for these matches, so I typically take the same post in each round I shoot. Terrain changes or inconsistencies in board height from post to post - even of a few inches - can play havoc with your fortunes. At most clubs, there are anywhere from 10 to 12 posts to shoot from.
Once you've made your selections, you give them your boards and then wait. This waiting period can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours, depending on when you shoot. (This time is often filled by socializing, smoking, drinking, playing cards, eating dinner or, if you're anything like Your Author, blogging about shooting matches.)
And then when your round comes up, you shoot. You sit on a stool about a foot high, load your gun when they hand out the shotgun shells, and take aim at the board you marked earlier, which is hanging about 47 yards away.
If the splatter of the shot happens to land close to where the lines of your cross intersect, great. You might be going home with meat. But shooting matches are a game of millimeters - you've got to have a BB either dead center in your cross or "cutting three" - that is, in three of the four lines of your cross - to really feel comfortable about the prospect of winning some groceries for the evening.
Myself - I use a stock Remington 870 with a Sightron scope. Lots of people bring custom or "outlaw" guns to these, with 60-inch barrels, scopes where you can count the BBs on your board when looking through it, with really elaborate stands where all you have to do is point and shoot - you barely have to hold the shotgun. I'm not a fan of that; it took me the longest time to even break down and buy a scope.
More later, as I'm getting ready to shoot. I have four boards in tonight, with 12 shots each.
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