OHIO OUTDOORS Turkey shoots a chance to win prizes

The event is named after shooters trying to win a turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner.
WEST ALEXANDRIA, Ohio (AP) -- Spend any autumn Sunday prowling around country roads in rural Ohio and sooner or later you will come across a hand lettered sign pointing the way to a "Turkey Shoot."
Unlike trap shoots of earlier days, turkey shoots do not involve live birds. The name comes from shooters vying to win their Thanksgiving Day turkey -- of the frozen kind.
Shooters pay an entry fee per shoot, ranging from $2 to $20, depending on the prize. They line up 30 yards away from a 4- by 6-inch target and fire a single shot from a 12-gauge shotgun.
Closest to the X wins
Whoever puts a pellet hole closest to the X wins.
All across rural Ohio, sportsman's clubs, VFW's, American Legion and other social groups welcome fall with turkey shoots.
The Twin Valley Rod and Gun Club, tucked among corn and bean fields in southwest Ohio's Preble County, has been hosting such a shoot for 21 years.
Every autumn Sunday up to a week before Thanksgiving, shooters from a three-state area gather to pit their skills against others in hopes of bringing home a turkey. Other prizes can include bacon, ham, roast beef, ribs, cheese or money.
Jim Ristano, a 68-year-old farmer from Butler County, recently filled his freezer after an afternoon of shooting. He took home two packages of ribs, a 10-pound box of frozen fish, three hams, 18 pounds of bacon and a 10-pound block of cheese. He also split $100 and won $150 in "money shoots."
He has attended the Twin Valley event for more than six years. "This is my relaxation. I come up here every Sunday and enjoy meeting folks, doing a little shooting and sometimes I'm lucky enough to bring home some meat," he said.
Level playing field
Shooters take their own guns, but the sponsoring organization provides the shotshells and checks barrel lengths and size to ensure a level playing field.
In the Twin Valley case, the shells were Winchester factory loads with 11/8 ounce of powder and No. 7 shot. The limits are 32 inches for barrel length and .675 inch diameter for size, which is full choke on a 12-gauge shotgun, said Gene Blevins, one of the organizers.
Ristano, shooting an aging 32-inch barreled Remington Model 10 with open sights, said he likes his old gun.
"I see some of these guys come up here with fancy guns and scopes and I wonder if they really can shoot any better. Get a gun you're comfortable with and learn to shoot it," he said.
Source of funding
Blevins said as many as 85 shooters show up on any given Sunday and shoot 45 to 50 different shoots. "Turkey shoots are our major source of fund raising and are what keeps this club afloat and allow us to do things like our youth shoot in the spring and other activities," he said.
For Ristano, the shoots are an excuse to socialize with friends and neighbors on a fall afternoon with the added chance of bringing home the bacon -- or turkey. "I don't watch football, so this is the best way I know to spend a Sunday," he said.