turkey shoot

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turkey shoot (plural turkey shoots)

1. (chiefly US) A hunt or hunting competition, using rifles or shotguns, in which wild turkeys are the prey; a marksmanship contest in which a turkey is the prize.
   • 1913, B. M. Bower, chapter 3, in The Uphill Climb:

     Behind his barricade of barrels, Sam heard and shivered like a gun-shy collie at a turkey shoot.

   • 1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, in A Man Four-Square:

     [H]e had seen a thirteen-year-old boy named Jim Clanton win a turkey shoot against the best marksmen of the hill country.

   • 2009 Feb. 25, "Boy held in Pa. killing to go to juvenile facility ," USA Today (retrieved 16 July 2012):

     Debbie Houk said Jordan, a hunter, knew a lot about guns and was a good shot. On Valentine's Day, he beat out many older and more experienced hunters at a turkey shoot. "I'll never cook that turkey. It's the same gun that killed my daughter," she said.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) A situation in which numerous weapons are discharged against prey, opponents, or victims who have little ability to protect or defend themselves.
   • 1960 July 11, "Aviation: The Embattled Farmer," Time:

     In the Battle of the Marianas, which pilots called "the turkey shoot," they downed 360 Japanese planes in a single day, the record bag of the war.

   • 1991 April 14, Leslie H. Gelb, "Foreign Affairs: White House Guilt?," New York Times (retrieved 16 July 2012):

     Almost everyone argued that it would be inhumane for Americans to engage in a turkey shoot against fleeing Iraqi soldiers.

   • 2009 Nov. 15, Mike Higgins, "Andrew Marr: The Making of Modern Britain, BBC2 (TV review)," The Independent (UK) (retrieved 16 July 2012):

     The U-boats, for instance, had a stranglehold on the merchant shipping supplying Britain, and it was thought that a convoy system would turn into a turkey shoot.

3. (idiomatic, by extension) An unequal competitive situation in which one party easily defeats the other(s).
   • 1968 Nov. 17, Bob Monahan, "Delaware Thrashes B.U. 41-13," Boston Globe, p. 71 (retrieved 16 July 2012):

     The University of Delaware Blue Hens had themselves a turkey shoot here Saturday at Delaware Stadium as they humbled Boston University, 41-13, before 10,350.

   • 2011 June 28, Chris McGrath, Tennis: ‘Devastated’ Williams sisters rue double loss," The Independent (UK) (retrieved 16 July 2012):

     Their exit from the tournament, without a set between them yesterday, at least demonstrated that the women's game is not quite the turkey shoot it might have seemed.

• like shooting fish in a barrel

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