Origin of Skeet

[Louis Rotelli]

The original version was called around the clock. 2 shots were fiored at every station each station being like the position of the hour on a clock face. the last shot was fire similar to station 8 coming, directly overhead while standing in the middle. it was changed to the layout we know today to save the space required to shoot it and also for the safety of the growing number of spectators. The name skeet was given by a Scandinavian woman who won the contest for coming up with a name for the new sport It translates to shoot

[Drew Hause]

The original 'clock'



Which was cut in half to avoid the chicken houses in the background on right. I think Dean has a pic of what is left of the houses.



As skeet fields were built in a line, the targets were changed to be thrown at a 15 degree angle to protect shooters in the adjacent fields, and spectators - see Dean's first post skeet field diagram.

[Dean Romig]

About 200 yards east of the former Davies’ property at 73 Dascomb Road is an old two-story house and a couple of repurposed out buildings that look distinctly like they were originally chicken houses. There is a sign out front that says Watson Farm Estates. There is a company in New England by the name of Watson Egg Farm. I wonder if that egg business got its start on Dascomb Road in Andover and if that egg farmer’s complaint of shot falling in his chicken yard was the situation that initiated the change in the Skeet field layout?


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[Harold Pickens]

Great stuff Dean, and regards to attire mentioned earlier, I would never attend church, funeral, or wedding without at least a tie and sportscoat. I dont, however dress for the Uplands so formally

[Dean Romig]

The "pic I have of what is left of the houses" is actually the kennel houses of Glen Rock Kennels operated by Marjorie Davies at 73 Dascomb Road. I published those pictures in that 2012 issue of Parker Pages.





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[Tim Wheeler]

A previous post to this Thread stated, "I came across this nice informative article by author Hy Gunn (which may have been the pen name of WHF) describing the origin of a shotgun game invented by two young men in Ballardvale, a village in Andover, MA."

In his book "Sportsman's Legacy" William G. Tapply wrote the following regarding his father H. (Horace) G. (Gardner) Tapply and his early work for National Sportsman and its sister magazine Hunting and Fishing: "Dad wrote dozens of stories during those years, mostly under pseudonyms such as H.T. Gardner, H.G. Traill, and Gardner Grant. Hy Gunn was the name he used for the 'scores and scores' of articles he wrote about skeet, the new sport that Bill Foster, his first boss, co-invented."

[Dean Romig]

I live in Ballardvale and have followed everything I could find concerning factual information about the origin of Skeet and it’s early years.

I had also read about “Hy Gun” among the things I’ve found.
Back in 2009 I believe, I visited to the former Davies property at 73 Dascomb Road where the original Skeet field was located.






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[Tim Wheeler]

Incidentally, I recently created a memorial, including a brief biography, for Mr. Tapply on the findagrave.com Website. On their home page simply enter H for the first name, G for the middle, and Tapply for the last. No need to enter Cemetery Location.

I hope that you find this information to be helpful.

[Phil Yearout]

I had an enjoyable ongoing email correspondence with Bill Tapply, H.G.'s son, and still stay in touch occasionally with Vicki Stiefel, Bill's wife. I'm not a skeet shooter, but I do live in Andover! (Kansas)

[Dean Romig]

I also had a running email correspondence with Bill for several yours abd went to the auction of Burt’s Gun.

And after Bill passed I kept communication with Vicki too, until she moved to California to be closer with her family.





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