The first reported pigeon shooting competition held at Walcha took place on the Queen’s Birthday public holiday in May 1881. The local correspondent for the Armidale Express was rather dismissive of the event with his column reading: “This was the first time anything of the kind has been attempted at Walcha and the shooting was not altogether what it might have been.”
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A privately organised shoot held at the showground in July 1889 led to a meeting to form a local club. It was held at W.J. Gibson’s rooms in Derby Street where Walcha’s first gun club was formed and a committee elected. Little is known of the club apart from a report of a Queen’s Birthday holiday shoot held in 1892.
The Walcha News of August 14, 1906 said: “A meeting was held at the Apsley Hotel on Monday night at which the Apsley Gun Club was formed with a limit of 20 subscribers at 10 shillings each.”
The club held a number of events before disbanding in 1909.
The Walcha Gun Club can produce on short notice from among its 60 members, some first class pigeon shots.
A new club was formed in 1910 and held a shoot and dinner in September to bid farewell to the departing Clerk of Petty Sessions. An article titled Walcha and its Surroundings, which appeared in the Tamworth Daily Observer of March 3, 1911 said: “The Walcha Gun Club can produce on short notice from among its 60 members, some first class pigeon shots.”
The club held a Grand Open Handicap of £30 on May 13, 1911. Competitors had to produce a current Gun Club Handicap or give details of their last two performances. There was also a £10 members handicap held on the day.
The Walcha Gun Club was affiliated with the Northern and North Western Racing Association and held meetings for grass-fed horses to benefit the Walcha hospital. Races were held on the Prince of Wales Birthday public holiday in 1911, 1912 and 1913, with a Maiden Plate, Charity Hack Race and Walcha Cottage Handicap.
Walcha marksmen were shooting clay pigeons by the late 1920s but it was not until 1941 that the NSW government first announced its intention of banning the shooting of live birds for sport.
