It had been fifteen years since the Belvidere Gun 
     
     Club had held its last competition, and since that 
     
     time, any semblance of clay target participation was 
     
     limited to casual groups of friends gathering ata 
     
     homestead on a Saturday afternoon, throwing out a 
     
     couple of dozen birds with small Leggett hand traps 
     
     that they had purchased from Halifax for $1.50 each. 
     
     These Leggett traps were not unlike the hand traps 
     
     that are used today for backyard target shooting; a 
     
     simple spring-loaded device that allowed one man to 
     
     throw a target while a second, standing at his side, 
     
     attempted to hit it. These 'Sports,' as they were 
     
     called, were new generation gunners, and although 
     
     undoubtedly aware of the old Belvidere traps (sitting, 
     
     rusting in Fred Peters' barn) were still interested 
     
     only in an occasional outing with the clay pigeons. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Both of the Charlottetown hardware outlets 
     
     carried a small stock of Nelson Long's 'Canadian 
     
     Blackbird' targets, which were still being shipped in 
     
     barrels of 500. Rogers Hardware (formerly Dodd & 
     
     Rogers), and Fennell and Chandler, a few doors north 
     
     on Queen Street, did not consider targets a fast 
     
     moving item, and a quantity of 500 was apt to last 
     
     quite awhile. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In early February, at a community social 
     
     gathering, a few of these 'sports,' who had on 
     
     occasion taken part in casual target shooting, were 
     
     discussing the sport and considering the possibility 
     
     of organizing a gun club. Fred Hyndman was present 
     
     and was listening, with John S. Morris, to E. C. 
     
     (Teddy) Coombs relate a recent experience while 
     
     visiting the gun club at Port Elgin, New Brunswick, 
     
     where he was more than impressed with the fun and 
     
     competition a group could enjoy using one of the 
     
     larger remote release traps. The Port Elgin club had 
     
     been in operation for a couple of years and was 
     
     enjoying a growing membership. There was also a new 
     
     small club a few miles west of Port Elgin, in Amherst, 
     
     Nova Scotia. The only other club in New Brunswick at 
     
     the time was in Saint John, while Nova Scotia had 
     
     organized clubs in Halifax, Dartmouth, and Pictou. 
     
    
   
   
    
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