The sportsmen of Grass Valley, instead of shooting at tame pigeons from traps, congregate under the wild pigeon roosts near town, and blaze away as the birds return from the feeding-grounds to their nocturnal quarters. Several matches that have taken place recently afforded the shooters much sport. Teams of six men to a side are chosen, and each team selects a certain line of flying birds. The shooting at incoming pigeons is generally kept up for an hour or so, until darkness sets in. On the return home the birds are counted, and the side or team scoring the most kills wins the honor of the day and a supper. The sportsmen of the mountain town say that wild pigeon shooting discounts trap shooting. The birds are harder to kill, and, as they come in to roost with rapid flight, they afford the shooters many critical shots, and generally the misses outnumber the kills. Wagner and Stone are ranked as the leading pigeon-shots of Grass Valley.
April 13, 1887. Wild pigeons in the foothills. Sacramento Daily Record-Union 57(44): 2.