How to Host a Turkey Shoot – 2015 Edition

Times change. When our family held the first Turkey Shoot in 1998 we used old-fashioned, but still available, Polaroid cameras to capture the prize-winning photos that earned the title Turkey King. This year, you can spread your wings with new technology that makes this activity even more fun.

The Fujifilm Instax Camera takes fast mini-pictures that are as much fun as the old fashioned Polaroid Land Camera. Each film cartridge can create 10 prints. I found that it’s wise to resist the urge to buy theme-bordered film and just get the plain white. Otherwise, you can end up with Disney themed prints at a Superhero birthday party.

According to my very tech-savvy nieces, the biggest drawback of the Instax cameras is that you don’t know if you captured a good shot until it’s printed. If you happened to move or someone shut their eyes, it’s too late.

Then, I discovered the Fujifilm Instax Share Smartphone Printer. This palm-sized printer gives you a better chance for a great photo because it prints directly from your smartphone using the Instax Share App. A direct WiFi connection between the phone and Instax printer allows you to print ANY photo you’ve snapped on your smartphone camera. In addition, you can use the Instax editing and captioning features to customize your photo.  For example, I took several photos at my grandson’s birthday party, selected the best, added a birthday message, and then hit print. Like any four-year old, David was thrilled to see his photo (almost)instantly.

I like editing photos on my iPhone using filters and cropping, but the included Instax Share edit features are fine for most quick projects. The best feature is watching the photo print and appear, and then sharing it with the family. Brings back memories.

Which got me thinking. . . My Instax printer could make the annual Turkey Shoot family activity even more fun. It even includes a real time template that can be personalized with date, time, and weather with the app available for iPhone IOS and Android phones. If you don’t mind a little setup time, one printer could be reconnected to each team’s smartphone to print photos on their return. All you need is plenty of film and teams equipped with their own Android or iPhone smartphones

How to Host a Turkey Shoot: 2015 Edition

Rules

Not much needs revising here. Read carefully and adapt to your own situation and the player’s ages (and driving ability).

Turkey Shoot Divisions

The goal is to return with at three or more photos from each division;  highest overall score wins. (Feel free to customize for your neighborhood.)

Turkey Class (35 points each)

• With a live turkey.
• With something that embodies the spirit of Thanksgiving.
• With any fowl not a turkey.
• In front of a fire station.
• With all team members in front of an advertisement for turkey

Stuffing Class (30 points each)

• Holding a loaf of bread.
• On a boat or ship.
• Inside a space made for turkey.
• In a vegetable garden.
• In front of a “Happy Thanksgiving” sign

Cranberry Class (25 points each)

• In front of a church spire.
• With something red and edible.
• All team members at a water source.
• With a working animal.
• Wearing boots.
• As always, don’t miss a photo of all the teams holding up their winning photos.

Have fun, and shoot responsibly. Check out the 1998 Rules at How to Host a Turkey Shoot (Camera Required) for more ideas and variations with the City Version and Newspaper Edition.

Note: Yep, those links to the fun Instax Printer are affiliate links, which means your purchases help support this website. Thank you!