In 2019, more than 45 international competitions were organized on 5 continents. See you soon again on the shooting grounds to share together the emotions and the joys of our wonderful sports shooting!
Jean-François Palinkas
President of FITASC
Historical Review
Shooting with hunting shotguns at live birds or artificial targets has existed since the 17th century, in order to train hunters and to organise competitive sporting events. The first rules governing these activities were laid down in the 19th century. They were used as the basis for the transforming of these games of skill into a sporting activity, which since the second half of the 20th century, has itself becomes a prestigious sport. One of the first sporting associations, officially formed in 1867 in Paris was the Circle of the Skaters in the Wood of Boulogne which was chaired by Prince Joaquin Murat. In the same year in Italy, the Tivoli shooting club was formed. In May 1893 in England, the first sporting shooting association, the Inanimate Bird Shooting Association, was created. Important sporting events were staged at these Clubs where the main participants were from high society, until the First World War.
After the First World War, this sport underwent important changes in many European countries and in the United States. The formation of an International Association became essential in order to bring together national organizations, to harmonize and coordinate the sporting rules, and to supervise their enforcement during international competitions, which culminated in the award of prizes.
On June 4th 1921, spurred on by France, the INTERNATIONAL UNION OF HUNTING (UIC) was created in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its registered office was based at 21, rue de Clichy, Paris, France, until 1973. The founder members represented at the first meeting were: South Africa, England, Belgium, Denmark, the United States of America, France, Norway, Netherlands, Romania and Sweden. The goal of this new Federation was to bring together the national groups of the world who practised shooting sports, i.e. live pigeon shooting, clay target shooting and running deer shooting (with bullets), in order to unify their sporting rules.
Source: https://www.fitasc.com/uk/content/57/4