skybust

v. to shoot at flying game birds that are too high or out of range. Subjects: English, Firearms, Sports & Recreation, Slang

Editorial Note: The 1943 citation is an unrelated usage from baseball, referring to home runs or strong hits, which in the past have sometimes been called “sky-busters.”

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Citations: 1979 Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) (Oct. 3) “Opening-day bag fairly lean” p. P37: North of Toronto at Tiny and Wye Marshes, fog, that persisted until 10 a.m., eliminated the skybusting that is common in public areas and forced all hunters to wait until the ducks were close. 1986 Ron Schara Star-Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota) (Oct. 12) “Savvy in the slough” p. 21C: Forget about magnums or, at least, don’t believe it’s a license to skybust. Skybusting is awful. There’s simply no point in shooting too high. You either miss, wasting ammunition, or you cripple, wasting ducks. 2006 Matt Majors Chattanoogan (Tennessee) (Dec. 26) “Ask the Game Warden”: When I hunt public land, I have seemed to run into a lot of “skybusters” who ruin the chance of decoying a duck for all the hunters in that area. How can I get them to quit? Is this a law violation?…For those who don’t know what “skybusting” is, it is a slang duck hunting term used to describe waterfowl hunters who shoot at ducks that are to far away or out of range. This is common around most wildlife management areas or public hunting areas and I have never found a way around it. “Skybusting” is not a law violation but would be better classified as an unethical shot.

Posted 3 Jan 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend