Fugleskudning.

That’s the Danish name for The Great Dane Shoot, a competition that dates back to 1800s, and it’s been a part of each of the 19 Morin Lake Days.

Danish settlers started the shoot north of the Alden community, and The Great Dane Shoot started in the area during the late 1800s, said Glen Mathiason who volunteered at the event. The event died out, but was revived by Glen’s brother Bob, who held an event in his yard. This is the 19th year this has been a part of Morin Lake Days.

The tradition continued in the parking lot of the Freeborn County Co-Op Oil at 11 a.m. Saturday. For a $10 entry fee, shooters take aim at a manmade bird to knock off different parts of the bird. The top prize is a shotgun for shooting down the breastplate. Then there are money prizes for shooting off one of the two wings, the head, the tail, and there’s a prize for taking the last shot before the tail is knocked off.

“It’s more of a social gathering than it is anything. A little competition, but not too much. If someone else gets something, it’s not a big deal,” said Jake Petersen. Petersen used a Sears & Roebuck 12-gauge shotgun that his father used every year of the shoot before he passed away about a year ago.

The shooter gets to keep whatever part he or she knocks down. A large log makes up the body of the bird. The breast plate is a steel plate bolted to the wood.

One by one, shooters from around the area are given a single-slug shell before they walk into a crescent-shaped area set apart by yellow rope.

The shooters are about 50 feet from the pole, and shooters can pick a spot within the yellow rope with the best angle to shoot the bird, which is hoisted higher than 30 feet in the air at the southeast end of the parking lot.

Jordan Mulso said they just aim for one of the pieces to try and knock it down or loosen it up for the other shooters.

“By the time it’s usually done, either the wood’s split away so bad, or the bolts are sheered off,” Petersen said.

Anyone who has completed firearm safety training can compete. Glen Mathiason said the cutoff is usually 100 shooters.

Breastplate: Janet Bremseth. Designated shooter Faron Bremseth. Prize: shotgun.

Head: Jamie Dunham. Designated shooter Alex Nelson. Prize: $50.

East Wing: Matt Bremseth. Designated shooter Erin Bremseth. Prize: $50.

West Wing: Duane Koenen. Designated shooter Tyler Koenen. $75.

Tail: Alex Jacobs. Designated shooter Derek Huston. Prize $25.

Prior to tail: Andrew Jacobs. Designated shooter Derek Huston. Prize: $25.

That doesn’t necessarily mean 100 men and women shoot. Citizens in the community buy a number and then designate a shooter, so some shooters shoot multiple times as the designated shooter for different friends and family members. There were 72 shooters this year.

“Everybody’s watching and you kind of see, OK this bolt’s out and that bolt’s out. Should I go over here, should I go over there,” said Faron Bremseth.

At 11:38 a.m., Faron Bremseth shot off the breast plate with a Remington 870 Magnum left-handed shotgun, marking the third time that gun has been used to knock off the breast plate at a competition: once with Bremseth and twice with his brother-in-law Ross Skov.

Before shooting the breastplate this year, Bremseth said he’d knocked off two wings in past competitions.

“It’s a good feeling, I know that,” said Bremseth, who was shooting for his wife, Janet.

The competition ended at 12:59 p.m. when Derek Houston shot off the tail.