Florida city cancels turkey shoot. Here’s why

SEVILLE, Fla. – A small Florida down is canceling its decades long annual turkey shoot to help feed needy families, saying the price of birds has more than doubled.

For nearly 70 years, residents of Seville fired shotguns at targets hoping to win a frozen turkey. But nonprofit organizers said they simply can’t afford the expensive gobblers, which usually cost between 50 to 70 cents per pound.

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But this year, the turkeys were around $1.19 a pound. And it’s also gotten harder to find smaller birds, with many turkeys averaging 15 to 17 pounds.

The nonprofit usually buys 60 turkeys to give away leading up to Thanksgiving, but told The Daytona Beach News-Journal it couldn’t even afford 30 birds.

“It’s terrible,” said 89-year-old Seville resident Pasco Cade, who has been attending the event since he was a teenager. “But I am not surprised. Everything is going sky high. And it doesn’t look like things are going to get better.”