I believe the story is about shooting live pigeons instead of clay ones.
They have a sling that holds the pigeons and tosses them in the air using the same apparatus that throws clay pigeons.
I am not in agreement with the method myself since I doubt they eat the pigeons, but I assume they also raise the pigeons for this purpose.I would not kill anything I wouldn’t eat. I mean game animals,not nuisance wildlife destroying crops or dangerous to society, but I tend to not mind other people’s business if it does not affect me.
I quit hunting because hung over/still drunk fellow hunters made the sport too dangerous.
An “unloaded” Mauser went off in the truck I was passenger, blowing a hole on the transmission. That was enough for me.