Payne Whitney who married Gertrude Vanderbilt in 1896 were both members. Edward Burd Grubb Jr. a former Union Army General, businessman and New Jersey politician who was appointed as United States Ambassador to Spain by Benjamin Harrison, and was a close associate of Woodrow Wilson was an early president of the club. In addition to the shooting range the club also had a boathouse on the river, and kennels for hunting dogs. Annie Oakley and her then employer, Buffalo Bill attended shoots at the Philadelphia Gun Club around the turn of the century. In 1928, outdoor writer and conservationist Nash Buckingham, who contributed many articles to Field and Stream, shot his famous A.H. Fox waterfowl gun, "Bo Whoop", that had been custom built in Philadelphia by gunsmith Burt Becker at the club, as a guest of the magazine's publisher. In the 1930s and 1940s, club members and guests included notables such as writer Ernest Hemingway, who also participated in live pigeon shoots in Europe and Cuba, and Canadian jazz musician Charles Biddle. The controversy surrounding live pigeon shoots at the Philadelphia Gun Club goes back more than a century. A club member was convicted for cruelty to animals for participating in a pigeon shoot in 1887. His conviction was eventually overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1891. Pigeon shoots are also held at several other private gun clubs in Berks and Dauphin counties. For more than half a century, a public pigeon shoot was held every Labor Day in Hegins, Pennsylvania. Held annually from 1934 to 1998, this live pigeon shoot, known as the Fred Coleman Memorial shoot, once drew around 10,000 people. It was finally called off in 1999 following years of protests by animal rights activists and a legal battle that ultimately went all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Current locations Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic Guadalajara, Mexico Spain Bensalem, Pennsylvania, US Dalmatia, Pennsylvania, US Hamburg, Pennsylvania, US Henderson, Maryland, US Lykens, Pennsylvania, US Firearms and ammunition Traditionally, live pigeon shooting guns were heavier than a regular field gun (greater than 7 pounds). Characteristics of them were longer barrels (30-inch with ventilated ribs give better sight plane), tighter chokes (full/fuller), no safety, beavertail forend, single triggers, clipped fences, a third bite, chambered for 2 3/4 inch 12 gauge shells instead of the 2 1/2-inch 12-gauge shells that were commonly used for hunting in the 19th