It's doesn't seem like October without pumpkins, especially in the East Mountains and Estancia Valley.

People come to the area from all over New Mexico to pick a perfect gourd, and residents have taken pumpkin cooking to a competitive new heights. Then there are those who build cannons to launch them half a mile.

Because of the wet summer, there is something of a pumpkin shortage in some parts of the nation, but judging by the plethora of orange globes at Pumpkinfest on Saturday, the Estancia Valley doesn't seem to have that problem. In fact, they're so plentiful they're used as ammo.

For Deb Bluestone, a new year begins with the bang of a compressed-air cannon and the flight of the season's first pumpkin. Although she now lives in Santa Fe, Bluestone has made it to four of the past five Punkin Chunkin' competitions, which are usually held around her birthday.

She even has a catchphrase to go along with the launch of the first pumpkin.

"A flying pumpkin is a thing of beauty," she said.

It may sound strange to those who haven't seen a pumpkin shot a great distance, but try to picture the scene: A row of cannons lines the edge of a long, yellow field on a clear fall day. Situated across from a row of carnival rides and food vendors, the mismatched collection of barrels all point in the same direction and are raised to about 45 degrees.

An air horn sounds and ca-chunk! One of those barrels lurches backward as it emits a cloud of smoke and the inaugural pumpkin is hurled into the air. The suspended pumpkin flashes as it spins and catches the light, gets smaller and disappears somewhere on the horizon.

Kim Mack, who sat on the pickup truck that hauled "The Big Chunkowski," said it's a great family event.

"Every year it gets bigger and bigger. It's just good old-fashioned fun," she said.

According to Rotary Club President Felicia Luna, about 2,500 people attended the event, including Rep. Martin Heinrich, who spent his birthday there.

For proper chunkin', it is vital to pick the right pumpkin, Mack said. Not only are the right size, shape and weight important for optimal flight, but there's a bit of luck involved. A gourd that's been through a frost is more likely to break apart, or pie, coming out of the barrel.

People also tend to be particular while picking pumpkins for less lofty goals, for soup or carving purposes, for example. It's a tendency that can start at a young age.

On a recent trip to McCall's Pumpkin Patch, Caitlin McCrady, 3, said it was important that she find a big sister pumpkin. Caitlin recently became a big sister herself, according to her mother Christina McCrady, but she wasn't sure what Caitlin meant by a "big sister pumpkin."

Kirsten McCall, who owns the pumpkin patch with her husband, Kevin, said it's a kind of mini-adventure to take a hayride to the field and pick a pumpkin.

It's actually the pumpkin that chooses you, not the other way around, according to Leigh Leigh — who said she married her husband, Joe Leigh, so she could take his last name. She came all the way from San Isidro to Moriarty for her pumpkin and convinced her granddaughter, Kyligh Moya of Albuquerque, to listen to the mysterious call of the pumpkin.

Both of them wore grins as they hefted a pair of hourglass-shaped, decidedly oddball pumpkins as evidence of their technique.

Stephanie Vasquez of Rio Rancho, on the other hand, just brought back the biggest pumpkin she could find. With a little broth, some fresh garlic and smoked Gouda cheese, hers would turn into pumpkin soup for Thanksgiving dinner, she said.