A passage-way on the side of a steep hill or mountain down which wood and timber are thrown or slid. There are many such on the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. In the West the term is applied to places where a river is artificially contracted in order to increase the depth of water. In Lower Canada a shoot is a place where the stream, being confined by rocks which appear above water, is shot through the aperture with great force.--Cartwright's Labrador, p. 14. In the West, 'to take a shoot after,' is to take a fancy to.
That gal was the prettyest creatur I ever took a shute after; her eyes jest floated about in her head like a star's shadow on a Mississippi wave.--Robb, Squatter Life.