Thursday, October 29, 2009

Smokeout In The Hills

The Tn./Ky. Black Powder State Championship, Oct. 23-25 2009 hosted by The Highland Regulators at Possum Trott.

Sheriff Frank Canton, Marshall Red Stockburn, Papa Dave and Randy Saint Eagle caught the early morning Stage in Middle Tn. and headed to Smokeout In The Hills. Shortly after noon we met up with, Will Reilly, Blackwater Desperado, Shotgun Schoolmarm, Blue Boy and Imis Twohofon, the rest of The Wartrace Regulators who made the trip to the Best Black Powder Shootout that I know of.

We arrived just in time to check into our cabin, sign in and have lunch (which was included in the price of the shoot) and shoot the afternoon side matches (also included). If you've never been to Possum Trott you've missed the "Ringers Humdinger" side match. 10 guns, throw a spear, throw a tomahawk and cover a lot of ground. My only complaint was I needed an oxygen bottle by the time I got to the end (Ringer said he'd try to work on that for next year).

We finished in plenty of time to check out the vendors and shoot the breeze with some pards we haven't seen in a while before dinner (also included). There was a Chili Cook-off which became part of dinner. There was also a best Home Brew contest, a Best Liars contest and a Pumpkin Pie eating contest, won by our own Blackwater Desperado.


Possum Trott '09 Saturday

Saturday Morning ,after breakfast (also included), saw a drizzle of rain for the first of 6 Main Match Stages. The stages were good but on a few you had to think and count, not one of my strong points. The rain moved out by lunch (also included, do you see a trend here?) and by late afternoon we saw some sunshine.

The shooting was over in plenty of time to clean guns and clean up before dinner ( you guessed it).
Blackwater Desperado and Milkbone provided the entertainment for the night, and if you've never seen this band you've missed a really good show. There was plenty of adult refreshment to go around also.


Possum Trott '09 Sunday

Sunday morning started with Cowboy Church, for those who got up in time ( I confess I wasn't one of them). Then breakfast (yes) and the final 4 stages. Sunday morning also brought sunshine, not so good for those of us starting on stage 9 and getting to stage 10 just as the sun came over the hill and right in our eyes ( but now we know what it is like for the folks who shoot black powder all the time). After finishing the last 4 stages we had time to pack up the covered wagon and have lunch (included) while they finished up the scores.

In case you didn't realize it yet, after paying your entry fee and cabin rental the only place you could spend money was with the vendors, everything else was included, plus everyone got a door prize. WHAT A DEAL!!!!!!!!

The Top 10 shooters were 1. Little Wing, 2. Ringer, 3. Black Tom, 4. Silver City Rebel, 5. Tall Drink A Water, 6. J.D. Brooks, 7. Copperhead Joe, 8. Shaddai Vaquero, 9. Isom Kid, 10. Black Jack Beeson.

Wartrace Regulators made a good showing and for the first time when I've been at a shoot everyone from Wartrace won an Award. The Smokeless shooters were not scored with the Black Powder.

Blue Boy 1st Smokeless Elder Statesman

All the rest are Black Powder Categories:

Will Reilly 1st and Tn. State Champion Duelist, 11th Overall
Randy Saint Eagle 2nd and Tn State Champion B-Western, 19th Overall
Papa Dave 1st and Tn. State Champion Elder Statesman, 23rd Overall
Marshall Red Stockburn 2nd and Tn. State Champion Classic Cowboy, 29th Overall
Sheriff Frank Canton 2nd and Tn. State Champion Senior, 41st Overall
Imis Twohofon 2nd and Tn. State Champion Josey Wales, 52nd Overall
Blackwater Desperado 5th and Tn. State Champion Frontiersman, 67th Overall
Shotgun Schoolmarm 1st and Tn. State Champion Ladies 49r, 72nd Overall

Congratulations to all who made the trip to Possum Trott. If you're looking for a really fun and cheap shoot , put this on your calendar for next year. If you want to rent a cabin talk to Tn. Triple B now to find out what you have to do. http://possumtrot.org/

Many thanks to all the Highland Regulators who make Possum Trott such a great shoot.



Saturday, October 10, 2009

Wartrace Oct 10 '09 Monthly Shoot

39 Cowboys and Cowgirls descended on Wartrace to rid the area of all manner of Outlaws and Holligans. The weather was less than ideal, but to those of us who were in Memphis for the State Shoot, A Gunfight In Dixie ( subtitled a Monsoon in Dixie), it seemed like desert conditions, we were dry before lunch and hardly even a drizzle in the afternoon.

Whiskey Hayes treated us to some good Stages, fast, and a couple that were like you might find at an annual shoot somewhere. I think Whiskey is doing a great job with interesting stages every month. For those who didn't know, stage 4 is the CAS World Record Stage, click on this link to see how you fared against the records.

We had some excellent shooters with us today and I'd like to welcome Prestidigitator, he's in school at MTSU and will be shooting with us for a while. He was also the Top Gun for the day.

I'd also like to give a special Congratulations to Vaquero Jake who finished 4th overall today and will be in the Shootist Category next month if he can make it back. This is a great feat for a Buckaroo shooter or anyone for that matter, it's not easy to get into the Top 5 at Wartrace.

Papa Dave and I shot Black Powder in our categories today in preparation for Possum Trott
Oct 23-25 '09. It gives you a much better appreciation for being able to see your targets.

The Top 5 were Prestidigitator, Whiskey Hayes, Will Reilly, Vaquero Jake and Lil' Marshall WD. I think it says a lot for the caliber of shooters we draw when you see the top 5 shot in 5 different categories.

Deadwood Miner and Randy Saint Eagle shot Clean Matches.

The next shoot, the mid-month, will be next Sat. Oct. 17th.

Until next time shoot straight and keep your powder dry.

Scores when available

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Ambush at Cavern Cove 2009

Papa Dave, Sheriff Frank Canton and I hitched up Papa Dave's wagon and made the trip to Ambush, The SASS Alabama State Championship, hosted by The North Alabama Regulators, Oct. 2-4, 2009

This was my first trip to Ambush because it is usually on the same weekend as the workers shoot thru for the Tennessee State Championship.

We got there just in time to check in, have lunch and shoot the afternoon wave of side matches.
They had the standard side matches plus The Cool Waters Secret Stage. It was a lot of fun and I, for one, am glad they made it a side match and not a main match stage.

Saturday morning started off with a safety meeting and a very interesting short presentation with some history about our flag.

We were on Posse 9, " The Absolute Best Posse there", Sidekick did an excellent job as our posse marshall, and everyone worked together making it as smooth running a posse as I've ever been on. We had 8 Category winners on our posse, as well as Sidekick the Ambush '09 Top Gun,
After 6 straight forward and fast stages we had plenty of time to visit the vendors, I've never seen so many vendors at a State Shoot, and clean up before the Sat. Night Banquet.

At the banquet we had a good meal, Best Dressed awards and door prize giveaways, I think they gave away 5 guns, but of course, none of us won anything.
There were ladies dressed in beautiful dresses and costumes as well as a lot of well dressed men. I was so stressed out over shooting bad I left my camera in my guncart at the range. See Sheriff Donalds Pictures.

I think I forgot to mention, the weather Saturday was fantastic. Papa Dave and I are still trying to think up a good excuse for why we shot so bad. I had 5 misses.


Ambush '09 Sunday

Sunday started with overcast skies for our final 4 stages. Apparently I do better when the weather is not perfect, I was clean on these.
We had just a slight drizzle just as we finished shooting, but it stopped before we got our gear packed.

We finished in plenty of time to visit the vendors again, eat lunch and visit with our old friends and some new ones.






The side match awards were given out as well as a Spirit Of The Game Winner from each Posse. Tennessee Triple B won it on our posse and no one was more deserving. That was followed by a brass auction to benefit the Boy Scouts who spent their weekend picking up and sorting brass and shotgun hulls. I would consider it a huge success as over $2100 was raised for them at the auction.

Next all the plaques were presented to The Alabama State Champions in each Category.
I apologize for my award pictures, it seems all the flashes were wreaking havoc with my auto focus. Again see Sheriff Donald's Pictures as they are better than mine.





Ambush '09 Category Awads

Next the awards were given to all the Category winners.

I'd like to congratulate The Top Gun, Sidekick, The Ladies Top Gun, Dew R Dye and all of the top 10 finishers.
2. Badlands Drifter, 3. Tall Drink A Water, 4. Prestidigitator, 5. Tuff Stuff, 6. Ozark Az, 7. Fast Eddie, 8. Harman Hammer, 9. SA Pondwater, 10. Sunshine Billy.

The Wartrace Regulators had a small contingent present, but those who made the trip fared well.

Papa Dave, 1st Elder Statesman, 21st Overall
Tabasco Jot, 4th Elder Statesman, 34th Overall
Randy Saint Eagle, 1st "B" Western, 36th Overall
Whiskey Hayes, 1st Classic Cowboy, 39th Overall
Capt. Jo Walker, 7th 49R, 46th Overall
Sheriff Frank Canton, 2nd Senior Frontier Cartridge, 111th Overall
Boothill Smoke, 6th Senior, 122nd Overall
Hot Lead Dancin', 8th Senior Duelist, 139th Overall
Blackwater Desperado 1st Frontiersman, 157th Overall
Frank Dalton,8th Frontier Cartridge Duelist, 201st Overall

Did I mention that Birdgun Quail came all the way from Huntsville Alabama just to shoot in the match. He also won the Spirit of the Game Award on his Posse, I think it's because he came from so far away.

I would also like to recognize , an outstanding young man, Levi Creed, 1st Buckaroo, 24th Overall.

To see where everyone finished, Overall Scores




We had a great time and I'd like to thank May Lillie
and all the North Alabama Regulators that worked
so hard to put on this match, with a special thanks to
Cool Waters for keeping me in bullets

Don't forget The Smokeout in the Hills, The Tn/Ky
Black Powder State Championship, Oct. 23-25, 2009
at Possum Trott.