Tuesday, September 13, 2011

2011 SASS US Open

Buck Dodgers drove the Stage Coach to the US Open and hauled Papa Dave, Sheriff Frank Canton, Tombstone John and Randy Saint Eagle. We went up on Wednesday and got a good spot to park our equipment trailer and checked out the range. We met up with CW Knight, Branchwater Jack, Jailbreak Jake, Blackwater Desperado and Hatfield.

It was my, along with several others, first trip to this range and I was impressed. You could tell Mose, Bella, The Kaskaskie Cowboys, The Dooley Gang and IDNR (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) had really been working hard.

This Match was all inclusive which I really like. It even included a Dooley Gang Shooting School with T-Bone, Nuttin' Graceful, my pard, Ringo (By Gawd) Fire, Copperhead Joe, Stormy Shooter and a Buckaroo named Rattlesnake Wrangler (you'll hear that name a lot in the future). We had a great time, I feel like I learned a lot and did I mention it was FREE.

There was plenty to do every day from morning till late night. Did I mention this range is on 1600 acres with over 1000 RV hookups and 3.5 miles of trap fields if wanted to try it.

Thursday after the Shooting School we burned up lots of ammo at the Side Matches and Buck Dodgers won the Double Barrel Shotgun Speed Match and with a faster time than Copperhead Joe who won the 97 Event. Rattlesnake Wrangler won the Speed Rifle with a 2.96 and Prestidigitator won the Speed Pistol, Missouri Lefty (another Buckaroo) and Rattlesnake Wrangler tied .01 seconds behind Tator.

The Main Match started on Friday morning with 5 stages followed by the Team Side Match. Papa Dave, Sheriff Frank, Tombstone John and I shot on Team 10 and had a ball. This was a 3 Stage Match that started with a clay bird flurry, 24 birds thrown up from 3 different machines and they counted the unbroken ones that hit the ground. Our team let 6 get to the ground. Each of the other 2 stages had part of the team shooting at clay birds, it was great fun.

Friday night we had a dinner and Side Match Awards. Branchwater Jack placed in both the Black Powder and the Wild Bunch Matches.

Saturday we finished the last 5 Main Match stages. All 10 stages were interesting and fun to shoot. Posse 3 with Sgt. Eli as Posse Marshall had to have been the best Posse. Everyone worked, the Posse ran smooth and both days we were finished shooting by 1:30.

Papa Dave and I stayed at the range and watched the Top Gun Shoot off (anyone who wanted to could shoot in it). It was probably the first ever all Clay Bird Shoot off in SASS. Each shooter had 24 stationary clay birds spread out in stands they had to shoot with their revolvers and rifle before grabbing their shotgun and cleaning up whatever was left. After all birds were broken they ran to the center of the stage and shot a stop plate. Tator was the Top Gun and Sixgun Sallie was the Top Lady shooter.

At the Awards Dinner on Saturday night we got some of the most exciting news in SASS.

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!

[SASS Wire Post] Sparta Illinois loves cowboy action shooting!!!! The IDNR (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) formally announced on September 10th, 2011, at the SASS U.S. Open awards banquet, that they would like to honor all champions across the United States. In doing so, the IDNR will pay for every Resident champion, in every category, and from each state-level and above a free match entry to the 2012 SASS U.S. Open.

That’s right!! You read it right and heard it right!! If you’d been at the banquet you would have heard the IDNR representatives announce it personally. This is for cowboy action shooting only (no certificates will be awarded for mounted, wild bunch, black powder, or other club events).

If you are a match director for a state-level and above event, please contact Honey B. Graceful (sasshoney@yahoo.com) or Tbone Dooley (903-272-9283) to see if your match qualifies and for more details and a downloadable/printable free match entry. These match entries are non-transferable and have no cash value.

I told y'all it was gonna be big news...Tbone Dooley

Next year the US Open may well be the biggest match SASS has ever seen.

Back to the awards; Prestidigitator was the Overall Top Gun and Dew R Dye was the Top Lady.

Buck Dodgers was the top Wartrace shooter he was 5th Wrangler, 27 Overall

Papa Dave 1st Range Boss 34th Overall

CW Knight 7th Senior 56th Overall

Randy Saint Eagle 5th Duelist 59th Overall

Jailbreak Jake 6th Duelist 97th Overall

Sheriff Frank Canton 9th Silver Senior 98th Overall

Hatfield 11th Cowboy 104th Overall

Tombstone John 10th Silver Senior 131st Overall

Branchwater Jack 4th Frontier Cartridge Duelist 172nd Overall

Blackwater Desperado 7th Frontiersman 186th Overall

There were 204 shooters at the match and may be 8 to 10 times as many next year. If you're looking for a big match to travel to next year take a close look at the US Open.








Don't forget The Regulators Reckoning, The SASS Tennessee State Championship is Oct. 6-8
we are at over 130 entries so don't wait if you want to shoot. If you just want to be a spectator come on out we'd love to have you. For more info check our Website

Until next time Happy Trails.