The SASS Tennessee State Championship 2009

24 Wartrace Regulators made the trip to Memphis to

shoot in:

A Gunfight in Dixie VIII September 18-20 2009

Hosted by The Memphis Gunslingers

You couldn't have asked for better weather, if you

were a Duck. I thought Duck River stayed home,

but by the time we finished up Sunday it seemed like

we were wading through a river. Our Posse finished

up on stage 10 and it was beginning to get a little

deep.

The Memphis Gunslingers did an excellent job of

putting on a Great Match in less than ideal conditions.

This continues to be one of my favorite

Annual Matches. I'd like to thank Mountaineer Lefty,

Walking Short, Cherokee Sergeant, Dew R Dye, Bella

Spencer and all The Memphis Gunslingers who worked

so hard to put on this match.

Buck Dodgers won The Speedy Gonzolas Side Match

Award for the 3rd straight year.

The Main Match Stages were fast but you had to think

on some of them.

On Saturday night we had a good steak, or chicken,

catered by Outback Steakhouse. Every night after the

guns were put away there were coolers,

full of soft drinks and beer, opened.

Dooley Sworn and his band provided the

entertainment on Saturday night.

'09 Tennessee State Championship Awards

Sunday we had the final 4 stages and LOTS of RAIN! Then we had the awards presentation and no rain.

1. Prestidigitator was the Top Shooter Overall followed by;

2. Dew R Dye

3. Blackfish Kid

4. Buck Dodgers

5. Mose Spencer

The Wartrace Regulators represented our club well;

Buck Dodgers, 2nd Wrangler, 4th Overall

Will Reilly, 4th Wrangler, 6th Overall

Papa Dave, 2nd and Tennessee State Champion Elder Statesman, 13th Overall

C W Knight, 3rd Senior, 21st Overall

Charlie Bowdre, 2nd and Tennessee State Champion Silver Senior, 24th Overall

Randy Saint Eagle, 1st and Tennessee State Champion B-Western, 26th Overall

Jailbreak Jake, 2nd Duelist, 27th Overall

Scattergun Kid, 2nd and Tennessee State Champion Frontier Cartridge, 38th Overall

Imis Twohofon, 4th Senior,41st Overall

Capt Jo Walker, 7th 49r, 50th Overall

Tombstone John, 6th Senior, 52nd Overall

Sergeant Shooter, 9th Wrangler, 56th Overall

Marshall Red Stockburn, 1st and Tennessee State Champion Classic Cowboy, 61st Overall

Fort Knox, 6th Elder Statesman, 69th Overall

Sheriff Frank Canton, 8th Senior, 71st Overall

Deadwood Miner, 7th Elder Statesman, 91st Overall

Hot Lead Dancin', 5th Senior Duelist, 95th Overall

Mortimer Smith, 8th Duelist, 105th Overall

Cheyenne Thornton, 15th 49r, 115th Overall

Feisty Mama, 1st and Tennessee State Champion Grand Dame, 134th Overall

Cody Kid, 9th Elder Statesman, 136th Overall

Buxom Boo, 2nd Grand Dame, 139th Overall

Blackwater Desperado, 4th Frontiersman, 140th Overall

Crooked Penny, 10th Elder Statesman, 145th Overall

I once again would like to thank The Memphis Gunslingers for putting on a Great Match. I'd also like to thank all the Wartrace Regulators that made the trip to Memphis and represented our club well.

For complete results click on Overall Scores or Scores by Category

A Letter From Capt. Jo Walker

This letter is written by Capt. Jo Walker aka “The new guy at Wartrace”.

After returning from overseas duty, 1973-75, I shot from 1976-88 representing the All National Guard pistol team. Shooting matches are nothing new to me so I can speak from experience when I say, “No team or match has ever offered the fellowship and friendly atmosphere of SASS and the Wartrace Regulators”.

Memphis was the first SASS State match I have ever attended and I came in 7^th. in the 49ers. category and missed a trophy by 2 standings. But it really did not matter because I was given a trophy by the Wartrace Regulators that means more to me than any piece of wood and gold plated plastic Memphis had to offer.

No less than 8 Regulators spoke to me with encouragement. I was told by multiple members that in the short 6 months I have been a Wartrace Regulator that they have seen me improve my newly learned skills with good results. Each member offered their smile and words of wisdom. Each one gave me something worth more than a materialistic symbol, they gave me the best trophy anyone could offer. A true sincere trophy given from the heart. A trophy that I am an accepted member of the Wartrace Regulators and we work as a team to assist one another.

I only hope that I can have the honor of passing this trophy down to other new members in the future with the same sincerity and wisdom that it was given to me.

Things I learned at the Memphis State Match.

#1, Sleep well before the match, if you have a favorite pillow or blanket bring it to the hotel with you. If you can not sleep…you will miss.

#2, Do not shoot your first stage of the day at 100%, about 80% will do. Otherwise…you will miss.

#3, Do not take extra arthritis, heart pills or night pain medication before a match or…you will miss.

#4, Do not wear new uncomfortable boots to the match. About the 5^th. stage you are thinking about your feet and not the targets and…you will miss.

#5, If the stage is muddy, slow down or you may fall down and…you will miss.

#6, If you practice for 6 long weeks at your home range and the State match targets are not in the exact same spot they were at home…you will miss.

#7, If you are used to shooting 6 stages at Wartrace and Memphis has 10 stages remember to bring extra ammo…or you will have nothing to miss with.

#8, If you spend 6 long weeks practicing your style of shooting and 10 minutes before you shoot someone suggests you change your style, Don’t do it!…or you will miss…several times.

#9, If you practice 6 long weeks before a match there is a good chance some of the screws on your Marlin rifle may be loose. Holding the lever screw in with your left pinkie finger during a stage will….make you miss.

#10, If you are so nervous about the match that your digestive track shuts down from Thursday evening until Sunday evening, there is a good chance it may become operative again about 1 mile before you return home. Be sure you have the house keys properly staged, loaded and cocked in your hand before you reach your front door…or you will miss.

Wartrace Sept. '09 1st Sat. Shoot.

53 shooters came out to Wartrace to play on Sat. Sept 5, the weather was a mixture of sun, rain and cloud cover with a nice breeze. If you didn't like the weather stick around a few minutes and it would change.

Whiskey had some fast and challenging stages, you had to think on a few of them, and one stage featured our brand new Texas Star. I think most folks enjoyed shooting the Star, although some of us have a lot to learn about shooting it.

Delap Dave, Coonbone, JB Littlebit, Sheriff Frank Canton, Sunflower Kid, Cherohala Chase, CW Knight, and the father and son team of Clancy O Conall and Lil' Marshall W.D. all shot the match clean. Clancy was shooting Frontier Cartridge, which makes it even more impressive to me.

Overall Winner was Whiskey Hayes shooting Classic Cowboy, followed by Duck River, Will Reilly, Lil' Marshall W.D. and Clancy O Conall to round out the Top 5. They will makeup our Shootist Category next month and that is a hard Category to get into.

As always I'd like to say a special thank you to Shotgun Schoolmarm and Annie Marlin for doing the registration and scores.

My daughters Allison and Natalie, along with my granddaughter Jade and my wife Lannie, came out and took pictures at the match. I'd like to thank them for coming out and providing this months pictures.

Several of us will be at The Tennessee State Championship instead of the Mid-Month Match.

The Mid-Month will be Sept 19., The October Match is being moved to the 2nd Sat., Oct. 10, due to The Alabama State Championship on the 1st weekend. Also don't forget

The Tn./Ky. Black Powder State Championship the last full weekend in Oct.

SCORES