2016 Tennessee State Championship

196 Cowboys and Cowgirls signed up for this year Regulators Reckoning, the Tennessee State Championship. We  started with the Workers Shoot on the 1st and 2nd and for the 1st time in several years the weather was nice with no rain.

We spent the rest of the week on the final preparations before everyone started rolling in. We ended up with 16 folks having to drop out, most due to Hurricane Matthew pounding the east coast.

Thursday was Are You Tough Enough To Wear Pink day and we had lots of Cowboys and Cowgirls wearing pink for the Side-Matches. For the last few years we've collected money for the American Cancer Society. This year Mrs. Pleasant challenged each posse to raise at least $100. Widdowmaker Hill offered to donate a Widder Soft Stroke Action Job to the Posse that raised the most money. Posse 5 collected $500 and gave the action job to Little Lady E. With the help of Mrs.Pleasant, Widder and all the Cowgirls and Cowboys who donated we were able to collect $2379.00 for The American Cancer Society.

We had all the normal Speed events, Long Range Rifle and Cut The Rope. The Cut The Rope is a 1/4" rope held taunt 30' away. Several shot it into with a rifle, I got it with the first shot out of my rifle. Koda Joe came up and said he only needed 1 shot so he loaded 1 round, cut the rope and put his rifle back up. Marshal Rico, Buford Tanner, Buxom Boo, Major Bill and Pilgrim Joe also cut one.  TN. Missy was the most prolific as she cut 6 of them. Tennessee Tombstone and I each cut one with a pistol Duelist style. Buford Tanner cut 2, Tennessee Williams, George Emmett, Joe West and Pleasant (probably duelist but I'm not sure) each cut one. I (Randy Saint Eagle) was the only one to cut one with a derringer.

After the side matches we had a Shoot-Off with 22 knock down targets. Everyone is eligible and we actually have 3 Shoot-Offs, 1 for Traditional shooters, 1 for Gunfighters and 1 for Duelists. I won Duelist, Billy The Avenger won Gunfighter and Prestidigitator  won Traditional. Tator was also the Overall Shoot-Off Winner.

Thursday was also  Chili Cook day headed up by Chas. B. Wolfson and Apple Annie from Arizona. Everyone had plenty of chili to eat and vote on the best. Linda and CW Knight had the winning chili.

Friday started with Whiskey Hayes welcoming everyone, Papa Dave gave the Safety Meeting and Whiskey offered a prayer and led us in the Pledge before everyone headed to their 1st stage. We shoot 5 stages each day and once the days stages were finished and everyone had time to eat lunch we had the Team Match. It was also shot with all knock down targets. 3 person teams were drawn and they could start with either rifle or pistol, tag the next shooter and when they were done,  tag the shotgun shooter who had 1 shotgun target plus any rifle or pistol targets still standing. I don't have the list but I think the winning team was Kathouse Kelly, Ocoee Red and Billy The Avenger.

The Friday Night Dinner was done by our onsite food vendor, Rolin' Chopsticks and it was really good. We also give out Side-Match awards and some additional door prizes. Donald Duke won a Henry .22 pump action rifle and every shooter present won a bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey.

Saturday morning brought a bit cooler weather but we really had  great weather all weekend. All the stages were fast and easy with ample opportunity to exceed your speed limit. The match winner had a total time of 165.35 seconds for 10 stages. After finishing and packing up, shooters had plenty of time to head back to their motels or RV's to get ready for the Banquet.

Our Banquet was catered by the Bell Buckle Cafe and the food was great as usual. We started the awards  by recognizing all of the Category State Champions. Then we went to the Top 5 in each Category, stopping to give away 2 more guns, a few more special bottles of Jack Daniels and a Papa Dave Gun Cart.

The  Men's Overall State Champion was Cumberland Drifter.

The Ladies Overall State Champion was Dew R Dye

The Men's Overall Champion was Lead Ringer

The Ladies Overall Champion was Slick's Sharp Shooter

The Top 10 Shooters were Lead Ringer, Blackhawk Henry, Prestidigitator, Christian Mortician, Cumberland Drifter, Double Nickle, Fast Eddie, Duke Skywalker, Billy The Avenger and Knob Creek Drover.

The Top 10 Ladies were Slick's Sharp Shooter, Dew R Dye, Kathouse Kelli, Shamrock Sadie, Dixie Pistols, Taco Belle, Dodge City Dixie, Miss Behavin', El Paso Susie and Two Step Net.

We had 37 shooters to shoot a Clean Math.

Complete Scores

Photos by Dirty Nerdy

Photos

Photos by Rolan Kraps

Photos by HT Terry, see text below

 There are 7 sub-buckets under the main heading of 2016 Regulator Reckoning. Once you click on that it will bring up the sub sub-buckets to let you see the pictures within them. I have tired to name as many people as I could, and apologize I could not do them all. If I have any named wrong, just let me know and I can fix it.

 

Klassic Laser Works did our awards and name badges this year and did an excellent job, they've agreed to come back next year. They'll be on site and can do laser work on stocks and pistol grips among other things.

I feel like this was one of our best State Championship ever and I hope all who came to shoot with us agree.  I want to thank everyone who helped  make this another great match and I hope everyone will come back again next year.

The next big match on my agenda is the Southeast Regional, Gunfight at Givhans Ferry

Happy Trails and may all your Bangs end with a Clang.




































































































































































                                                                               

Wartrace Regulators August 6 Cowboy Match

44 Cowgirls and Cowboys rode into Wartrace on a hot day (it is August) for some Cowboy Action Shooting fun. We had 3 posses and on a hot day this worked well. We were expecting a large bullet order to come in early afternoon so we wanted to be finished when it got in.

Papa Dave welcomed everyone and had our Safety Meeting, Branchwater Jack offered a Prayer and led us in the Pledge. Then we broke into posses and got started.

I was on posse 2 and we started at the Fort where we started with both hands touching the center table with pistols holstered, rifle and shotgun staged on the table. Gun order is shooters choice, rifle not last. With rifle starting on either end rifle target single tap R1, double tap R2, triple tap R3, quad tap R4. Shoot the pistol targets with the same instructions as the rifle targets, engage the 2 shotgun knock downs in any order. This was my best stage of the day, I shot it in 14.58 seconds.

Next we went to the Jersey Lilly where you began standing at the center window with hands touching window frame, pistols holstered, rifle staged in either outside window and shotgun staged in opposite outside window. At the beep with pistols shot from center window starting on either outside pistol target quad tap P1, double tap P2, quad tap P3. With the rifle shot from the staged location engage the rifle targets with the same instructions as the pistol targets. Shotgun from the staged location engage 2 KD's in any order move to the opposite outside window and engage the remaining 2 KD's. We  were the first posse to shoot this stage and had to stop several times to kill wasps. They were so bad when I staged my shotgun they tried to build a nest in it while I was staging my rifle. Thankfully Widder was there with a can of wasp spray and was able to spray my shotgun and run them off.

Our 3rd stage was the Cantina where you started standing at the center table or the right window with pistols holstered, rifle and shotgun staged on the center table. Gun order was shooters choice, rifle not last. With pistols shot from the right window starting on either of the 2 pistol targets alternate single taps for 10 shots, rifle shot from center table using same instructions as pistols, with shotgun engage the 4 KD's in any order. I jacked out a rifle round but had a decent reload and managed a 21.06 second run.

Next we headed to the Cash Jackson Mine where you started standing between the left and right tables with a hand on each beam, pistols holstered, rifle staged on the right table and shotgun on the left table. At the beep move to the right table and starting on either end target double tap R1, single tap R2, double tap R3 and repeat sweep in the same direction. Move to the left table and shoot the pistol targets with same instructions as the rifle. Next engage 2 shotgun KD's from the left table then move to the starting position and engage the remaining 2 KD's. I shot this in a 20.09.

Our final stage was the Jail where you started standing in the office or the cell, rifle staged on office window shelf or the cell window shelf, shotgun staged on the office shelf and pistols holstered. Gun order is shooters choice, rifle not last. Rifle shot from staged location engage the center rifle target with 6 rounds then double tap each outside rifle target, pistols shot from the cell with the same instructions as the rifle and shotgun from the office window engage the 4 KD's in any order. I had a good run on this stage with a 19.31.

Cumberland Drifter was the Top Gun of the day, followed by Slick's Sharp Shooter (Ladies Top Gun), Widowmaker Hill, Double Nickle, Randy Saint Eagle, Ocoee Red, Reno Mustang, Ben T Iron, Dodge City Dixie and Branchwater Jack rounded out the Top 10.

Slick's Sharp Shooter was the Ladies Top Gun, followed by Dodge City Dixie, Alchemist Belle, TN Missy, Ara Tiest, Dr. Slick and Ida Shot'em.

Slick's Sharp Shooter had the fastest time on Stage 1, Cumberland Drifter was fastest on Stages 2, 3 and 4 and Double Nickle was fastest on Stage 5.

These were some really fast stages with 5 shooters having sub 100 second matches.

Cumberland Drifter, Donald Duke, Jailbreak Jake, Mule Face Mike, Nantahala Ned, Randy Saint Eagle and Widowmaker Hill all shot Clean Matches.

Complete Scores

Matches coming up soon include Guns of August,  A Gunfight in Dixie, Leadmine Valley Shoot-Out.

If you haven't gotten your application in for The Tennessee State Championship  Oct 6-8 be thinking about it, especially getting your lodging booked.

The next match at Wartrace will be the August 20th Cowboy/ Wild Bunch Match. For more info always check out our website.

Hope to see you down the trail, Happy Trails

Black Gold Shootout

Papa Dave and I headed out Thursday morning, July 14th for the Black Gold Shootout in Manchester Kentucky. We went in Papa's SUV so I told him I'd pack light and he asked if I knew what light meant. I think he was surprised when we were able to get everything loaded and leave his rear rack carrier in my garage. We lost an hour due to Eastern time zone but still made it there shortly after noon with plenty of time to shoot the side-matches.

I headed to the Long Range Pistol while Papa met up with Dodge City Dixie, Dirty Nerdy, Reno Mustang and Brada Tat Tat to shoot the warm-up stage. The Long Range only had one person running rifle and pistol so he was really busy. My time rolled around and I went 5 for 5 so I made it into the 4 pm Shoot-off. I went down and joined the gang at the warm up stage to get a little match style practice in before the shoot-off.  We then decided to walk the stages we'd be shooting Friday morning and got through a couple  before I had to go to the shoot-off.

They did the shoot-off a little differently than I had seen before and I liked it. There were 5 or 6 folks that made the shoot-off and we all lined up side by side and shot one shot at a time at a 50 yard (more or less) target, if you missed and anyone else hit in that round you were out. After one or two rounds only Mongo and I were left. We went 10 rounds and they decided it could take all day so we moved to a target 10 yards farther back. At the new distance Mongo missed his first shot and I hit so I won the Long Range Pistol Match. Then I had to rush trying to beat the ran to pack my gear (the rain won).

Friday morning we started with Copperhead Joe welcoming everyone, then the Safety Meeting, Prayer, Pledge and we headed to our first stage. We started on 10 as far from the parking as you can get and when I got there I realized I'd left my shotgun belt in Papa's car. I started back to the car and fortunately Canoe Creek Kid was coming up on his 4-wheeler and he gave me a ride to get my gear, Thanks again Canoe Creek.

We started on Stage 10 looking down into the Outhouse, pistols holstered, rifle staged on the center table and shotgun stage on left table. You started with pistol or shotgun then shot rifle and ended with the other. Your line was There's a geriller in there, at the beep moved to preferred table, if starting on left engage the 4 shotgun knock downs, move to the rifle and shoot a progressive sweep on 2 targets, 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 1 and 4 on 2, moved to the pistols and shoot same sequence as rifle. I had a shotgun make-up on this and ended up with  25.46 seconds.

We were on posse 10 which consisted of Ara Tiest, Ben T. Iron, Black Jack Lee, Brada Tat Tat, C. W. Knight, Canoe Creek Kid, Cleve, Dead Lee Shooter, Dirty Nerdy, Dodge City Dixie, Fire N Fallback, Graywolf Tate, Hikes Point Hank, Let's Go, Mad Dog McCoy, Papa Dave, Randy Saint Eagle (me), Reno Mustang, Rio Drifter, Sidekick, Tennessee Tall and The Arizona Ranger. With 22 shooters we had a large posse but everyone worked and it went well.

Stage 9 was our last stage of the day With 10 rifle staged anywhere, 10 pistol holstered or staged and 4+ shotgun staged anywhere. The targets were on  vertical racks with 2 on the bottom, one in the center and 2 on top. Start at any of the 5 openings with a mug in both hands, your line was "Hold my beer and watch this".  At the beep you had to engage each pistol and rifle target 2 times each and engage the 4 shotgun KD's. You  had to shoot at least 1 round through 4 of the 5 openings. This was my best stage of the day with a 20.42 seconds.

We had lunch afterwards and watched  the team matches before deciding it would be a good idea to hit the Dairy Queen and have some desert before supper so Dodge City Dixie, Reno Mustang, Papa Dave and I found the DQ and chilled out for a while. Back at the range after a good pork dinner we had the side match awards and a Bluegrass Band.

Saturday morning brought on the final 5 stages and I got to the stage with all my gear this time. Our second stage of the day, stage 1 was my best stage of the day. You started with a gun or guns pointed downrange, with 10 rifle staged in any window, 10 pistol holstered, 6 shotgun staged in any window. Your line was "She's prettier than a mess of catfish", at the beep using all 4 openings for at least 1 round put at least 2 rounds on each of the 3 rifle and 3 pistol targets and engage the 6 shotgun KD's till down. I shot this in 22.05 seconds. Brada Tat Tat  was blazing through the third stage of the day when he laid down a sweet rifle run, made a quick move to the left and his right pistol didn't move with him, it hung in the air like slow motion when he ran out from under it. That ended his match but not his Spirit as he stayed with us and worked the rest of the day.

After the last stage we headed back for lunch, did I mention this match included lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday. After lunch they had the Man on Man Shoot-off and more Hillbilly games but Papa Dave and I decided to pack up our guns and chill out in Cumberland Drifter and Georgia Dew's camper with them, Cimarron Lil and Big 6 Henderson. It was nice just to relax and visit with friends on a hot afternoon.

After a really good fish dinner we had the Main Match Awards and they were very unique with a gun locally made out of coal dust and resin mounted to a plaque.

The Wartrace Regulators faired pretty well and Brad had a ton of fun, when he ran up to get the Spirit of the Game Award for our posse he dropped a plastic gun out of his pocket half way there.

Ara Tiest,  7th Lady Wrangler
Dirty Nerdy, 2nd Cowgirl
Perfecto Vaquera, 3rd Ladies B-Western
C W Knight, 4th Silver Senior
Ben T Iron, 3rd Classic Cowboy
Reno Mustang, 3rd Senior Gunfighter
Papa Dave, 1st Grand Patron
Dodge City Dixie, 1st Ladies Senior
Shaddai Vaquero, 1st Classic Cowboy
Randy Saint Eagle, 1st Senior Duelist
Cumberland Drifter, 3rd 49r and 6th Overall
Vaquero Jake 1st Gunfighter and 3rd Overall

Sidekick was the Top Gun of the Match, (he was on Posse 10 and showed us how to shoot amazingly fast and clean) followed by Missouri Lefty, Vaquero Jake, Missouri Traveler, Blackhawk Henry, Cumberland Drifter, Cowboy Junkie, Three Cut, Billy The Avenger and Double Nickle rounded out the Top 10.

Sue Render was the Ladies Top Gun, followed by Shamrock Sadie, Turkey Legs, Dodge City Dixie, Renegade Roper, Miss Pistol Whipper, Dixie Pistols, Honey B Graceful, Lefty's Lucky Lady and Anita Margarita rounded out the Ladies Top 10.

Complete Scores

Here's a video of Billy The Avenger

Here's a video by Billy of Missouri Lefty shooting Widder's Soft Stroke modification he's been doing on Henry .22 rifles

It was really good to see Ringo ( by gawd) Fire, Korupt Karl, MoBetta, Digger, Rowdy Bates and others I hadn't seen in a while.

After the awards Blackwater and Milkbone provided the entertainment for the night along with a dance contest.  There are somethings that you really don't want ingrained in your brain like this picture. by Krazy Kajun. So Cimarron Lil, Big 6 Henderson, Georgia Dew, Cumberland Drifter, Dodge City Dixie, Reno Mustang, Papa Dave and I decided to make another run to the DQ for desert. We asked Dirty and Brad if they wanted to go but Brad said he'd already had his DQ for the day.

This match had some of the stiffest competition you'll find anywhere short of EOT, with lots of current and former National and World Champions in attendance. Copperhead Joe, Miss Bo, Iron Maiden, Whiskey Creek Johnson and the many others put on a Great Match. If you're looking for a First Class Match with lots of competition and a weekend long party you need to put this one on your list. I suggest you send your 2017 application in early next year because I predict this will fill up early.

Black Gold Slideshow by Dirty Nerdy

Slideshow by Dodge City Dixie

Thanks again to Joe and the gang for a great match.

There's plenty of good matches still this year so check out a few of them.

Gunfight in Dixie

Hellfire

Lead Mine Valley Shootout

Tennessee State Championship

Gunfight at Givhans Ferry

This is just a few of them, find  one close to you here

The next match in Wartrace will be the August 6th Cowboy Match for more info always check out our Website

Hope to see you down the trail.

EOT or Bust

Our adventure started when Dodge City Dixie and Reno Mustang left me Dixie's trailer after the June 18th match at Wartrace. Papa Dave told them they were crazy to let me have the trailer overnight (he thinks I pack a bit heavy when traveling). Papa Dave got to my house bright and early on Fathers Day morning and we got his gear packed. Dixie and Reno weren't far behind him so we transferred their guns to the trailer, hooked it to their vehicle and we were off.

We made it to Shawnee Oklahoma the first day and got a good nights sleep before heading out again. Day 2 we meet up with Dirty Nerdy and Brada Tat Tat at the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo Texas for a good meal and an interesting place. Seems like about an hour or so past this you pass a huge cattle feedlot, I suggest  you have the windows rolled up and the ac on recirculate before you get there and for a while after you pass it. I'm sure it smells like money to the folks that own it but it has a different smell to me.

We had an uneventful trip and made it to the Best Western in Moriarty New Mexico after 4pm. We needed to unload our clothes out of the trailer because we leave it at the range for the week. EOT does a great job and has 24 hour security so there is no problem leaving your gear there. We got to Founders Ranch a little after 5pm, too late to check in but we were able to set up the trailer.

We saw and talked to T A Chance (Match Director) and told him we were going to walk the stages so he went into his office and got us Lassiter's (Co-Match Director) book so we could see the scenarios. After getting everything squared away and checking the stages we decided to head to Chili Hills for dinner. This was one of 4 or 5 trips there during our stay. They have good food, plenty of it, homemade pies and give SASS members a 15% discount. We also found out during our stay that the Pizza Barn has an excellent pizza and we made a couple of trips there.

Tuesday morning Dixie woke up with her eyes swelled shut so she and Reno found a Doctor nearby and had it checked out. Papa Dave and I rode to the range with Dirty Nerdy and Brada Tat Tat to check in and sign up for a midday Warm-up Match. We had time to get our gear ready and take a quick look at a few vendors before the Safety Meeting. We shot Stages 1-4 and since there was no one waiting for the stages we shot 2 and 4 twice, just changing the scenarios. Here is a video Dirty Nerdy took of me during the Warm-Up Match. Dixie and Reno made it to the range a little after noon and Dixie's eyes were open enough she could see to shoot. They shot the late wave Warm-up on stages 5-8. We also ran into Purly and Two Step Net (they were keeping their cart in the trailer so we saw them most every day) and had dinner with them. Then we had to go to the Dairy Queen for ice cream, if you want to travel with Papa Dave you'll have to make a stop or 3  at the DQ.

Wednesday morning we headed back to the range for Side Matches. Dixie's eyes seemed to still be improving but they were still pretty red with some swelling. They had a stage set up with all knockdown targets to raise money for the SASS Scholarship Fund and we each shot it a couple of times. They also had an old timey shooting gallery wagon and we tried it. We tried Speed Pistol before I ran into Lassiter and he was needing some more help so I ran the Rimfire Side Match for the last 2 hours. We walked stages 5-8 to see what we'd be shooting first and then headed to the Opening Ceremonies. They introduced many of the pards involved in making this happen and had a presentation of flags from every country represented. I should have taken notes but I think Cowgirls and Cowboys were there from at least 8 countries. This was slightly delayed by a small flood that I'm sure they were happy to get it with the Dog Head fire looming nearby.

Thursday started the Main Match Stages and we shot the late wave. Due to the rain the night before we had to get to the range early to do maintenance and last minute repairs. We got everything taken care of and went to test fire Reno's rifle and found it had a problem. After several trips back and forth to the trailer (the elevation at the range is nearly 7000 feet so it doesn't take many fast trips to see what kind of shape you're in) there was still a problem and it was time for the Safety Meeting. After the Safety Meeting we had 45 minutes till the start of our match and Reno and Brad made one last trip to the trailer and were able to get the rifle working. We were all sweating bullets when Reno shot the first stage but his rifle ran great all weekend.

We were on Posse 31 with Amaduelist as our Posse Marshall, and Blackfish Kid, Brada Tat Tat, Broken Blade, Dirty Nerdy, Dodge City Dixie, Holy Smoke Harmon, Jail Break Jake, Jersey Sue (Pecos Pav was supposed to be shooting  but ended up having to make a stay in the hospital on the way so he decide not to shoot), Lady Gator, Lightnin' Hawk, Marshall Stone, Papa Dave, Ponderosa Pete, Randy Saint Eagle, Reno Mustang, Revelator, Rocky Meadows and Wigley Down Yonder made up our entire posse. Dixie's eyes were still improving but she had a primer that didn't go off in a pistol on the very first stage. We started on Stage 7 with 4 pistol knockdowns, 4 rifle knockdowns and 4 shotgun knockdowns and it was my best stage of the day with a  20.91. Stage 6 had one of two moving targets for the match and I let Reno grab his rifle and fire a shot before realizing he hadn't activated the lever for the mover (a "P").  We finished for the day, had a Posse Picture made and just as we got back to the trailer it started to rain again.

Friday we shot the midday wave but still had to get to the range early to do maintenance and load ammo blocks we didn't get done the night before due to the rain. We shot stages 9-12 starting on 11 and it was my best stage of the match. We started at a window with the rifle in hand, shotgun staged inside the doorway, at the beep we shot a 1-2-4-2-1 in any order, restaged the rifle, ran inside the doorway and between there and the downrange table shot the 4 shotgun knockdowns, from the downrange table shot the pistols same as the rifle. I shot this in an 18.87. Dixie's eyes were still improving and Reno had a better but Papa Dave had a couple of misses. After our stages we checked out more vendors, I spent a while talking Bob Mernickle about his new HP Series holsters and shotgun belt. We then walked the final 4 stages to see what we would be doing Saturday morning.

Saturday morning we shot the early wave so we had to leave the motel before breakfast to get everything ready and be at the Stage 3 by 7:15. Stage 3 had the other moving target (a swinger) of the match. On this stage you had 2 stationary targets on either side of the swinger, 2 shotgun knockdowns on either side of the rifle targets and 5 pistol targets to the right in front of another table. You started next to a building with both hands on the lever to activate the swinger, rifle and shotgun staged on the table and pistols holstered. At the beep, activate the swinger and sweep the 5 rifle targets (which includes the swinger) then engage the swinger 5 times, shoot the 4 shotgun kd's, move past the silhouette to the other table and sweep the 5 pistol targets then put 5  on the center pistol target. This was my best stage of the day with a 21.83. I didn't realize it until I was writing this that the first stage was my best stage each day. Maybe I got nervous after the first stage?

The last day was nerve wracking for me, going into it clean and on stage 4, I jacked out a rifle round and had to reload it and on stage 2 our final stage of the match my shotgun shells split on my 2nd load and I had to throw them down and grab 2 more. I did manage to keep it together and shoot a "Clean" Match.
We had the rest of the day to finish checking out vendors and get a little rest before coming back to the Saturday night party to see who made the Top Gun and Sweet 16 Shoot-Off.

Sunday morning we checked out of the Motel, headed to the range,  packed up our guns and gear, hooked up the trailer and headed off to watch the Shoot-Offs. They started with Wild Bunch Top 8 and Wild Bunch Ladies Top 8. Then the Top 16 Cowboys and Sweet 16 Cowgirls started alternating between Cowgirls and Cowboys. Here are some Videos By Billy The Avenger of the shoot-offs. #2 by Billy, # 3 by Billy of Cody James, the Men's Shoot-Off Winner against Slick's Sharp Shooter, The Ladies Shoot-Off winner. Slick's Sharp Shooter won it, I think when Cody knocked down the wrong stop plate.

Next was what we were all waiting on, the Awards Ceremony and the Wartrace Regulators faired pretty well.

Dirty Nerdy 9th Lady Wrangler
Jail Break Jake 12th Duelist
Brada Tat Tat  18th Gunfighter
Reno Mustang  6th Senior Gunfighter
Dodge City Dixie  3rd Ladies Senior
Papa Dave  3rd Grand Patron
Shaddai Vaquero 4th Classic Cowboy
Vaquero Jake  4th Gunfighter
Randy Saint Eagle  1st Senior Duelist making me the

2016 SENIOR DUELIST WORLD CHAMPION

When they called out Doc Roy L Pain for 2nd place I though for a minute I was going to fall out, I was extremely excited. After getting home I found out that after 3 days of shooting I  beat Doc by 1.88 seconds.

Missouri Lefty was the Top Gun of the match  and Overall World Champion, followed by Matt Black, Duke Skywalker, Pecos Nick (shooting Duelist), Waterloo, Cody James, Creek County Kid, Damascus Jon, Deuce Stevens and Lead Ringer rounded out the Top 10.

Sass Kicker was the Ladies Top Gun and Ladies Overall World Champion, followed by Texas Tiger, Hey You, Morguns Ann Ammo, Spinning Sally, Panhandle Cowgirl, Shamrock Sadie, Slick's Sharp Shooter, Bonnie Macfarlane and Belinda Belle rounded out the Ladies Top 10.

Here is a video of Missouri Lefty by Billy The Avenger.

I have to Thank Misty Moonshine, T A Chance, Lassiter and everyone involved in making the 35th End Of Trail a Great One.

Thank You so much to Reno Mustang and Dodge City Dixie for hauling Papa Dave and I out there, I would have never won my Category without all your help and encouragement. Thanks also to Papa Dave, Dirty Nerdy and Brada Tat Tat for all your encouragement. And I have to Thank Ramblin' Rebel (Grady Jones of The Collection Connection) for keeping me in primers and powder even when they were scarce. He also built my first new SASS rig and has helped me find the guns I wanted for over 30 years.

We had a great trip to EOT and for some reason it was even better on the way home. While there, I saw tacked to a rail at a stage How to succeed at Cowboy Action Shooting; Practice More , Shoot Faster, Don't Miss, I think that sums it up if you add one last thing, If You Don't Go You Can't Win.

There are lots of  Great Matches all over the country so pick one and have a fun time. Here are just a few.

Black Gold Shootout

A Gunfight In Dixie

Ambush at Cavern's Cove

Lead Mine Valley Shootout

Regulators Reckoning

Gunfight at Givhans Ferry

Happy Trails

Wartrace June 4 Cowboy Match

30 Cowgirls and Cowboys ignored the 80% rain chance in the forecast and rode into Wartrace for some Cowboy Action fun. I had to work from 4am to 9am and got to the range while they were shooting the first stage so I missed the Welcome by Whiskey Hayes, a Travelin' Regulators report by Dodge City Dixie and the Safety Meeting by Papa Dave. We didn't totally miss the rain but only had to contend with it for about 1/2 of one stage.

We shot the Cantina and stages on the hill except the Cemetery  . Our posse started on the Cantina where you had 3 rifle targets, 3 pistol targets and our new clay tosser with throws the clay bird around 15' up, nearly twice as high as our old one. Gun order was shooters choice, rifle not last, targets were set one above the other and one to right center of the other two. You single tapped the targets for 10 rounds in a circle either direction for pistols and rifle and shot the tosser and the clay bird in the air. Pa Faux smoked this stage with an awesome 16.22. This was my fastest stage also with a 18.06.

Next we shot the Wells Fargo Bank where you started at the front door with rifle staged in the right rifle rack, pistols holstered and shotgun on the barrel outside. 5 pistol and rifle targets 1-3-2-3-1 sweep. Gun order was rifle, pistols and end with 6 shotgun knock downs. Purly blazed this stage with a 22.65.

In Grafton's you started standing at either window with pistols holstered and shot from the left window, rifle staged at and shot from either window and  shotgun staged at the right window. Gun order is shooters choice, rifle not last. Start standing at either window, 4 shotgun kd's, 3 rifle and 3 pistol targets shot single tap 1, double tap 2, double tap 3, double tap 1, double tap 2 and single tap 3. Cumberland Drifter was fastest on this with a 17.06.

At the Line Shack we had 4 pistol, 4 rifle and 4 shotgun targets with pistols holstered, rifle staged on center shelf and shotgun staged in either gun box. You start touching the empty gun box with both hands, gun order was shooters choice, rifle not last. At the beep rifle shot in a 1-2-3-4-1-4-3-2-1-4 sweep, pistols shot the same way and 4 shotgun kd's in any order. Cumberland Drifter ran this one in a 19.15.

Our last stage was the Gallows where you started with hands on the front rail, pistols holstered, shotgun in one gun box and rifle staged in the opposite. At the beep you shoot the 4 pistol targets in a 3-2-2-3 sweep starting and ending on the center target. You shoot the rifle targets in the same order and end with 4 kd's in any order. Cumberland Drifter also blazed this one with a 17.65

Cumberland Drifter was the Top Gun of the day, followed by Purly, Randy Saint Eagle, Double Nickle, Papa Dave, Blackjack Lee, Branchwater Jack, Reno Mustang, Pa Faux and Dodge City Dixie rounded out the Top 10.

Dodge City Dixie was the Ladies Top Gun, followed by Doc Kay B May.

Clean Matches were shot by Cumberland Drifter, Deadwood Miner, Georgia Slick, Grey Horse, Pa Faux, Papa Oso, Purly and Randy Saint Eagle.

Complete Scores

I for one really enjoyed the stages Whiskey Hayes wrote. Some up them made you think quite a bit to get them in your head, but if you always shoot stages you don't have to think about it can really mess you up if you travel to a range that has some odd stages.

Don't forget to get your entries in for the

Tennessee State Championship Oct. 6-8.

For more information on matches at Wartrace always check out our

Website

Happy Trails and may all your shots ring steel.

Georgia State Championship

Tombstone John rode over to my spread bright and early Thursday morning. We loaded down the wagon, hitched up the team and headed to Covington, Georgia for the

Georgia State Championship.

We had an uneventful trip until the new fangled map (GPS) tried to put us in downtown Atlanta. We rolled into South River Gun Club in time to check in and McKenzie River Drifter took us for a ride in his buckboard to show us where the long range was. I'm glad he took us for a ride because he told us Long Range didn't start till 1pm and I had planned to start there first to try the Long Range Pistol, he saved us a lot of walking.

We unloaded and headed down the hill to the range in time to shoot a few Side Matches before the Warm Up Match. We got down to 2 shooters left and it started to rain but we covered our guns and got through it. We stood under a canopy for a BS session while waiting for the rain to stop. At 4pm I had to go to the Posse Marshall walk thru and after that we met up with Dodge City Dixie and Reno Mustang and went over the next days stages. Later we all met up with Alchemist Belle, Donald Duke and Branchwater Jack for Dinner.

Friday after the Safety Meeting, a prayer and the pledge we headed to Stage 9 to meet up with our Posse. Posse 9 consisted of Regulator Rude, Badlands Barry, Reno Mustang, Dodge City Dixie, Pilgrim Joe, Hopalong Mac, El Viejo Lobo, Laredo Lou, Pe De, Alchemist Belle, Donald Duke, Branchwater Jack, Tombstone John, Rider in the Sky and Randy Saint Eagle. I have to say we had a Great Posse, everyone worked and made it a very enjoyable weekend.

Stage 9 started with the rifle and shotgun staged at position 1, pistols holstered. Starting position was SASS default, at the beep you shot a Progressive Sweep with the rifle, shot 4 knock downs with the shotgun anywhere between position 1 and position 2 where you made the shotgun safe. You finished with a Progressive Sweep with the pistols. This was my best stage and I think I was so excited it went well, when I got to stage 10 I missed a rifle target. Stage 10 had 4 shooting positions and 6 shotgun KD's. We shot stages 9, 10, 1 (3 positions), 2 (4 positions), 3 (3 positions) and 4 (the only Stand and Deliver stage in the match). I really enjoyed the movement on the stages. God blessed us with a mostly dry day that was much better than the forecast.

After the Main Match stages they had a Couples Match and a Team Match but we decided to stow our gear and eat some lunch instead of shooting any more. 6 stages in a day is about all I want to shoot most days.

Saturday morning we finished up the final 4 stages starting on Stage 5 (3 shooting positions), 6 (2 positions), 7 (2 positions) and 8 (4 positions) so we had plenty of movement on the last day as well. After the shooting was finished we went down to check out the vendors and found a freezer full of Dilly bars thanks to DQ (Dairy Queen) Jones. The afternoon was time for the Man on Man (or Woman) Shoot-Off. Due to threatening rain we decided to eat lunch it the Club House and share some lies with Tombstone John, Hopalong Mac, El Viejo Lobo, Dodge City Dixie and Reno Mustang. I found out that Hopalong was smoking me on one stage right up until he had a squib load (that Lobo loaded), that's his story and he's sticking to it.

Videos by Dodge City Dixie

Videos by Pilgrim Joe

Photos by Pilgrim Joe

Videos by Krazy Kajun

The Awards Banquet Saturday night was at the Georgia Horse Park and it was a real nice facility.

Banquet

Wartrace Regulators faired well,

Donald Duke, 2nd Buckaroo
Hopalong Mac, 10 Senior Duelist
El Viejo Lobo,  9th Elder Statesman
Pilgrim Joe, 12th Senior
Tombstone John, 6th Elder Statesman
Pe De, 9th Cowboy
Alchemist Belle, 3rd Lady Wrangler
Branchwater Jack, 1st Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter
Reno Mustang, 1st Senior Gunfighter
Randy Saint Eagle, 1st Senior Duelist
Dodge City Dixie, 1st Ladies Senior

Top Gun of the match was Prestidigitator, followed by Santa Fe River Stan, Wabash Valley Slim, Dang-It Dan, Ozark Azz, Christian Mortician, Blackhawk Henry, Fast Eddie, Cowboy Junky and Kid Ray rounded out the Top 10.

Slick's Sharp Shooter was the Ladies Top Gun, followed by Shamrock Sadie, Dodge City Dixie, Renegade Roper, Maggie Darlin', Dixie Pistols, Hawkeye Gin, Sue Render, Witch Doctor and Alchemist Belle rounded out the Ladies Top 10.

Complete Scores

I want to thank Fast Eddie and all  involved in putting on this great match. Tombstone John and I had plenty of good things to reminisce about on the way home.

 Don't forget to get your entries in for Tennessee State Championship October 6-8  it should be another great one. For more information about activities with the Wartrace Regulators always check out our   Website

Happy Trails and may all your shots ring steel.

Wartrace Regulator May Cowboy Match and Traveling Regulators Report

Yesterday was the May Cowboy Match and you couldn't have asked for a better day. 34 Cowgirls and Cowboys came out for a fantastic day of shooting. We shot the newest stages and they all had reasonable movement except the Fort which was "Stand and Deliver". While the weather was a little cool when folks started to arrive it didn't take long to warm up and be a fantastic day.

Double Nickle was the Top Gun of the day followed by Cumberland Drifter, Papa Dave, Randy Saint Eagle, Hurricane Charly, Branchwater Jack, Sunflower Kid, CW Knight, Alchemist Bell ( Ladies Top Gun) and Blackjack Lee rounded out the Top 10.

Alchemist Belle was the Ladies Top Gun followed by TN Missy, Ida Shot'em and Ricochet Ruthie.

We had 7 to shoot a Clean Match (no misses or penalties), Deadwood Miner, Dobber, Double Nickle, Hardluck Hudgens, Papa Dave, Randy Saint Eagle and Sunflower Kid. Each year Wartrace recognizes the Wartrace Regulator who shoot the most clean club matches. In the event of a tie the deciding factor will be the one who shot the most matches (the most chances to mess up), so far we have not yet had to use the tie breaker.

The 2015 recipient of the Wartrace Regulators Eagle Eye Award was Frank Buckshot, good shooting Frank.

Here are a couple of links to some pictures Pilgrim Joe took at this match and the April match.

April

May

The next match at Wartrace will be the May 21st Cowboy/ Wild Bunch Match. For more club information always check out our website.

Wartrace website

Last Weekend Dodge City Dixie and Reno Mustang traveled to the South Carolina for the South Carolina State Championship, Dixie finished 1st Ladies Senior and 24th Overall and Reno was 1st Senior Gunfighter and 38th Overall

Scores

Whiskey Hayes, Papa Dave and I headed north to the Knob Creek Gunfighters Guild for Riding the Bourbon Trail. Whiskey Hayes 4th Classic Cowboy and 31st Overall, Papa Dave 1st Grand Patron and 16th Overall, Randy Saint Eagle 1st Senior Duelist, 7th Overall and a Clean Match.

Riding The Bourbon Trail Scores

This weekend Dodge City Dixie and Reno Mustang headed to The Jackson Hole Regulators for the Louisiana State Championship, Reno was 2nd Senior Gunfighter and 34th Overall, Dixie was 1st Ladies Senior, 13th Overall and the Ladies Top Gun.

The scores have not yet been posted but this link should take you to them once they are up.

LA Scores

Don't forget to be thinking about sending your entry in for the Tennessee State Championship Oct. 6-8, and you especially want to book your Lodging early

Tennessee State Championship

Quite a few Regulators will be heading to the Georgia State Championship in 2 weeks.

This is the season for lots of Annual matches and if possible you should pick one and travel to it. It's great to travel and see how other clubs do things.

Get out as much as you can and put some rounds downrange, Happy Trails until we meet again.

January Cowboy/ Wild Bunch Match

We had a beautiful day for a match in January, we had to chase our hats a few times but the temp was near 60. 32 Cowgirls, Cowboys and Wild Bunch shooters showed up to join in the fun.

We had 3 new shooters including Tennessee Williams, Gun Dog 45 and Dead Eye Dave. Welcome Cowboys to the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

 The Wild Bunch and Cowboys shot the stages the same so everyone was scored together.

Cumberland Drifter was the Top Gun of the day, followed by Randy Saint Eagle, Branchwater Jack, Papa Dave, Dodge City Dixie (Ladies Top Gun), Reno Mustang, CW Knight (Wild Bunch Top Gun), Big Six Henderson, PeDe, and Birdshot Pete rounded out the Top 10.

Dodge City Dixie was the Ladies Top, followed by Alchemist Belle, Ida Shot'em and Cimarron Lil.

CW Knight was the Wild Bunch Top Gun, followed by Frank Buckshot, Papa Oso and Jagged Rock.

Complete Scores

Photos by HT Terry

The next match at Wartrace will be the Feb. 6 Cowboy Match. For more info always check out our

website.

The application is now online for the 2016 Tennessee State Championship and we are beginning to get some applications.

Hope to see you down the trail.
Randy