2017 Tennessee State Championship

We started preparation for this years Tennessee State Championship shortly after last years ended but the actual match started last weekend with the Workers Shoot-thru. We have a Shoot-thru because we use Berm Marshals, office personnel and others it takes to be able to run a match like this. Saturday was a pretty good  day but since they were calling for 100% chance of rain on Sunday we decided to shoot all 10 stages on Saturday. It made for a long day but it turned out to be the right choice.

We had so much rain it was Wednesday before we could get back on the range to repaint targets, setup the side matches and put on the finishing touches before the match started on Thursday. There was a lot to be done but we had enough help to make it all work.

Thursday morning the side matches started with the usual Speed Matches including Pocket Pistol, Derringer, Cut The Rope, Long Range (including Pistol), Black Powder, Wild Bunch and Warm-up Match.

 Thursday was also "ARE YOU TOUGH ENOUGH TO WEAR PINK" day, we started doing this a few years ago to raise money for the American Cancer Society and Cowgirls and Cowboys have really stepped up to support this. Last year we were able to collect over $2300 so I was really worried about trying to match that this year but we had a lot of support. Dusty Wilcox donated a custom knife that we raffled off for $250, Klassic Laser Works made pink badges that said Tough Enough To Wear Pink and they donated all the money, $250. Blue Eyed Drifter and Vix-n with Vaqueros along with Widder and Red Knee donated a case of AA shells for the best Pink Cowboy, one for the  Best Pink Cowgirl and another case with the winner drawn from everyone wearing pink. Mrs. Pleasant came up with the idea to have posses collect money with the posse collecting the most getting a free shoot to next years Tennessee State Championship. Then they could decide however they wanted who would get the shoot. Whiskey signed off on it so we put it in motion.

We had several folks try the "Cut The Rope" target, a 1/4" rope 30' away. TN Missy (Squeaky) spent the most time there and cut 8 of them. Several other folks cut them with rifle or  pistol, I cut 2 with a rifle, 1 with a pistol and for the 2nd year I was the only one to cut one with a derringer.

After the regular Side Matches ended we had a Top Gun Shoot-Off with everyone eligible to enter. We have the only one I've heard of that has 3 Categories, Traditional, Gunfighter and Duelist. Sixgun Schwaby was the Duelist winner, Slater won Gunfighter and Prestidigitator won Traditional and Overall.

Thursday night also brought the Chili Cook-off with several entering chili and all of us present were the judges. Chas. B. Wolfson had the winning chili.

Friday Morning started with Whiskey Hayes welcoming everyone, Papa Dave having the Safety Meeting, Pleasant offering a Prayer and leading us in the Pledge. As everyone started to their stages the ladies stopped for a LOCAS (Ladies of Cowboy Action Shooting) picture, best I could tell there were 43 present.

After everyone completed their 1st 5 stages and broke for lunch we had the Team match where we draw 3 person teams out of a box so they are completely random. This years winning team was PeDe, Widowmaker Hill and Christian Mortician. After the team match we had lots of challenge matches including a '97 challenge to Red Knee, Widder and Missouri Traveler by 3 Wild Bunch shooters. The Cowboys started with empty shotguns and the Wild Bunch started with stoked shotguns. Each team had 21 knock down targets and all 6 shooters shot at the same time. The Cowboys won.

Following dinner on the range we had Side Match awards and Blue Eyed Drifter announced the best Pink Cowgirl, Dodge City Dixie and the best Pink Cowboy, Randy Saint Eagle (me), I auctioned off the case of AA's I won and Korupt Karl paid $150 which was added to our Cancer Fund jug. I also won the Long Range Pistol side match.

Whiskey Hayes drew names and every shooter present won a bottle of some type of Jack Daniels (Buckarettes and Buckaroos got alternate prizes) I think around 200 bottles were given out.

Saturday morning  brought out the final 5 stages of the match and the weather was just as great as Thursday and Friday. Klassic Laser Works finished up our awards and Ricochet Ruthie, Ida Shot'em and I headed over to the Bell Buckle Cafe Banquet Hall to get the Awards setup. This year we did it in record time, it only took a couple of hours.

Folks were rolling into the Banquet Hall by 5 to socialize and get ready for dinner.  When we got their we learned that Posse 1 ramrodded by Ocoee Red collected $567 and won the free shoot. We also learned that $3900 had been collected by all methods we had used. This was $1600 more than we collected last year and I was amazed, but it wasn't over. Unpleasant stopped me with a Challenge, if we could get that up to $5000 he would write us a $1000 check. Whiskey made the announcement and I started canvassing the room asking for more money. After a few minutes we were  $267 short and Mrs. Pleasant jumped in to help us collect what we needed. Then we had Unpleasant come up and he handed us a check for $1000 bringing our grand total to $6150.00. I was almost speechless, I never dreamed we would be able to collect that much money. Thank You to all the Cowgirls and Cowboys who donated all this money, hopefully donations like this will help in finding cures.

This year the Jedi Council inducted Shamrock Sadie as the newest Jedi Gunfighter, it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. Congratulations Sadie and May The Force Be With You.

First thing we always do at the Banquet after eating is recognize the State Champions in each category and I was able to win mine, Senior Duelist. Next we go 5 deep in Category Awards and recognize everyone who shot a "Clean Match", there were 27.

Then we recognize the Overall State Champion Cowgirl, Slick's Sharp Shooter and Overall State Champion Cowboy, Boxx Carr Kid and

 The Overall Top Gun Cowgirl, Shamrock Sadie and Overall Top Gun for the match Prestidigitator (Tator).

Top 20 shooters were:
Tator
Duke Skywalker
Indiana Loose Cannon
Vaquero Jake
Fast Eddie
Boxx Carr Kid
Christian Mortician
Blackhawk Henry
Hurricane Charly
Cumberland Drifter
Billy The Avenger
Mr. Black
Potshot Parker
Slater
Gun-Em-Down
Double Nickle
Shamrock Sadie
Widowmaker Hill
Copperhead Joe
Randy Saint Eagle

The Top 10 Cowgirls were:
Shamrock Sadie
Slick's Sharp Shooter
Renegade Roper
Dixie Pistols
Taco Bell
Dew R Dye
Running Doe
Elpaso Susie
Iron Maiden
Anita Margarita

Complete Scores

We had 210 shooters from 17 states so I think we had a great turnout.

The Wartrace Regulators  want to thank everyone who came to shoot with us, it doesn't matter how much effort we put into preparation without you, the shooters, it would just be a range. Thanks again to everyone and we hope you come back next year.

I'll add pictures and videos when available if anyone has any.

Photos and Videos by Rolan Kraps

The next match at the Wartrace Regulators will be Nov. 4th and don't forget The Southeast Regional in Memphis Nov. 7-11, 2017

Happy Trails, until we meet again.

2017 EOT or Bust, SASS World Championship

We loaded down the covered wagon early Saturday morning June 17th, hitched up Reno's team and Dodge City Dixie, Reno Mustang, Papa Dave and I (Randy Saint Eagle) headed west toward End of Trail, The SASS World Championship. Tombstone John and Linda hitched up their buckboard and headed west from their ranch as well. We were loaded heavy but Reno drove them hard and we made it to Shawnee Oklahoma the first day.

Day 2 we pulled out early and made it to Moriarty, New Mexico by about 4pm (we gained an hour when we hit New Mexico). We stopped by the bunkhouse and unloaded some of what needed to stay there and headed to Founders Ranch outside of Edgewood New Mexico to sign in. We made it in plenty of time to check in and pick up our packets. We heard Tombstone and Linda had made it and they came out to join us and check out the Stages.

We were pleased to see the set-ups were great and the targets were mostly closer than last year. After checking out the stages we unhitched the wagon and set up our base camp. Reno had prepared for everything and we had a rug for the ground, a shade shelter, chairs and a table to clean our guns on. After set-up we hit the Pizza Barn for some fine grub and headed back to the bunkhouse for the night.

Monday morning we headed out early to shoot 4 Warm-up Stages. They were a lot of fun and very fast stages. We checked out the vendors and spent some time enjoying the special feeling you get when shooting in the High Desert. After stowing our gear we headed to Chili Hills for supper.

Tuesday we shot the mid day Warm-up Stages and some afternoon, it was pretty hot and we decided after 7 stages we'd had enough for the day. Lassiter and Deuce Stevens did a great job as Co-Match Directors. Lassiter, Deuce Stevens and their crew did an excellent job of  setting everything up with plenty of choices on how to shoot it, friendly for right or left-handers.  The stages  were fast and straight forward with ample opportunity to exceed your speed limit.

On Wednesday morning we went to the range to clean guns and get our ammo ready for Thursday. Afterward we headed for Old Town in Albuquerque  for some sight seeing. We had a good meal at a  Mexican Restaurant but I can't remember the name. After checking out the area we headed back to the bunkhouse to chill out a little before heading back to the range to check out the stages we'd shoot Thursday afternoon. We completely forgot about the Opening Ceremonies and while we were checking out the stages Taco Bell came by and said they called out your name and I thought she was talking to Dixie, she looked at me and said for your Regulator Badge, I was in shock. Seems Dixie and Reno had been working for over a year getting petitions signed and submitting a letter to SASS to get me selected as a Regulator, I was humbled and very surprised. After the shock wore off and we finished checking out the stages we headed to Katrinah's for another good meal.

Thursday afternoon we headed to the Safety Meeting where they warned us to be on our toes, a bear had been spotted close to the Ranch and 2 Rattlesnakes had been spotted in the outhouses. After the rest of the meeting we headed to Stage 5 for our first stage of the Main Match. It was around 100 degrees when we started, hot but low humidity. We were on Posse 29 With Shamrock Sadie as our Posse Marshall, also on the posse was Knot Hardly Dunn, Avery Wade, Misty Rider, Red Johnson, Kathouse Kelli, Jackaroo, Wild Horse John, Trigger Happy Ted, Christian Mortician, Trail Bandit, Dodge City Dixie, Reno Mustang, Randy Saint Eagle, Papa Dave, Tombstone John, Poncho Sin Lefty and Lucky Boy. Stage 5 was a fast stage with 2 rifle knockdowns and 2 pistol knockdowns. You started at position 3 with rifle in hand, barrel touching table, pistols holstered and shotgun staged at either position 1 or 5. At the beep shoot the rifle 2 on a stationary target, 1 knockdown, 2 on a stationary, then repeat instructions on the next 3 identical rifle targets. Move to position 2 or 4 and shoot 3 pistol targets the same as the rifle targets, then move to the other position either 2 or 4 and repeat on that set of pistol targets, next move to either position 1 or 5 and shoot 2 shotgun knockdown targets, any pistol or rifle knock down targets still standing can be made up by shooting an additional shotgun targets. This was my fastest time of the match with a 16.99 Clean, Tombstone John shot this one in 23.52. On stage 6 we had a moving target with 6 shotgun knockdowns.

Stage 7 was the only "Stand and Deliver" stage in the match with a V shaped target array of 7  combination rifle/ pistol targets and 4 shotgun knockdowns.  You started behind a table with rifle and shotgun staged on the table and pistols holstered. With a combination of rifle and pistols shoot the center target and the 3 on the left or right side of the V in a 2-4-6-8 sweep starting from either end. Then shoot the 4 shotgun knockdows in any order. I ran this in a 19.08, Papa Dave shot it in 17.38 and Dixie blazed it in a 15.49. Shamrock Sadie did an excellant job as Posse Marshall and I'd be thrilled to be on a posse with her and Knot Hardly Dunn anytime.  After finishing Stage 8 we went back to our base camp, put away our gear and went to check out the stages we would shoot on Friday.

Friday morning we started shooting at 10:30 so we got to the range early to do a little gun cleaning and get our ammo ready. We started on Stage 9 (a saloon) where you stage the shotgun on either of the 2 bars and the rifle on either bar, pistols holstered. At the beep you shoot the 4 rifle targets in a circular clockwise or counter-clockwise sweepstarting on any target. Next engage 2 shotgun knockdowns from each bar and from the center between the bars engage the 4 pistol targets the same as the rifle targets, I shot this in a 19.12. Stage 10 had a rifle reload, you started, you started at position 3 with the rifle and shotgun staged at either position 2 or 4. Start with pistol in hand, at the beep shoot a progressive sweep on 4 targets, 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3 and 4 on 4, then move to the 2 rifle targets and put 5 on 1 and 6 on the other (you could load the 11th round in the rifle anytime after the pistols were shot. Then move to position 1 or 5 and shoot the 4 shotgun knockdowns. I shot this in 23.39, Reno ran this one in a 22.05 and Dixie had a really fast 20.94.  After we finished Stage 12 we did the Posse Shoot where all but one on the posse lined up with their rifles to try to cut a 4x4 in to. It was set horizontally and turned diamond shaped so you were lookig at the sharp edge of it. At the beep everyone started shooting and when we cut it into and it hit the ground Christian Mortician knocked down 2 shotgun targets to stop the clock. Apparently everyone aimed and Christian was fast with the shotgun because we did it in 5.35 seconds (which proved to be the winning time. Afterwards we  cleaned guns and got our ammo ready for the final 4 stages on Saturday. We hat to start at 7:30 Saturday morning so we had to get everything ready Friday night. Then we walked the last 4 stages to see how we wanted to shoot them.

Next we headed to Pizza Barn for supper, Dixie, Reno, Papa Dave and I had been twice but John and Linda hadn't been and we wanted them to see how good it was. I don't think we got back and settled into our room any earlier than 11 any night.

Saturday morning we started shooting at 7:30 and Papa Dave and I were "Clean" going into the last day so I was pretty nervous. We started on Stage 1 where you had rifle and shotgun stage on the shelf in the Church, pistols holstered. You started outside the Church either on the left or right behind the hay bales with hands on fully holstered pistols. At the beep you shot the pistols at 4 pistol targets with 3 on each outside target and 2 on each inside target in any order. Move inside and shoot the rifle same as pistols then shoot 6 shotgun knockdowns in any order. I shot this in a 22.87.  After looking back at the scores I saw that my fastest time each day was the 1st stage of the day. When I practice with PeDe and Tennessee Williams I always try to shoot a stage cold before we do anything else, looks like it might have paid off.

Stage 3 had a swinging target but it wasn't bad. On Thursday we had a moving target that came toward you so 2 out of 3 days we had moving targets. Papa Dave and I finished the match "Clean" but I shot the last stage pretty slow, 27.41, it was my slowest of the whole match, Dixie shot this in 20.16, Papa was 23.72, Reno was 26.36 and Tombstone John was 27.50. After we finished we headed back to the trailer and Reno cleaned Dixie's guns a little and Dixie got her ammo together because we were pretty sure she would make the Sweet 16 Shoot-Off. We then had some lunch on the range and checked out the vendors one last time. We went back to the Motel to chill out before supper and heading back to the range to see the Shoot-Off  Top 16 and Sweet 16 announced, Dixie made it as we expected.

Sunday morning we headed back to the ranch to get ready for the Shoot-offs. They started with the Wild Bunch Top 8 Ladies and Top 8 Men, then they went to the Sweet 16. Dixie was doing well but was 1 shotshell short of winning the first round, there's always next year. I think Texas Tiger was the Shoot-Off Winner for the Ladies.  I don't remember who won for the Men.

Next we went to the Award Ceremony and this year they had it in a big air conditioned text and it sure was nice to have a place to sit down. That was just one of the many improvements since last year, Misty Moonshine and crew are doing a fantastic job. The most exciting thing about the Awards was when they called Papa Dave as Grand Patron World Champion. I have to admit the second most exciting thing for me was when the called my name as Senior Duelist World Champion, my second.  I was also excited because this was our 3rd trip to EOT and my 3rd "Clean" EOT.

There were 600 Registered shooter and The Wartarce Regulators represented themselves well at EOT and I'll list them from the highest place Overall finish down.

Vaquero Jake, 2nd Gunfighter,  13th Overall,   "Clean"
Dodge City Dixie, 2nd Ladies Senior, 105th Overall
Randy Saint Eagle, World Champion Senior Duelist,  114th Overall,  "Clean"
Papa Dave, World Champion Grand Patron,  190th Overall   "Clean"
Shaddai Vaquero, World Champion Frontiersman,  204th Overall
Reno Mustang, 5th Senior Gunfighter,  226th Overall
Tombstone John, 25th Elder Statesman,  363rd Overall

Complete scores 

This is the report given by Reno Mustang at the Wartrace Regulators Match this weekend.

Reno Report

 I found these videos by Jokers Wild, I hope he doesn't mind.  Videos by Jokers Wild

This was our best trip to EOT in my opinion and I hope we can make more. For more info on the

Wartrace Regulators click this link.

Happy Trails until we meet again.