June 14, 2003

FTER SEVERAL MONTHS of not being able to make it to a Cowboy Action Shooting match, I finally got the chance to rejoin my pards with the Carolina Cattlemen in Creedmoor. Once again, I hit up Carolina Leadfoot for the use of a couple extra slots in his guncart. It was a gorgeous day for a shootout -- sunny and not too hot. Shooting with these folks is always a lot of fun for me, and I wish I could get there more often now.

Stage One: Holy Jumpin' Catfish!
As I had my hands on the pump handle, they jumped me. For no apparent reason, I shouted "Holy jumpin' catfish!" I dropped the handle and grabbed my revolver to sweep the five targets in front of me. I moved to the wagon for cover and pulled the rifle from the back. I double-tapped each of the four targets I could see and put the empty Winchester back. There were five more of the varmints sneaking up on my, so I drew my remaining pistol and put a slug into each of them -- at least, that was my intention. I missed one of the rascals with my last shot by rushing things, but the fight was out of him and he ran off. A half-dozen of the gang still wanted to argue, but six booms from the double-barrelled shotgun convinced them that they were wrong.

Stage Two: Let's shoot backwards!
Someone pushed the "rewind" button on this stage, and we did it all over again, backwards. Six shotgun targets were first. I missed two and fumbled with the shells as I tried to make them up. That slowed me down plenty. I shot 5 pistol targets with a sweep, double-tapped the four rifle targets, and swept the five pistol targets again, missing once. Not my best work.

Stage Three: I'll defend the fence!
That's what I yelled at the beep. It may not look like much, but I was behind it. Five pistol shots, one on each target, with each handgun. I missed once with each revolver, dang it. I grabbed the Winchester and did better, alternating six shots between two rifle targets. I had four shotgun targets to take out and missed the last one, but was quicker on the follow-up than before.

Stage Four: Are you you, or who's who?
We're all confused around here, but there's no mistake when a feller comes at you with a gun. I had a rifle in my hands, which was some comfort. I used it to shoot a nine-round Nevada sweep, then exchanged it for my revolvers. Each pistol spat lead at three targets, Nevada sweeping again. I missed once with the right hand. Four shotgun knockdowns later, and I was done.

Stage Five: Taters agin?
I know you don't want to insult the camp cook, but really now, ain't there no beef to be had? I guess not. This turned out to be my only clean stage of the day. There were three pistol targets, three rifle targets and four shotgun targets. I yanked my first pistol from the holster with my left hand and rang the steel, 2-1-2. The rifle targets were critters, and tricky ones at that. The coyote and the snake need careful aimin' if you want to ding 'em. I triple-tapped each of the varmints with the Winchester, squinting through the black powder smoke. I moved to the side and pulled my last pistol, putting lead on the targets, 2-1-2 again. The double-barrel boomed four times and that was that.

Stage Six: I'm blowin' up this jail!
The man inside was a friend o' mine, and I was a-gettin' him out, one way or t'other. Happily, I had a stick o' dynamite, which I tossed through the door to begin the ball. For some reason, I'd foolishly placed my pistols in a box on a table and had to get 'em out before I could blaze away at the three targets in front of me. I did that with each pistol, missing once with my right hand revolver. I picked up the rifle and triple-tapped each of the three critters, then grabbed the shotgun to knock down the remaining four targets. Not a bad little jail break.

Here's the damage:

J.M. Brown won the overall match and he did it shooting Duelist, too! Total Time of 189.18 seconds and 12 Rank Points. Doc McCandless edged me out in our Frontier Cartridge (Duelist) class, with a Total Time of 372.50 seconds and 102 Rank Points, which just goes to show you that a miss or two can make all the difference in how you finish the match. Nice shootin', Doc.