OCOEE RANGERS

SCORES & RANKING – July 24, 2004

Overall Score = The total of Rank of all stages    Overall Rank = The ranking of shooters by overall score  Overall Time = The sum of scores of stages       Misses = Total shots missed on all stages     Total Stages = Number of stages with no recorded missed shots  Red type indicates a clean match (In the event of ties in Overall Score, the tied shooter with the lowest Overall Time is ranked higher)

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Volume 2, Issue No. 7                                                                                                                                            July  2004

  71 SHOOTERS BRAVED JULY HEAT … AND HAD FUN … SOME EVEN SHOT WELL! 

Ask the Rev. Adam Jones and Carolina Gem about the July shoot, and they’ll probably tell you it was great! Why?  Well, both had stellar performances. The Rev. Adam Jones shot his 1st-ever perfect match (no misses) and placed 2nd in the Modern class.  Carolina Gem continued her roll.  For the 3rd consecutive month, she shot a perfect match, finished in the Top 10 shooters and placed 1st in the Cowgirl class.  6 other shooters shot perfect matches: Double Eagle, Horseshoe John (his 2nd consecutive perfect match), Tri, Ricochet Richard, Calibre .45, Cool Waters and Horsetrader.  Once again, Diamondback Dennis was the Top Gun, narrowly besting Cruel Hand Luke.  All in all, it was a good day.

Saturday was notable for another pleasant surprise. (No.  It had nothing to do with Pleasant the cowboy shooter.)  Saw Bones shot with us.  It had been several years since many of us had seen and shot with him.  In the early days of Cowboy Action Shooting in Southeastern TN, he was a regular shooter with many of us.  Horsetrader and his troop of soldiers were

Rev Adam Jones Shot His 1st Perfect Match

back with us.  It had been a while since they had shot with us, and Big and Badlands Beck jumped ship and rejoined us.  Someone said they’d been shanghaied.  And Fiddleback returned with a bang, placing in the Top 10 Shooters.

Out on the Range  –  Husband & Wife Cowboy Action Shooters

Wranglers were very hard to pick in July.  In fact, the posse leaders asked to be allowed to be able to nominate more than 1 person per posse for Wrangler awards next time, because there were so many close situations.  For example Tabasco JOT and Old Iron Pants narrowly missed being named Wranglers because of the 1 per posse limit.  The July Wranglers were:  Ben Shot, Sheriff Donald, Horsetrader, Tennessee Tombstone & Honest Charlie.

Speaking of Tabasco JOT, he got around quite a bit Saturday.  He conducted the pre-match side shoot, and placed 1st in that event. All in all, this cowboy helped conduct a very successful monthly shoot.

Shooting results – July

TOP GUN – Diamondback Dennis

TOP 10 SHOOTERS:  1.  Diamondback Dennis 

2.       Cruel Hand Luke  3.  Cool Waters  4.  Dustin Clays 

5.       Sunshine  Billy  6.  Ross Rutherford 

7.  Tabasco JOT  8.  Fiddleback  9.  Ocoee Red 

10.  Carolina Gem

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2                                                                                                                                     July 2004

The Reel West, The Real West & The West Of Our Imagination

The Reel West  – MAUREEN O’HARA

Think of the leading lady in a John Wayne western, and who do you think of first?  Odds are, you’ll say Maureen O’Hara.  In Rio Grande, she was the Colonel’s lady.  Wayne was the Colonel. In Big Jake and in McClintock, she was his wife. And although most of us think of her when we think of his leading lady, she only made 5 movies with him, and only these 3 were Westerns.   But she appeared in other Western movies with Jimmy Steward, The Rare Breed, and Brian Keith, The Rare Breed and Deadly Companions.  She was in a few other Westerns, one of which she was the star.

In all these roles, she had spunk, was a convincing Westerner, and looked great. With red hair, green eyes and striking figure, she looked like a Western heroine should look, and if they didn’t really look like her, then that’s another reason to enjoy the mythical West of the movies:  where the hero was heroic, the lady looked great, the good guys won and the bad guys lost.  Throw in outdoor

Maureen O’Hara & John Wayne

scenery, horses and a little gun work, and what more could you want.  Maureen O’Hara was a classy lady in all her roles, but she was great in Westerns.

Summer Dove

The West of our imagination  ….  SUMMER DOVE

Summer Dove has been a cowgirl shooter for about a year and a half.  She and her other half, Devil Dog, were visiting his brother in Ohio and went with him to a big Cowboy Shoot in Middletown. The brother shoots.  What they saw looked interesting, so when they got back to Knoxville, they looked on the internet and discovered the Knoxville Cowboys’ website.  They visited, liked the group, which is understandable, and became Cowboy Shooters.

Before getting into Cowboy Shooting, Summer Dove had shot a shotgun and a pistol once.  She’d even gone with Devil Dog dove hunting, back before he became Devil Dog.  She was his retriever.  When he shot down a bird, she’d go fetch it.  Then he hit a bird that was still fluttering around when she went to get it, as in it wasn’t dead.  It about broke her heart to see it, and she sure couldn’t kill it.  That ended her hunting career.

Being a cowgirl of spirit, she jumped into Cowgirl Shooting in Knoxville and began to learn to shoot and play the game.  Initially, she shot .45 pistols, but the recoil hurt her wrist.  She eventually had to have surgery.  So, she moved to shooting light loads in .357’s.  That was the ticket.

How did she get her alias?  Well, she said that ever since she and Devil Dog have been married, he’s called her his summer dove.  So, she became Summer Dove. 

Summer Dove says she doesn’t watch much TV as such.  There’s not much worth her time.  So, she watches cowboy and war movies on the screen.  What’s her favorite movie?  It’s a Western, of course:  Valdez Is Coming. If you haven’t seen it, give it a look.  Like Summer Dove says, it’s good.  If you haven’t met Summer Dove, say “howdy” at the next shoot. 

The Real west  …  ELIZABETH “LIBBY” CUSTER

Elizabeth Bacon was the only child of Judge Daniel and Eleanor Bacon of Monroe, Michigan. When she was 22 years old, she married Brevet Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer.  Libby, as she was called, grew up in a socially prominent family.  So when George Custer came courting, her father wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of having him as a son-in-law.  But they married and had one of the great love stories of the Real West.  Following her husband from assignment to assignment, she filled the role of officer’s lady, devoted wife and later defending widow.  She was excellent in each capacity.

As everyone knows, George Custer was killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn in June 1876.  From that day forward, Libby Custer kept his memory alive.  Through her writings and speeches, she contributed to his enduring legacy.

Elizabeth Custer

In 1885, Libby wrote her first book,  Boots and Saddles, or, Life In Dakota With General Custer.  In 1887, she wrote Tenting on the Plains.  And in 1890, she wrote her last book, Following the Guidon.  She died in New York City in 1933 at the age of 91.  In death as in life, she is at her husband’s side.  They are buried at West Point.

Today, some writers portray George Armstrong Custer as reckless and incompetent or foolish.  But he was a hero of the War of Northern Aggression, a Brigadier General and then Major General while in his early 20’s, and a leading cavalry commander of the Northern Army.  It should be noted that General Phil Sheridan held Custer in such high regard that he bought the table on which Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant signed the document that ended the Civil War, and he gave that table to Libby Custer.

EDITORS:

Newsletter – Deaman & Mesquite Millie                      Website – Obadiah King Page 3

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SPOTTERS – AN IMPORTANT JOB ON THE POSSE

T-Bone times Cactus Red as TN Tombstone and Big count misses as 2 of the Spotters

Every shooter wants an accurate count of misses.  That’s why every posse leader designates spotters to count them. Lets review the Spotter’s job.

Spotters’ undivided attention must be given to the shooter’s performance, and not be distracted by personal conversations or doing something else. Each spotter is responsible to be positioned so that he or she can see all the targets, moving as necessary to have a clear unobstructed view. They must know the shooting sequence so that they’re looking at the target to be hit as it comes up and can anticipate the bullet strike.  By having their attention on the target to be hit, they’ll be able to recognize targets shot in error or out of order and make a mental note of the procedural mistake. Seeing target movement and bullet impact, spotters can confirm a hit.

Hearing the impact confirms the hit, but it may not always occur.  Likewise there may be the sound of a hit without seeing visual target movement or bullet impact. A bullet strike anywhere on a target face, edge or top, is a hit. 

Remember, you are looking and listening for hits, but counting misses.

Any doubt goes to the shooter.

Don’t be mislead by seeing dirt being kicked up near or behind the target.  Bullet fragments will almost always produce some degree of dirt disturbance.  This is particularly true of bullets shot at an angle to the target or ones that hit an edge or top of a target.  Ricochets off of other targets or props striking the target to be shot are not hits. Ricochets off of target stands or the ground striking the target to be shot are hits.

Once the shooter is finished, immediately without discussion, hold up your fingers noting the number of misses which you counted.  Do not be swayed by the other spotters count or comments.  No discussions are needed.

Counting takes some practice and lots of concentration.  Don’t shirk your responsibility of giving the other shooters what you want, an accurate and fair count.

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JULY SHOOT RESULTS

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Volume 2, Issue No. 6                                                                                                                                          June  2004

  JUNE SHOOT — A Day of Action, Families & Enjoyment 

The June shoot was … well, it was a good one. The Rev. Adam Jones, who showed up in a new hat, said that it wouldn’t rain.  And it didn’t, even though it had rained all week.  The day began with Marshal Too Tall’s Buffalo Shoot. Too Tall won that event, both categories:  .22 cal and real rifle.  Then Tabasco JOT conducted the 1st side stage practice shoot.  22 shooters participated in that event.  Pleasant placed 1st in that shoot, followed by Diamondback Dennis and Lucky Larry.

But there were other things worth mentioning.  Carolina Gem looked real nifty in a buckskin skirt and vest and new hat. With a big smile, as usual, she said, “This is my Mule Camp outfit.  This is the first girly outfit that I’ve worn.”  And then she proceeded to shoot her 2nd consecutive perfect match (no misses), won the cowgirl competition and placed 10th overall.

Fast Harley was accompanied by a cowgirl who shot her 2nd Cowboy & Cowgirl Shooting Match and had 1 of the

Gracious Gringo & His Little Rustlers

Last Kiss

catchiest alias that has appeared on our range;  Last Kiss.  Gracious Gringo was accompanied by his gang of little rustlers, 1 of whom was very proud of her cowgirl dress.  And 3 generations of the Colonel Allison clan were participants.  Colonel Allison didn’t shoot, but he manned a loading table all day. His son, Ruckus Roy, and grandson, Slim Jim, both shot.

How’d the shooting go?  Well, the competition at the top was fast and furious. When the smoke cleared (the Catoosa Kid, Coffee Joe, Dead Beat, and Deadfoot were shooting black powder), Diamondback Dennis was the Top Gun, followed closely by Curly Bill and Ocoee Red.  5 shooters shot clean matches/no misses:  Carolina Gem, Horseshoe John, Owlhoot Hardin, Dustin Clays, and Deadman.

Out on the Range  –  Some Thorns & A Rose

the Thorns, L – R:  Ruckus Roy, Colonel Allison, Slim Jim, with other range cowboys.

the Rose: Carolina Gem shoots all the targets … all day long.

Shooting results – June

TOP GUN – Diamondback Dennis

TOP 10 SHOOTERS:  (1)  Diamondback  Dennis  (2)  Curly Bill  (3)  Ocoee Red  (4)  Dustin Clays  (5)  Cruel Hand Luke (6)   Pleasant (7)  Tabasco JOT (8)  Unpleasant  (9) Whiskey River Nelson (10)  Carolina Gem.

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The Reel West, The Real West & The West Of Our Imagination

The Reel West  – RONALD REAGAN

Ronald Reagan had an unusual career.  As a young man, he started out in radio, announcing ball games and other such work. Later, he went to Hollywood and became a movie star. During his movie career, he made war movies, a football movie about some little religious school, and others.  But …  ta-ta … he also made Western movies, and he was pretty good in them.  I know, he didn’t win an Oscar for his cowboy performances, but very few folks have ever won the little gold men for playing Western roles.  His gun work looked ok, but he could ride horses.  He did a lot of that over the years, even when he wasn’t on camera. Later, he hosted a TV series about the West.

Then one day, Ronnie (that’s what he was called) was bitten by a bug, not just an ordinary bug, a bug that he couldn’t swat and forget about.  The bug bite gave him political fever, and he entered politics.  Elected Governor of California twice, he went on to become a 2-term President of the U.S.

In his Western movies, Ronnie played good guys who got the bad guys.  That’s what cowboy heroes in Western movies are supposed to do.  He tried to do that as President.  Did he succeed?  Well, that depends on your point of view. He tried.  (We don’t talk

Ronald Reagan

Politics, pro or con, in The Ocoee Ranger.)

A friend of mine with a long career in law enforcement has taken several courses over the years in which Secret Service Agents on the Reagan and other presidential protection details were in attendance.  He asked them what they thought of this President, among others that they’d protected. Talking about Ronald Reagan, they said that they liked him and that he was friendly, very courteous and a good man.  That’s what he portrayed on the screen in his movies, a courteous, courageous, good man.

Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2004.  He was 93 years old.

The West of our imagination  ….  FESTUS DIRT DOBBER

Festus has been a Cowboy Shooter for about a year.  As with several other cowboys who shoot with the Ocoee Rangers, Shadrack Jones and Guns of Yester Year influenced him to become a cowboy shooter and an Ocoee Ranger. 

How’d he get his alias? Well, he liked the name Festus, liked it real good.  But he knew that he didn’t have a chance of getting it as an alias, unless he added something to it.  The question was, what to add.  Then he had a brainstorm.  The guys at work called him dirt dobber, because his real world name is Dobbins.  And with the crack of lightning that accompanied the brainstorm, Festus Dirt Dobber became a SASS cowboy.

What does he shoot?  What else:  .45’s.  And he’s shootin’ better and better.

Festus

Al Sieber

The Real west  …  ALBERT SIEBER

Al Sieber immigrated to the US from Germany and grew up in Pennsylvania.  But he wasn’t content to stay there.  In his lifetime, he rambled, and prospected, and soldiered, and ….. Well, to put it simply, he became the Top Scout for the Army in the Southwestern US in the Apache wars.  In fact, he was the chief of Indian scouts from 1870 to 1890.  He had a reputation.  The Indians knew that he wouldn’t lie to them.  He also had a reputation as being grouchy as heck.  The Indians said that was because he was old and crazy.  Tom Horn, who worked for him, said that it was because he had been shot, knifed and arrowed a total of 29 times and that his arthritis made him grumpy.  Wounded twice in the battle of Gettysburg, in the War of Northern Aggression, he would experience many more such tribulations in his lifetime.

It’s inconceivable that a man as adventurous as Al Sieber would die in bed, and he didn’t.  In 1907, he was supervising a crew of Apache workmen building a road and was killed in a landslide.  He was 63 years old.  It seems sorta ironic that an old warrior who had been wounded in battle so many times would be killed by having a rock fall on him. 

EDITORS:

Newsletter – Deadman & Mesquite Millie                               Website – Obadiah King

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The Ocoee Ranger page 3                                                                                                                                   June  2004

Ocoee Rangers to recognize Wranglers

Beginning with the June certificates, the Ocoee Rangers will award special recognition certificates to working Wranglers.  Now you’re probably saying, “What the heck is a working Wrangler?”  And I’m afixin’ to explain.   When cowboys in the Old West rounded up their cattle and drove them up the long cattle trails to market, they depended upon their string of cow horses to keep them on the move and in control of the herd.  And they depended upon Wranglers to look after the horses and keep them available for use.  After all, a cowboy afoot was …… well, he was just about useless.  So, the Wranglers were very important to the success of the cattle drives and the round-ups that preceded them.

It takes working Wranglers to have a successful Cowboy & Cowgirl Action Shooting Match.  If you don’t believe it, just take a minute and think about all the things that have to be done on shooting day.  Somebody has to pick up brass and count misses.  And somebody has to man the loading table and make sure that the correct number of rounds have been loaded and that pistol hammers have been lowered on empty chambers. Somebody else has to man the unloading table to be sure that all guns are clear and unloaded when they leave that table.  And somebody has to keep an accurate and legible score.  And when the last shot is fired, the targets and props have to be disassembled, removed from the range and taken to the target house for storage.  They don’t just wander down there on their own, shake hands with ol’ Horseshoe John and jump up on the storage shelf or rack.  It takes working Wranglers to do all this stuff.  And if you ain’t helping to do this, then, pardner, you ain’t doing you part to make a successful shoot, assuming you’re physically able to help.  If you ain’t physically able, that’s ok.  But if you can help, please do so.

So beginning with the June shoot, posse leaders may nominate people to receive Wrangler recognition certificates for helping conduct the match and close down the range when the shoot is over.  From the nominations, certificates will be awarded to up to 5 Wranglers. 

THE FIRST 5 OCOEE WRANGLERS

What will it take to be nominated to be a Wrangler?  To be nominated to be a Wrangler, a cowboy or cowgirl must be an active working member of the posse group, without having to be asked or told off & on all day to help.  The nominated person will be someone who uses personal initiative and actively helps throughout the day.

Can non-shooters be nominated to be a Wrangler?  Yes.  Anyone in Western costume who helps and meets the above criteria is eligible to be nominated to be a Wrangler.

Who will decide who receives the Wrangler awards?  Deadman will take input from posse leaders and if necessary discuss the information with Horseshoe John, the Range Master, and Ocoee Red, Captain of the Ocoee Rangers.  Then Wranglers will be selected to receive the special certificates.

Do your part and help at the next shoot.  Maybe you’ll be nominated to be a Wrangler.

SASS EVENT IN GATLINGBURG IN AUGUST – PLEASE REMEMBER OUR EVENT SPONSORS OF THE CHRISTMAS 2003 EVENT

If you attend the vendor portion of the SASS event to be held in Gatlinburg in August and buy cowboy/cowgirl stuff, please remember the generous sponsors who donated gifts that were awarded at our 2003 Christmas Event:

River Junction Trade Co. (River Junction has been very generous to us)  … Starline Brass, Co. … Outlaw Enterprises, Inc. (makers of The Outlaw Trail game) … Ajax Custom Grips Co. … Eagle Grips Co. …  Desperado Cowboy Bullets Co. …    Shoot Magazine … True West Magazine …  Ruger Arms, Co.  .. and don’t forget Saddlebag Bullets Co. (Cool Waters)

If you buy from any of these fine folks, please tell them that you’re an Ocoee Ranger and thank them for being a sponsor of our annual December Shoot and Family Event in 2003. Maybe they’ll help us in 2004, if we help them.

DUSTIN CLAYS – 1ST PLACE SENIOR CATEGORY AT KENTUCKY CHAMPIONSHIP AT HOOTEN HOLLER ROUNDUP II

Dustin Clays, gentleman Cowboy Shooter, shot in the Kentucky Championship Shoot at the Hooten Holler Roundup II, a 2-day shoot, the 3rd   weekend of June.  When the results were tallied, he placed 1 in the Senior category and was awarded a nifty plaque, which he was kind enough to show some of the Ocoee Rangers at our June Shoot.  

Congratulations, cowboy.

Dustin Clays

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JUNE SHOOT RESULTS

OCOEE RANGERS

SCORES & RANKING – May 22, 2004

Overall Score = The total of Rank of all stages    Overall Rank = The ranking of shooters by overall score  Overall Time = The sum of scores of stages       Misses = Total shots missed on all stages     Total Stages = Number of stages with no recorded missed shots  Red type indicates a clean match (In the event of ties in Overall Score, the tied shooter with the lowest Overall Time is ranked higher)