Volume 1, Issue No. 7                                           (Web Edition)                                          September  2003

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IT RAINED ON THE COWBOYS & COWGIRLS!  ALL 56 OF ‘EM!

     The September shoot was interesting.  A lot of things happened.  We had 56 shooters, and about a dozen observers.  Unfortunately, Jack Rabbit Bob was one of the observers.  He was injured in a vehicle accident and was unable to shoot.  But Flossie defended the family shootin’ honor and came in 2nd in the cowgirl competition. Chickamauga Clint’s dad, Blind Boy, shot his 1st match as a cowboy shooter and SASS member.  (In the movie THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, with Sharon Stone & Gene Hackman, one of the characters is identified as the Blind Boy. So, enter Blind Boy to the Ocoee Rangers)  2 Dogs Runin’ shot her 2nd match with us, this time dressed as a cowgirl:  last time, she was an injun.  Tennessee Jake shot his 1st ever Perfect Match, without missing any targets.  When he fired his last shot and hit his last target, he turned to Deadman and said, “How long have I been doin’ this?  Since 1998?  This is my 1st.” Then he chuckled and said, “It’s about time.”  Double Eagle and Cruel Hand Luke also shot a Perfect Match: both have done so before.

     We learned that the Rev. Adam Jones is an influential sky pilot and cowboy.  When he was registering to shoot, Deadman made a wise crack, as usual, and told the Rev to include in his pre-shoot prayer to ask to have the rain hold off until at least 3:00 pm.  Well, it didn’t rain until 3:00 pm, and then it came down in buckets.  As luck would have it, Wacky Jack had shot four clean stages and was shooting number five when the rain came down at its hardest.  In the darkness and rain, he managed to miss 4 shots on  

that last stage.  He said, “I thought I had me a clean match, 

Tennessee Jake Shoots Perfect Match

ACTION ON THE RANGE

Cactus Red defends his cowgirl pardner as T-Bone times Red Neckerson (L) and Big (R) look on. 

L-R: Calibre .45 & the Kenesaw Kid

Thanks to the following:

Range Set-Up Volunteers

Horseshoe John – Mrs. Limp Along Charlie – Limp Along Charlie

Double Eagle – Linc

Posse Leaders

Author of Scenarios

T-Bone Angus

Buffalo Shoot Honcho

Marshal Too Tall

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

Always keep your eye protection on when you’re on or near the range.

SHOOT RESULTS

Traditional

Duelist

Cruel Hand Luke

Horseshoe John

Ocoee Red

Cactus Red

Double Eagle

Owlhoot Hardin

Modern

Black Powder

Limp Along Charlie

Catoosa Kid

Tarheel

T-Bone Anugs

Awful Close

Cowgirl

Senior

Summer Dove

Tabasco JOT

Flossie

Kenesaw Kid

Dixie Land Delite

Calibre .45

Classic Cowboy

Buffalo Shoot

Shadrack Jones

Unpleasant

James Flynn

Challenged

Gunfighter

C. Rider

     Marshal Too Tall will conduct a .22 cal. cowboy rifle side shoot during the Buffalo shoot at the October match.  Targets will be at 25 yards.  Legal rifles are open sight cowboy .22 cal. rifles (lever action, single shoot cowboy style, etc.).  No .22 magnums or other 22 stuff allowed.  Marshal Too Tall said that if you ain’t got a cowboy .22 rifle, bring some .22 ammo and shoot another feller’s gun.

Newletter Editors:  Deadman & Mesquite Millie                  Website Editor:  Tennessee Justice

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Volume 1, Issue No. 7                                           (Web Edition)                                         September  2003

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TOP TEN SHOOTERS

Jaybird Daniel

OCOEE RANGER BADGES

     Have you noticed the new Ocoee Ranger badges that several of us have been wearing?  Remember, the base cost of the badge now is $52.  In January 2004, the badge will cost $58.50. So if you want one or you want to put one on your Christmas or birthday list, contact, or have the gift giver contact Tri.  His contact info is listed elsewhere in this newsletter.  A couple of cowboys

cowboys were very instrumental in the selection of the badge design.  Tri took the lead in locating badges from which to select and then put our design on the badge.  Horseshoe John also contributed.  Each time the selection gang got together to look at possibilities and talk about the badge, Horseshoe John pointed out, “I want a shiny one.”  And we got a shiny one.  It looks good and is very well made, and it would look great on your shirt, vest or blouse – depending on whether you’re a cowboy or cowgirl.

OCOEE RANGERS EXCEL AT TENNESSEE STATE COWBOY CHAMPIONSHIP SHOOT

Several of our cowboys and one lone cowgirl shot in the Wartrace Regulators Reckoning / Tennessee State Cowboy Championship Shoot in September.

December 6th/Christmas Shoot & Event

Ocoee Red has confirmed that the BelAire Grill in Cleveland will be the site of our after-shoot lunch and family Christmas event on December 6.  We’ll shoot 3 (maybe 4) stages and then saddle up and journey over to the BelAire Grill and chow down.  Then we’ll present our first ever Ocoee Ranger Annual Awards. 

THE COOK SAYS “GOOD BYE”

SHOOT THROUGH PASSES FOR OCOEE RANGERS SHOOTS

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Volume 1, Issue No. 7                                           (Web Edition)                                           September 2003

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The reel West, the real West and the West of our imagination

     Now I now what you’re sayin’. There ain’t no way that Rock Hudson was a silver screen cowboy. But you’d be wrong.  He was in several Westerns.  He was never very convincing as a Western character, but he made Western movies.  Shucks, he even made one with John Wayne, The Undefeated.  He also made The Last Sunset, with Kirk Douglas.  Kirk was very good.  Rock was there, just like the horses and the rocks , and other stuff.  But most ironic of all, when Hollywood

Rock Hudson

made a bio-picture, The Lawless Breed, about Texas

gunman John Wesley Hardin, they picked… Rock Hudson to play Wes Hardin.  Yeah.  That’s what was done.  Wes Hardin was one of the most proficient characters with a Colt pistol of early Western history.  How natural was Rock with a pistol and gunbelt?  Well, if there had been a carpenter’s hammer in the holster instead of a Colt revolver, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the difference.  But then, any Western movie is better than no Western movie.

     Do you remember when you first started Cowboy Action Shooting?  If you do, you probably recognize that you’ve changed a bit.  Cruel Hand Luke is no exception to that rule.  When you see him shoot in a match now, he’s fast, accurate, very competitive and he wears his guns and his cowboy duds like he knows what he’s doin’.  But was he always like that?  Let’s turn the clock back to February 2000.  The place is up on the mountain going toward the Sequatchie Valley.  Our regular

shootin’ range wasn’t available that Saturday.  So a

Cruel Hand Luke – 2003

herd of us cowboys went out and had a shoot at a temporary, unimproved location.  It was cold, rainy, and we only shot 2 or 3 stages.  There was this youngster who came along with us.  He was just gettin’ into the cowboy shootin’ game.  You should’ve seen him.  He was enthusiastic, and you could tell that he was serious about the game because he was shootin’ a Winchester ’73.  That was back in the days when most of us were shootin’ ’92 Winchesters and Marlin cowboys.  Here was this young feller shooting a  

“73 Winchester.  Of course that wasn’t the only thing that made him different.  He was wearing a humongous, colorful sombrero that made him look like a peacock.Flip the clock forward to today.  Cruel Hand Luke still sometimes struts like a peacock.  But he’s earned it.  He’s the most consistently accurate, fast and winning cowboy amongst the Ocoee Rangers. He has the interest and coordination to be a good shooter, and the youth to 

Cruel Hand Luke – February 2000

lead the SASS cowboy shooters of tomorrow. 

John Wesley Hardin

     John Wesley Hardin was probably the deadliest gunman of the Old West era.  During his violent life, he is said to have killed more than 20 men.  That’s sorta strange for a preachers’ son: his father was a circuit riding Methodist minister.  Wes began his rip snortin’ career as a shootist in Texas in his early teens, during the reconstruction era following the War of Northern Aggression.  The Rangers were replaced by a state police force and the imposed government managed to alienate itself with much of the Texas populace.  Many officials and troops were black, and that further angered many of the Confederate citizenry.  It’s said

John Wesley Hardin

that Wes shot a black soldier because Yankee soldiers had

Hasta la vista, amigos.

Newletter Editors:  Deadman & Mesquite Millie                  Website Editor:  Tennessee Justice

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Volume 1, Issue No. 6                                           (Web Edition)                                               August  2003

Page 1

A LOT OF COWBOYS & COWGIRLS SHOT AUGUST OCOEE RANGERS SHOOT-OUT

     By afternoon’s end, it was hotter than…well, the Rev. Adam Jones would have said it was real hot.  So, that’s good enough for me.  How could you tell it was hot?  Well, the Rev had his Derby hat pushed back on his head to cool his forehead, and he was minus his coat.  And the shootin’ was hot, too.  Cool Waters was the Top Gun of the day, although the tie-breaking measurement (total time) had to be used between he and Dustin Clays, who finished 2nd. Four cowgirls competed with the cowboys. And… Drum roll!  Chickamauga Clint shot his first Perfect Match.  

He didn’t miss a single target.  That’s not bad, considering he had to hit two flying charcoal briquettes with his shotgun.

Chickamauga Clint Shoots Perfect Match

     It’s sort of ironic that T-Bone wrote his scenarios with two Ocoee Rangers in mind.  Ocoee Red had said that he would like some stages with movement in them, and T-Bone wanted to honor Tennessee Jake by using his alias in a stage.  What happened? Both Ocoee Red and Tennessee Jake had to miss the shoot.  Oh well, the thought was there. 

THERE BE COWGIRLS ON THE RANGE

L – R:  Dixie Land Delite & Summer Dove

L – R:  Two Dogs Runnin’ & Flossie

Daughter & Mother

Thanks to the following:

Range Set-Up Volunteers

Horseshoe John – Limp Along Charlie – Linc – Double Eagle

Posse Leaders

Author of Scenarios

T-Bone Angus – Drinking Water – Tri – Tellico

Buffalo Shoot Honchos

Marshal Too Tall – Tri

CAUTION

Please keep your eye protection on when you’re on the range…even during lunch.  The Rev. Adam Jones, Col. Allison & their shootin’ pardners were eating lunch near the target shack.  Someone (not a cowboy shooter) was using one of the rifle ranges and a piece of shrapnel from the rifle range came very close to them.  So…always protect your eyes.  Keep you glasses on anytime you’re on the range.

SHOOT RESULTS

Traditional

Duelist

Cool Waters

Horseshoe John

Dustin Clays

Owlhoot Hardin

Diamondback Dennis

Cactus Red

Modern

Black Powder

Jack Rabbit Bob

Catoosa Kid

Limp Along Charlie

T-Bone Anugs

Sundance McNeyman

Cowgirl

Senior

Summer Dove

Kenesaw Kid

Dixie Land Delite

Tobasco JOT

Flossie

Outrider

Gunfighter

Buffalo Shoot

Pleasant

(Open Sight)  Tri

Keystone

(PeepSight)  Marshall Too Tall

Newletter Editors:  Deadman & Mesquite Millie                  Website Editor:  Tennessee Justice

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Volume 1, Issue No. 6                                           (Web Edition)                                                 August  2003

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TOP TEN SHOOTERS

Pleasant

THE LITTLE COWBOY RIDES AGAIN

     A firey horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty, “Giddy Up, Horsey!” The little cowboy rides again!  Do parts of this lead in sound familiar?  Well, if you’re old enough to remember the Lone Ranger programs, they should.  If you ain’t, well you just learned something you didn’t know.  Notice the trail gear this little feller’s weaing.  A cowboy hat and boots…and…he’s sittin’ tall

and proud aboard his trusty mount, Grasshopper.  Grasshopper?  Who is this future Cowboy Action Shooter and Ocoee Ranger?  Well, it’s none other than ol’ Tri.  Ain’t he somethin’?

OPEN RANGE

A NIFTY NEW WESTERN MOVIE

     There’s an excellent, new Western movie in the theaters now.  It has everything a Western needs: terrific outdoor scenery, plenty of action, good guys, bad guys, period correct guns, a realistic looking town site, a touch of romance, and an attractive leading lady.  (Old

Iron Pants, Swampy and 

Kevin Costner & Robert Duval in “OPEN RANGE”

GUNPOWDER CREEK REGULATORS HOLD BENEFIT SHOOT 3RD SAT IN SEPT

Howdy,  

Horsetrader, the president of the Gunpowder Creek Regulators in Lenoir, NC has invited us to a benefit shoot they are having for one of their members on September 20th. Their compadre, Parker Shotgun, is recovering from lung cancer and three brain tumors and needs help.  They’re   

Ocoee Red

going to shoot an eight stage-four posse shoot.  The shoot

Here are the directions to their range, if you’re interested in going: 

Horsetrader’s email address is  murf@twave.net 

Thanks, Ocoee Red

December/Christmas Shoot & Event

Dont forget – our next Ocoee Rangers’ shoot on September 27th .  The cook will be there. Hamburgers, hotdogs, the trimmin’s and soft drinks and water are available at a very reasonable price.

SHOOT THROUGH PASSES FOR OCOEE RANGERS SHOOTS

Remember:

3. In a year, you only get to play cowboy or cowgirl and shoot 12 times, unless you visit another group. So take advantage of your opportunity to shoot as an Ocoee Ranger.

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Volume 1, Issue No. 6                                           (Web Edition)                                                 August 2003

Page 3

The reel West, the real West and the West of our imagination

     Duncan Renaldo was a movie actor of the 40’s and 50’s, but he became known and remembered not for his many movie roles, but for one movie character that he also portrayed on TV:  The Cisco Kid.  As the Cisco Kid, Duncan brought dash, adventure and a style to the screen.  As a Mexican cowboy, he was not a comic figure.  He was fast with a pistol, commanded respect because of his courage and presence, and he always got the bad guys.  Oh sure, other actors had played the Cisco Kid before Duncan assumed the role, and a few years ago, another feller tried his hand at portraying Cisco.  But none of them fit the role like Duncan. He was the Cisco Kid. Shucks, this ol’ word 

Duncan Renaldo as the Cisco Kid

slinger even saw Duncan in person decked out as the

Cisco Kid.  That was in the old Western town of Knoxville, TN more years ago than it’s fun to remember.  Cisco, that’s who he was to me back then, gave me an 8 X 10 photo of himself in costume and on his horse, Diablo.  Yeah, Diablo was with him when I saw him at Cas Walker’s Super Market in what is now North Knoxville.

     It’s funny that the Cisco Kid’s lead in identified him as “O. Henry’s famous Robin Hood of the Old West”.  If you read O. Henry’s short story “The Caballero’s Way”, you’ll find that his Cisco Kid isn’t Mexican and isn’t a good guy.  But who cares. Doesn’t the name “the Cisco Kid” have a ring to it?  And if you saw Duncan Renaldo as the Cisco Kid, and you were a kid when you saw him, you wouldn’t doubt that he was the Cisco Kid, and the Cisco Kid was a good guy.  Shucks, he still is. 

     Deadfoot has been a fixture, or maybe a character, at southeast Tennessee Cowboy Action Shoots since 1998. He shot with some of us at Guns & Stuff and then migrated to Cleveland and continued riding the cowboy shooting range. When selecting an alias, he chose Deadfoot. Asked why he selected that name, he once laughed and said, “Well, it was either that or 9 toed Steve.” He chose the better name, don’t you think?  During his cowboy shootin’ days, he’s protrayed pistoleros

in black, Buffalo Bill in a blond wig and wide

Deadfoot

brimmed hat, a Doc Holiday that looked like a Mississippi River Boat gambler, and other characters.  But he always had fun and he’s always been fun to shoot with.  In May, 2003, Deadfoot showed up wearing a big, elaborately designed Mexican sombrero that reminded one of the Cisco Kid, if one was either old enough to remember the Cisco Kid from the 50’s…or subscribes to the Western Channel on Cable TV.  In any event, whoever he shows up as, Deadfoot can be counted on to be a good shootin’ compadre and to make a lot of smoke:  he shoots black powder.

Tiburcio Vasquez

     Tiburcio Vasquez was a real life Mexican bandit and desperado in old California.  Born in 1835, in Monterey, CA, Tiburcio learned to read, write, steal horses, commit robberies, and lead other fellers committing similar acts.  He served time in prison more than once, but still continued his wild life style.  He was friendly, if he wasn’t robbing or shooting you or stealing your horse, and the lady’s loved him. In fact that’s how the law finally closed in on and captured him.  He was being amorous with the wife of one of his henchmen, and the irate feller turned himself in to the law and 

Tuburcio Vasquez

made a deal to turn Tiburcio in and to testify against him. 

Vaya con dios, amigos.

Newletter Editors:  Deadman & Mesquite Millie                  Website Editor:  Tennessee Justice

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When ties occur in the overall score (overall score = the sum of the rank scores), the overall time is used to break the tie in assigning the overall rank.  At the July Shoot, Owlhoot Hardin & Tennessee Tombstone tied in both the overall score and overall time.  Therefore, they tied at rank 36.  We skipped rank 37 because of the tie, and the next shooter was ranked 38.  There were several other ties in overall score and overall time was used to break the ties.