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The Ocoee RangerPublished by the Ocoee Rangers Cowboy & Cowgirl Action Shooters Sponsored by the Cleveland Hunting Rifle & Pistol Club, Cleveland, TN. |
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Volume 3, Issue No. 1 January 2005
It Looked Like Rain – Felt Like Snow – But54 Shooters Had A Cowboy & Cowgirl Shootin’ Day |
The Weather forecast may have scared some folks away, but 54 shooters turned out and had a real good shoot. Shucks, we even had several visitors drop by to watch the action. Was it cold? Well, as the Rev. Adam Jones would say, “You bet your Derby and six-gun it was.” And it was windy. Sunflower found a partial solution to the wind. She wrapped up in 1 of the blankets that usually cover a loading or unloading table. It looked much better on her. And the warming barrel that Horseshoe John put out had folks hanging around it off and on all day.
But how did the shooting go? Well, it was fast and challenging. No one shot a clean match. Why? Well, maybe it was the cold. And maybe it was because some people shot in coats. And then, maybe it was because most shooters missed 1 or both of the running prairie chickens / rolling clay targets. Them critters were really moving fast and almost straight away. If ol’ Dustin Clays had been present, he’d have had a real challenge bustin’ them clays.
But how did the shooting go? Well, it was fast and challenging. No one shot a clean match. Why? Well, maybe it was the cold. And maybe it was because some people shot in coats. And then,
The Catoosa Kid, shooting black powder, smokes the target as Festus D. Deputy times his effort.
maybe it was because most shooters missed 1 or both of the running prairie chickens / rolling clay targets. Them critters were really moving fast and almost straight away. If ol’ Dustin Clays had been present, he’d have had a real challenge bustin’ them clays.
The Top Gun for the day was a Gunfighter, that varmint Pleasant. And the 2nd place overall shooter was Festus D. Deputy. Ocoee Red and Marshal Too Tall usually have a hot competition between the 2 of them. This time out, Ocoee Red smoked Too Tall, but Ol’ Too Tall won both categories in the Buffalo Shoot. Category winners were as follows: Last Kiss – Cowgirl; Festus D. Deputy – 49er; T-Bone Angus – Traditional; Randy Atcher – Duelist (Randy was visiting us from Indiana); Cherokee Maddog – Classic; Limp Along Charlie – Modern; Pleasant – Gunfighter; Flash LaBrew – Senior; the Catoosa Kid – Black Powder.
Shooting results are continued on page 3.
OUT ON THE RANGE
How Soon We Forget. A month ago, someone prized this tree. Then, it was then decorated and surrounded by presents. But it still had decorations out on the range, hanging clay pigeons. Cowboys and girls got bonus points for shooting pigeons off the tree. Here Hombre Sin Nombre, John Daniel, Limp Along Charlie, Horseshoe John & Bearcreek Baldy are replacing targets. Blayde Hollister looks on, while in the background Sunflower, wrapped in her blanket, C. Rider, and Deadeye Daisy wait for the decorators to finish and shooting to resume.
NO FEBRUARY OCOEE RANGER SHOOT – 2 SHOOTS IN MARCH (5TH & 26TH)
We won’t have a February shoot. The Knoxville cowboys & cowgirls are having their big Shoot Out at Pigeon Forge Feb. 24 – 26. To support them & to allow Ocoee Rangers to shoot in the Shoot Out at Pigeon Forge , we will not have a February shoot. BUT WE WILL HAVE 2 SHOOTS IN MARCH: 5TH AND 26TH. The Buffalo Shoot begins 8:00 am. Registration at 8:30 am. Posse Leader walk-through at 9:00 am. Safety meeting at 9:45 am. Shooting follows !
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The Ocoee Ranger Page 2 January, 2005
THE REEL WEST, THE REAL WEST & THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION
THE REEL WEST – TIMOTHY MCCOY 1891 – 1978
Tim McCoy led a varied and eventful life. During his life, he was an officer in the U.S. Army in WWI & WWII, a western history advisor to Hollywood movie producers, a silent and sound cowboy leading man, a Wild West Show and Circus performer and owner, and a host of a TV Western anthology series. Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Tim went west and settled on a ranch in Wyoming. Interested in the west, he became an expert on old west history and Indian lore. Then WWI occurred, and like many other Americans, he put on a uniform and went off to fight. After retiring from the Army, Lieutenant Colonel McCoy went to Hollywood to provide technical details and help in making THE COVERED WAGON, which was released by Paramount in 1923. When that project was completed, MGM hired Tim as their silent film cowboy star. He later made Western movies for Columbia, Puritan, and Monogram.
Tim McCoy
In 1935, Tim began touring and performing in Circuses, making movies in the off seasons. Then in 1937, he assembled his own Wild West Show, The ‘Tim McCoy Wild West Show’. The show folded about a month later. He lost $300,000 from that experience.
Tim went back to Hollywood, but it was tough finding staring roles. He was 40 years old, a little old for the movie public, and singing cowboys were becoming the craze. Ultimately, he teamed with Buck Jones and Raymond Hatton and made a series of Rough Rider movies for Monogram studios. By 1942, his days as a western star were over. But that was irrelevant: Uncle Sam recalled Reserve Officer Tim McCoy to serve in WWII.
After the War, Tim did guest appearances on TV, hosted a Western TV series and performed in circuses/Wild West Shows in the ‘50’s. In the 1960’s – 70’s, he was a part owner and performer in a circus/Wild West Show. He died in 1978. …. But Colonel Tim McCoy, who had portrayed “Lightning Bill Carson” in some of his movies, provided inspiration for a latter day cowboy.
Lightning McCoy
THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION –
LIGHTNING MCCOY
Lightning McCoy has been shooting since he was 11 years old, when his dad gave him a Remington Model 510 Target Master, single shot, 22 cal. “I still have it and it will still drive tacks.” But for the important stuff, he’s been a Cowboy shooter for 3 years.
Here’s how he got his alias. “1 of my boyhood hero’s was ‘’Col. Tim McCoy”, who was a real Army Col. and an Indian expert and who started in silent westerns and went on into talkies. He was one of the top western ‘B’ movie stars up until the early 1940’s. In his stories he sometimes played the character ‘’Lightning Bill Carson”. In Hollywood at the time, he
was one of if not the fastest draw-and-shoot star’s of the silver screen. They could tell by measuring the frames per second and see he was much faster then everybody else. I combined the names together into “Lightning McCoy”. It fits me, not because I’m a fast shooter but because my bullets hit everywhere – just like lightning.”
What does ol’ Lightning shoot? Here’s his answer. “I shoot 45 Cal. and love it. I shoot Vaqueros and a dream come true, a pair of real Colts to fill out my childhood dreams. I’ve been shooting Classic Cowboy for the past few months and really enjoy it. I’m not real good at it, but I hope to improve some. I turned 60 this past Dec. So I’m officially a senior. But, I don’t want to shoot in that category, because there’s too much competition from too many really good shooters. It would just make me look bad.”
Here’s what he thinks about Cowboy Action Shooting. “ I love the sport and feel so lucky having settled here in Eastern TN., in the center of so much Cowboy Action Shooting. After my retirement in a few years, I plan on traveling around and shooting wherever and whenever the opportunity arises.” …. We’re lucky to shoot with him. He’s a good cowboy.
THE REAL WEST – CHARLES GOODNIGHT (1836 – 1929)
Charles Goodnight’s life was the stuff from which legends are made. But if he were known for only 1 thing, it would probably be that he invented the Chuck Wagon. Yeah, he was a Texas Ranger, a Confederate soldier, a Comanche Indian fighter, a cattle rancher and the co-founder of the Goodnight Loving cattle trail, that ran from Belknap, Texas, to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. There were a lot of Rangers and ranchers and Indian fighters and trail founders. But there was only 1 inventor of the Chuck Wagon, and that was Charlie.
Charlie was born in 1836 in Illinois, but he moved to Texas with his family when he was 10. In the years that followed, he grew as Texas and the great Wild West grew. And then as the Wild West settled into maturity and slowed down, so did Charlie. But he remained in the cattle business for many years. During
Charles Goodnight
that time, his inventive nature continued. He bred Hereford with longhorn cattle and produced better cattle. He wasn’t alone in that, but he pioneered another cattle breed: the cattalo. Cattalo was a cross breed between a cow and a buffalo. It wasn’t a commercially successful cattle breed, but what the heck. Charlie was the first to do it. … I mean the 1st person to have it done. He obviously didn’t do it himself.
Charlie died at his then small Texas ranch in 1929. He was 93 years old.
But like many legendary western characters, Charlie didn’t stay dead and buried. Larry McMurtry used Charlie and his partner, Oliver Loving, as models for the main characters in his novel LONESOME DOVE. In that novel, Call and Gus assembled cattle and a crew and blazed a cattle trail to Montana. And Gus was wounded fighting off Sioux Indians and died and had Call to take his body back to Texas. Guess what? Charlie and Oliver assembled cattle and a crew and blazed a cattle trail to New Mexico. And on the way, Oliver was wounded fighting off Comanches and died. And he asked Charlie to take his body back to Texas for burial. And Charlie did. Does this sound familiar?
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The Ocoee Ranger page 3 January 2005
SHOOT RESULTS (continued from page 1)
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Traditional 1. T-Bone Angus 2. Fiddleback 3. Blayde Hollister |
Cowgirl 1. Last Kiss 2. Deadeye Daisy |
Modern 1. Limp Along Charlie 2. General Breckinridge 3. C. Rider |
Senior 1. Flash LaBrew 2. Sheriff Donald 3. Linc |
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49er 1. Festus D. Deputy 2. Double Eagle 3. Ocoee Red |
Gunfighter 1. Pleasant 2. Pyro 3. R.I.P. Overland |
Black Powder 1. the Catoosa Kid 2. Coffee Joe 3. Deadfoot |
Duelist 1. Randy Atcher 2. Tri 3. Horseshoe John |
Classic
1. Cherokee Maddog
2. Lightning McCoy
3. Fast Harley
OCOEE RANGER WRANGLERS – THE 1ST OF 2005
Wranglers are people who put forth extra effort in helping their posse conduct monthly shoots. We recognize the efforts of these cowboys & cowgirls by
awarding them “Wrangler” status and special certificates to salute their cowboy & cowgirl “Spirit of the Game.” Here are January Wranglers.
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John Daniel |
Cherokee Maddog |
Festus D. Deputy |
Squire Shooter |
Lightning McCoy
Tennessee Mongo
THE TOP GUN OF THE YEAR AND THE TOP 10 SHOOTERS – HOW THEY ARE DETERMINED
Have you ever wondered how the Top Gun of the Year and the Top 10 Shooters are determined? No, we don’t just eyeball it. No siree. We use arithmetic to do it. And we borrowed a page from the Rodeo folks, modifying how they determine their world champion cowboy riders. Here’s how our Top Shooters Of The Year are determined.
1. A shooter must shoot in a minimum of 5 Ocoee Ranger Shoots during the calendar year from January through November, in order to qualify to earn an award.
2. Points are awarded in each of 11 Ocoee Ranger matches in a calendar year (Jan. – Nov.), based on their standing in each shoot in which they place in the Top 10 Shooters. (i.e. 1st place earns 10 points, 2nd place earns 9 points , 10th place earns 1 point.)
3. Following the November shoot, we look at our numbers for the year, and rank the shooters by their scores. The shooter with the highest score is the Top Gun of the Year. No, it doesn’t matter who wins the most matches. It’s based on the total performance. So, a shooter who does well throughout the year can still be a contender, even if he or she hasn’t won all the marbles in monthly shoots.
IS THIS HOW THE TOP COWGIRL SHOOTER IS DETERMINED?
No. We do that a little differently. Cowgirls have to shoot in 5 Ocoee Ranger shoots from January through November. They are awarded points in monthly shoots of the basis of 3 points for placing 1st among cowgirls, 2 points for placing 2nd, and 1 point for placing 3rd.
Yes, it’s possible for a cowgirl to place in the Top 10 Shooters and to place in the cowgirl completion, using each appropriate calculation.
DO YOU USE NUMBERS TO CALCULATE WHO ARE THE MOST ACCURATE SHOOTERS FOR AWARDS?
Yes.
CAN DEADMAN COUNT WELL ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH ALL OF THIS?
No. He ain’t too smart, but Mesquite Millie looks over his shoulder and keeps him straight.
OCOEE RANGERS CONTACTS
Ocoee Red … (423) 476-5303 ocoeered@bellsouth.net … Pleasant .. (423) 476-6865 pleasant2@charter.net ..
Deadman & Mesquite Millie .. (770) 889-0934 jedalton@mindspring.com Horseshoe John .. (706) 866-5372 horseshoejohn@bellsouth.net ..
Tri .. (423) 479-4450 adkissonjc@yahoo.com … Sundance .. (423) 479-8465 JSNEYMAN@aol.com
THE OCOEE RANGER Newsletter Staff: Deadman & Mesquite Millie Website: Obadiah King
3rd Annual Shoot-Out at Pigeon Forge Feb 24th – 26th, sponsored by the Knoxville Cowboys & Cowgirls. For more information contact www.SMSSGazette.com
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