October – Empty Saddles In The Corral
In October a current Ocoee Ranger (Rev. Adam Jones) and a former Ocoee Ranger (C. Rider) rode into the sunset, leaving empty saddles in the old corral. Without Rev. Adam Jones, who has shot with us since before our official beginning, The October Ocoee Rangers Shoot was missing a magic spark.
How did the shoot go? Well, 6 stages were shot. T-Bone Angus wrote a nifty group of stages with flying targets, the Texas Star and other nifty stuff to shoot. And the weather was just plum terrific. The sky was true blue, just like Too Tall. Speaking of Too Tall, he placed 1st in 2 events in the Buffalo Shoot: Long Range Rifle – Rifle Cal. and Long Range Pistol. Jackson Longstreet won the .22 Cal. competition and Pleasant won the Long Range Rifle – Pistol Cal. event.
Tin Pot, In Halloween Splendor, Shooting the Targets
When all the shooting was over, Hurricane Charly was the TOP GUN. Anita Margarita was the Top Lady Shooter. Here’s how the Top 10 Shooters shook out: (1) Hurricane Charly (2) Purly (3) Widowmaker (4) Cullen Bohannon (5) Jackalope (6) Clancy O’Conall (7) Koda Joe (8) Ocoee Red (9) Happy Pappy and (10) Black Jack Lee.
Empty Saddles
Rev. Adam Jones – Sunset Cowboy
Rev. Adam Jones – Cowboy Shooter
Rev. Adam Jones (a.k.a. Albert “Bert” Jones) passed away on October 18, 2016. The Rev. had been an Ocoee Rangers shooter since before we became the Ocoee Rangers. Yep. He was there at our 1st Ocoee Rangers shoot in March 2003, and he’s been at most of them since that time. His last shoot was the Sept. 2016 Leadmine Valley Shoot-Out!
Some Cowboy Shooters are large in physical stature, and some are petite. But petite doesn’t mean small. Rev. Adam Jones was a petite cowboy in physical size, but he was a giant in his character, personality, sense of humor and his influence on others by quiet example. He was the conscience of Posse 2, maybe the conscience of the Ocoee Rangers.
Before each shoot, Ocoee Red usually asked the Rev. to ask the blessing. Some of us jokingly said that Horseshoe John was responsible for setting up the range before each shoot, T-Bone Angus was responsible for writing the scenarios to be shot, and the Rev. Adam Jones was responsible for the weather. At 1 shoot several years ago, we gathered to shoot. It was a really dry summer, but it looked like rain in the pre-shoot meeting, and rain was forecast. Ocoee Red asked the Rev. to ask the blessing. The Rev. said something like this:
“Lord, it’s been a dry summer, and we really need the rain, but if you could hold off until we finish shooting, we’d sure appreciate it. If you can’t, then we’re thankful for what you do for us.”
It looked rainy all day, but it didn’t rain while we were shooting. When we were putting up the targets, it rained.
At the September 2016 shoot, the Rev. was making the long walk from stage 5 down to stage 1 with Mesquite Millie. It was hot, and his health hadn’t been good for some time. Millie asked him how he was doing. He told her that he had visited 1 of his friends whose health was bad and he was in a wheel chair. The Rev. said that made him determined to shoot all that he could before he couldn’t shoot any more. That was his last shoot.
Good bye Rev. Adam Jones. You were a swell Cowboy and an inspiration to us. We’ll miss you.
C. Rider …. Rides Away
Sunflower and C. Rider
On Oct. 4, 2016, C. Rider (a.k.a. Don Crider), passed on. He hasn’t shot with us for several years. But in our early days, he and his better half, Sunflower (a.k.a. Linda), shot with us at the Cleveland Range. He started shooting with us before we became the Ocoee Rangers and continued after we became who we are now. C. Rider was 1 of the 54 shooters who participated in our very 1st Ocoee Rangers shoot in March, 2003. Following that, in November, he shot a No Misses Match. That was back in the days when it was much harder to do than it is now.
C. Rider was a quiet cowboy, looked dignified, but had a ready smile. In the photo above, he’s shown with Sunflower.
Other than Sunflower, C. Rider’s closest compadre on the range was probably Limp Along Charlie. They’d been hands on the same spread. Nope, not a cattle ranch: a railroad.
So long, C. Rider. We were privileged to have known you.
October Shoot Results ….
Top Gun – Hurricane Charly … Top Lady Shooter – Anita Margarita
Lady Buckaroo: (1) Half Cocked Kaylee (2) Long Shot Layla
Cowboy: (1) Hurricane Charly
Wrangler: (1) Polecat Carl (2) Jackson Longstreet (3) Barkeep Casey
Lady 49er: (1) Lulu McGoo (2) Wichita Filly (3) Miss Kitty Kat
Lady Sr: (1) Garnet Gal
Senior: (1) Happy Pappy (2) Dirtwater Fox (3) Montana Colt
Lady Silver Sr.: (1) Two Step Net
Silver Sr.: (1) Ocoee Red
Elder Statesman: (1) Purly (2) Tin Pot (3) Bad Eye Tom
Cattle Baron: (1) Tabasco J.O.T. (2) Buckboard Jim
Grand Patron: (1) Linc
B-Western: (1) Black Jack Lee (2) T-Bone Angus
Classic Cowboy: (1) Wichita Colt (2) Saddle Burr Jack
Duelist: (1) Cullen Bohannon
Sr. Duelist: (1) Scrub Oak Willie (2) Ranger Roger
Elder Statesman Duelist: (1) Horseshoe John (2) Shenandoah Will
Frontier Cart. Duelist: (1) El Paso Slim (2) Smokin’ Dave
Silver Sr. Double Duelist: (1) Sudden Sam (2) Steely I. Justice
Lady Gunfighter: (1) Anita Margarita (2) Appalucy (3) Mrs. Pleasant
Gunfighter: (1) Widowmaker (2) Clancy O’Conall (3) Koda Joe
Sr. Gunfighter: (1) Yankee Dutchman (2) Keystone (3) Mongo
Silver Sr. Gunfighter: (1) Tenn Critr (2) Tenn Smoke
Frontier Cart. Gunfighter: (1) Jackalope (2) Judge’m All
Outlaw: (1) Marshal Too Tall (2) Curly Bill (3) Badlands Beck
Entries (RSS)