McCandless
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Posts posted by McCandless
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I started shooting in 1998 and joined SASS in 2000. The only reason I went to my first match is that I was invited by someone who worked in a gun store while I was buying a semi-auto. His SASS alias was "Royal Barnes". I liked the friendliness and the guns and decided to give it a go.
At that time and for a number of years after, stage stories were still read out, we did odd stuff, on the clock and off the clock. I've shot while bouncing on bed springs, lying under a wagon, started sitting on the ground behind haybales facing uprange, (guns staged facing downrange), and had to beat a dead horse before grabbing a gun. Shot "snakes" on the clock before I could engage targets, did full pistol reloads on the clock, had the target shooting order determined by the turn of a card and countless other things. Some I miss, some I'm glad they are gone.
The game evolves.
It took me until 2003 before I won my first little 3rd-place plaque. It was at Mule Camp, SE Regional. I was shooting Frontiersman, and I was shooting so poorly at that point that I certainly didn't expect anything. I believe it was Wolf Bane that took 1st place, Frontiersman. Anyway, when my name was called, the announcer said, this is why it pays to "choose your category wisely". I felt like a complete crumb, a fraud, who didn't do all I could during the match. Almost as if I had cheated my way to that little award, "by choosing wisely". (I still shoot Frontiersman to this day).
So, after I got home, I looked at it for a while and then threw it away in the trash.
I almost gave up on SASS then, but continued to go to local matches. I improved but I'll never be a "top shooter", lack of talent, lack of practice, being overweight, and just plain slow, all work against me. But, that doesn't mean I don't try my damndest during a match to do the best I'm capable of doing. Along the way, I've tried to help and encourage other shooters, fix their guns, loan them whatever they need, and watched smiling as they went on to eventually surpass me. I am grateful for all the friendships I've made along the way.
As to why SASS numbers have gone down since our "heyday" back in the 90's and early-mid 2000s. We're dying. off. I've lost so many friends. I lost my business partner. I've lost my riding partner who used to ride with me to weekly matches. I've lost the friend who sold me my first Vaqueros and built me a custom gun cart. These generations grew up with Hoppy, Roy, and Gene; who watched The Rebel, Shotgun Slade, Tales of Wells Fargo, Maverick, Sugarfoot, The Tall Man, Wyatt Earp, and hosts of others. We were steeped in TV and Movie Western lore.
What did the following generations grow up watching? Mostly trash. Now, there seems to be a resurgence of interest. Middle-aged folks who are not struggling financially are looking at things like 1883, the re-makes of westerns,, (like them or not), Red Dead Redemption, and now Red Dead Redemption II, which just had a blow-out celebration in Tombstone. SASS was there, and we have new members because of it.
The years that have passed since the 1980s and 90s to 2023 have taken a deep toll on our numbers. We're losing more all the time. I don't believe that we'll ever recruit enough to replace the numbers that were, but new members are signing on all the time, and I'm optimistic.
The most active club members, taken as a whole, have higher badge numbers. If they want the game to change to "the old way" of doing things, they'll do it. It's time to realize that the baton has passed to newer generations. SASS has a vibrant, younger, board of advisers that has replaced the Wild Bunch. I think Misty and that group are doing a great job for the advancement and success of SASS.
Look to the future for SASS to roll out advertising campaigns and new videos and social media efforts from a talented bunch of volunteer content creators. There's a heckuva lot of stuff out there on different platforms you may not even know about. I'm seeing new members at matches regularly.
Be of good cheer, the sky has not fallen.
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A photo taken at the Alabama Rangers 3rd Annual Dixie Shootout, 1996
Hawk Spivey
Cool Waters
Brazos Bill
(photos courtesy of Hawk Spivey)
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On 6/23/2021 at 12:49 PM, Jersey Kid, SASS #287 said:
Posse Photo 2001 - see who you remember
Hmmm... Back row, top left. Diamond Dick. Top row 2nd from right, San Quentin.
Front row, second from right, Marshal Harlan Wolff. Third from right, (between Bounty Hunter and Marshal Wolff), is Cajun Kid.
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CaptainLewisSteveAndersonRicochetRoyCaptainJakeCutter..thumb.jpg.b4160b3c129ece444090aafe31cebaa3.jpg)
Back in the day, Kid Cavalier, Ivory Jack McCloud (RIP), Captain Lewis, Ricochet Roy & Captain Jake Cutter.
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On 1/26/2023 at 3:07 PM, Rip Snorter said:
Read, so recycle.
Hardcopy Cowboy Chronicle 2023 free for postage. Don't know what that will cost these days. PM me and I'll get it off tomorrow.
When I finish with mine, I bring it with me and leave it in a waiting room. (I'm hanging out in waiting rooms way too much lately)... take off my address and leave it for others to read. The magazine format is better for that than the large newspaper-type ones we used to get. I kept the real early ones.
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Izzy Lost, (Ernie Nicholas - Sept. 19, 2022)
"Today we lost another Good CowBoy.
Izzy Lost alias Ernie Nicholas.
He was a good man that I always saw a smile on his face n a joke on his lips.
It's gonna be hard to fill his boots n sorely missed.
A Good Cowboy to ride the river with, n I pray that he saves a place on his posse for us all." - Alamo Kid-
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Sara Sota, SASS #33, Roz Britton
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1 hour ago, Alpo said:
And here I thought it was a kitchen utensil for slicing veggies thinly. But, the stuff comes out all mushed up when I try to push it through the strings!
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"We lost one of the old Los Vaqueros Shooters, Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, today Sept. 13, 2022. He was always fun to shoot with and a good shooter. He won the Modern category at Winter Range, back when it was a category. Ride well, old pard!" - The Butcher
withDavidW.Glenn.jpg.e24fba6df82ba89645682481223223d4.jpg)
Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, David W. Glenn
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I was saddened to hear of the sudden, unexpected passing of our friend and fellow Cowboy Action Shooter, Doug Gardner, "Carolina Shakespeare".Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife Stacey Mahan Gardner and sons, Ben Gardner and Cam Wesley.
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Seymour Lead,Lil' Dougy and Infamous Grimm
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On 8/3/2022 at 8:21 PM, Buckshot Bear said:
Devils on Horseback were high culture at an Aussie get together
Ha! I looked at the picture and thought Australia... must be it was some kind of big bug that can kill ya, wrapped in bacon...
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15 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:
Is that a large rat on his shoulder?
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Standing Stone Arms might be real but there's nothing to say that Kibe is them.
There's been a couple of scammers on here before using a gun store's name and FFL number, but money sent to the name and address the "person" provided went somewhere else, and the buyer was stuck.
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Sassy Kassy and Hangfire Hank, Top Lady and Top Men's shooters, Arizona State Championship, 1988
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11 minutes ago, Alpo said:
Yeah. I'm glad Doc got it, but I've been wondering about it ever since he posted it.
You'd have to go to YouTube and look up the group Fat Pizza. Not my "cupa tea", but then I'm old and stodgy.
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33 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:
Ok, got it. I think you'll probably need to delete the explanation
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On 3/5/2022 at 10:55 PM, Buckshot Bear said:
Yer gonna have to 'splain this'un.
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58 minutes ago, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:
You're a biscuit??
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Summer Range
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andConstableNelson.thumb.jpg.6bf891427c9d1402eb8e2e037a4b3243.jpg)
Sudden Lee (New Zealand) and Constable Nelson
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CaptainLewisSteveAndersonRicochetRoyCaptainJakeCutter..jpg.b06ab14f47f5e0a00964dda7924c7a2e.jpg)
andConstableNelson.jpg.4a6cc6de2c07d54a3af30d10e354d071.jpg)
Any one have a pistol caliber single shot rifle for me?
in SASS Wire Classifieds
Posted
I had no idea that prices had shot up that much! I bought an H&R Handi Rifle here off the Classifieds, about 15yrs ago for 145.00 delivered. If you can find one, Rossi made a nice single-shot .45 at around that time, also. It was 99.00, once upon a time. But heck, I bought a pair of .357 Vaqueros for 600. back then also. Amazing to look back and see how we shoulda stocked up!