Who was the first stranger you met at a SASS shoot?

[Mack Hacker, #60477]

Do you remember the first shooter you ever met at a SASS event; not someone who invited you or you came with. Just a total stranger.

 

I remember getting out of my truck and starting to pull gear out when I heard a voice behind me saying, "You boys are new aren't you." I turned around to see a bug guy sitting in a car with the driver's door open, lacing up a pair of cowboy boots that had Converse All Star lowers.

 

Yep, my initial impression of SASS was from Gunzilla and I am still here 11 years later.

 

I was reminded of this when I took a new shooter with me to last month's shoot at LSFSC. As we were unpacking our gear, there was a voice behind us(a lot sweeter than Gunzilla's) asking; "Do you guys have lots of water? I have extra.)

 

Steve got his first impression of what a SASS shooter looked like from Rocky Meadows.

 

I think I deserve a do-over.

[Anvil Al #59168]

_{That's funny.}

 

_{Mine was Gunzilla also. Heard about the Regional at BuckCreek.}

 

_{So I looked up how to get there and drove over. Parked. Walked around the corner and}

_{BAM. There is Gunzilla on Stains.}

 

_{Should have turned around right there.}

 

_{But went on. Walked over to where the shooting was going on. And see Silver Sam running a stage}

_{in boots, hat and red long johns.}

 

_{It was all down hill from there.}

 

 

_{Don't remember the first ones I talked with.}

_{Sure it was the people at the Texas Ten Horns.}

[Sidekick]

If the first person that all new shooters met was as good looking as Rocky there would be a million shooters in SASS.

[Smoken D]

J-Bar back in 2001 He's always been a great pard!

[Bart Solo]

It is just amazing I have met a lot of people for the first time just about every week, but I never met a stranger at a SASS event.

[Count Sandor, SASS #74075]

Mine was Trader Dave, who was the TG of the Illowa Irregulars. He became my mentor, introduced me to the Dark Side, and brought me along to eventually take over the jobs of TG and Match Director for our annual. He did not look anything like Rocky!

 

Unfortunately, Dave has had to stand down from shooting due to some health concerns. Both he and his wife, Ragin' Raejean, are very much missed around these parts.

 

CS

[Blackey Cole]

At a sass sponsored shoot or a cowboy action shoot the former was either Irish thunder or rattler john the latter was long islander.

[Rance - SASS # 54090]

Strolled into a match that I'd only been there with a cowpoke friend of mine once..

He had introduced me to SASS probably back in 2003

It was over at the Shady Creek Shootists... in Little York, IL.

 

I was a complete stranger to everybody... Nobody new me from a load of hay..

A lady named Ragin' Rajean walked up and said Howdy Cowboy!! New here??

Told her yep.. and she welcomed me and we visited a little..

I've held her in the highest esteem every since..

Like Count Sandor commented.. she was the wife of Trader Dave..

They don't shoot any longer..

She shot a little Spur Marlin and man could she make it sing..

Loved to watch her shoot it..

 

Rance

Thinkin' I still think of that day quite often..

My first friend in SASS

[Don Coyote, SASS #63736]

Wow, excellent topic. We were introduced to CAS by Early Times, Squeaky's step-dad from Yuma in 2004. Bought our 1st pistols from him in Jan. 2005 & the 2nd set too, a month later. Bought a coupla' Marlin '94 carbines at Big 5 ($319 then, worth 2 xs that now) and went to practicing out in the desert on targets we made. Joined SASS in Feb 2005 but, other then going to watch, didn't shoot any matches...just weren't "ready". Then on the 1st Fri in April, we went to the Fri. nite set-up and mini-match at the Rio Solado Cowboys in Mesa, AZ. As we got out of the truck, a tall dude with long grey hair & a beard came up & said something like, "Can I help you folks?" Told him we were new and wanted to try shooting the mini-match. After helping set up, we shot our 1st CAS stages under the lights that evening...scared to death & with an extreme adrenalin rush. When we left that night, the tall guy asked if we were coming back for the Sat. match but we decided not to. We shot our 1st 8 stage match a month later at Rio Solado. The tall, grey haired dude was......PECOS CLYDE!! Now we all live in the Verde Valley, and Pecos & Silver Heart are very close friends, Clyde is our shooting mentor/coach, & we're all a part of the AZ Yavapai Rangers, home of Verde Valley Range Wars, our annual in Sept. With PC & SH, Johnny & Whisperi' Meadows, Sass Kicker, Kirk & Cody James, and a host of other shooter friends, we are in a SASS shooter's heaven! But we'll NEVER forget that 1st time and meeting that "tall guy with the long grey hair" who could shoot so fast!!!

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

Met Candee Kid at a NJ shoot in the '90s. He moved to AZ 8 or 9 years ago and we still shoot in AZ. Lots of folks came and went in the intervening 20 or so years, but the Kid is still around.

[Hurricane Deck 100366]

We showed up at a shoot on a cold, overcast, rainy morning after figuring out where our local shoot was. We didn't know a single person.

 

Badly Bent was the name of the cowboy that walked up and shook my hand for the first time. fantastic gentleman that's been a great source for information and guidance ever since. truthfully though, we've never met a stranger at a cowboy shoot and no "city slicker" has ever been able to watch a match without at least a couple of pards approaching them to make them feel welcome.

 

It was a very different and pleasant experience compared to the other shooting sports we were considering getting involved with. You folks are why my family is still shooting with SASS. The guns are fun, the costumes can be great and competition keeps us on our toes, but the folks keep us coming back. Make no mistake, every SASS shooter is an ambassador whether you like it or not. that cowboy costume you're wearin' assures it!

[Yul Lose]

Laylow Kerley up at The Cowboys in Norco, Ca. If it weren't for him I probably wouldn't of shot a second match. He left us way to soon.

[Nasty Newt # 7365]

His name was Four Eyes, over at 5 Dogs north of Bakersfield, in 1995. I had called the guy who was the club contact, and he said, something like, "You bet, come on over. Bring some 45 Colt and some shotguns shells, and I'll fix you up with guns." I went, and he didn't show.

 

Four Eyes loaned me a rig, a Blackhawk, and a Trapper, and sold me a box of 44 Specials. That was about all I needed to shoot four stages, as it was mostly a one-pistol game in those days, and 5- or 6-round rifle stages weren't uncommon. I think I bummed a round or two for stage 4. Several guys let me use their shotguns.

 

Four Eyes was the man for me. If not for him, I might have gone home thinking, "Well, so much for this BS I've been reading in the Cowboy Chronicle." But because of him, I'm still at it and I've been loaning people guns the whole time.

[Hoss]

Haven't met anybody stranger than me.....well except for Jim No Horse.....

 

3 years ago I went to a couple if matches, talked to lots of folks. Bought my guns from TG Brushy Creek Bill. Went to my first shoot, in the parking lot, heard somebody holler, "Them are some fine looking pistololas" turned to see Verdadero Dan, whom I now travel with quite a bit, and consider my best friend (next to Belle Ringer of course). I've met literally hundreds of people in the 3 years I've been involved with CAS. Never been around a finer bunch of folks. And thanks to the wire, I bet there is not a state in the union that I don't know somebody I could call on if I broke down or needed something and was in their neighborhood.

 

Come for the shooting, stay for the people!

[Tom Bullweed]

I visited a shoot near me and got thee as everyone was packing up. A cowboy that I shot with today asked about my interest in CAS and knowledge of the hardware. He got his guns and bucket of .38 ammo out and set the hook.

I am not sure today if he did me a favor or not, but I enjoy everything about SASS.

[Griff]

Hipshot. He either loaned or got someone else to loan me a mdl 92 as my .30-30 mdl 94 wasn't legal any longer. This was a LONG time ago.

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

wow, that was 14 yrs ago..... Split rail maybe,,,,, or Dad and Missus Dad,,,, Kentuckian,,,,,, wow.......

[Tyrel Cody]

It was either Willie McCoy, a fine gunsmith who don't shoot any more, or Blackwater.

[Spades Hanlin SASS#66204]

Geriatric Kid now 78 yrs young, I found out he only lived about 10 mins from me and I've shot at his house on and off for yrs now.. He has helped me with so many things SASS I can't even list them all.

 

He has become my best CAS friend, I have several, but he is like a second father..

 

Spades H.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

Tbone Dooley! Our first match out at Tin Star.

Great memories!!!

[Singin' Sue 71615]

Actually...I was wrong! It was Hawkshaw Fred.

We pulled in after midnight, and that morning, Brodie Lane stepped out of the trailer....and I heard whistles comeing from a near by trailer. I just poked my head out and yelled "SHE'S 14!!!!"

She's 21 and married now, but Fred and Brodie and I still laugh at that!!! ( at 14 she looked 21!)

[Oklahomabound]

Lawman Man Mark of the North Alabama Regulators a long time ago in a universe far, far, away... ....and shortly after that wuz Sawyer...

[Matthew Duncan]

The year was 1999.

 

Son and I drove 45 minutes in a snow storm just to see what SASS was all about.

 

Midnite Desperado introduced us to the Cutter's Raiders including his better half Thorny Rose.

 

Took us (me) two years to get our gear together.

 

Never a doubt who earned our loyalty.

 

Thank you Midnite!

[Yusta B.]

Johnny Shiloh, Firelands Peacemakers, 2004. I showed up with a pair of Vaqueros & he loaned me a '92 & SxS for my first ever match. He got me through it with more patience than I deserved. I still shake when I think about it.

[Hans Christian]

Gosh, there was so many....

 

The fellow that really stood out was Johnny Sharpknife. I did not have a cart yet and he graciously offered two open spots on his cart for my rifle and shotgun.

 

We don't cross paths as much as I would like, but we have become good pards.

[Sleepy Floyd]

I was surrounded by 3. BarbWire, Dusty Buckboard and Augustus Goodnight @ Cowtown. The following weekend I met God Awful, Champ and Cactus Wen @ACSA

 

S. Floyd

[Noz]

The late Saddle Up Sam.

[Grizzly Dave]

One Saturday morning I had planned to going to, and shooting an IDPA match (my first, I was looking for a shooting sport), but I wasn't feeling up to it when the alarm went off, so I went back to sleep. When I got up I remembered that there was a cowboy match at a range much closer, and while I didn't think I'd be at all interested in the 'whole dress up thing' I went to check it out.

 

The Coyote Gulch Cowboys welcomed me, made me feel at home, and even put me to work which made me feel a part of things. The first time or two they offered to loan me guns and give me ammo to try a stage I declined, I was just there to watch, and at the time ammo was scarce. Well, I finally gave in and tried a couple of stages, but just rifle and pistols, I had little experience with shotguns so chose not to 'embarrass' myself.

 

Among those that welcomed me that day were

Diamond Curly, Ten and Eight, Scrags, Kid Canyon, Jinglebob Gerri, Badger, and a score of others.

 

I hit more than I missed and I was hooked. A month or two later another club was having a special 5th Saturday match, where an adult 22 category was offered. I had pistols and rifle to do that, so went out. G W Ryder not only loaned me his shotgun for the match, but gave me shells to feed it as what I had taken wasn't suitable. He also mentored me through my first full match. That day I had only one miss. It's done down hill from there, but I'm having a ball!

[Blackwater 53393]

The first person I met was Sassy Laura at Wartrace. I had noticed S.A.S.S. literature at a gun show which was offered top me by a fellow named Dutch Brandenburg, (his real name). He failed to introduce himself that day, but we became good friends as the years passed. Laura is the wife of Charlie Bowdre, the owner of the Wartrace range and my original mentor when I joined the club.

 

Laura was running registration that day and this was before S.A.S.S. had aliases on computer and before you could register on line. I had applied for a number and made the old three alias selection, but had not received my paperwork, badge, and membership kit. I had never shot a S.A.S.S. match, but had dabbled in IPSC, IDPA, and another discipline or two. "You can just watch today," she replied after going over my registration form and a short conversation.

 

As she concluded and was about to dismiss me, I felt this hand on my shoulder and a voice asking, "Excuse me, Pard! How far did you travel to get here?" It was Charlie Bowdre.

 

"'Bout ninety miles," I replied, feeling a little discouraged.

 

He glared at Laura and said firmly, "He'll shoot with me today!"

 

Now Laura ain't one to be told how it is and she seemed a little put out at first, but she found another shooter who had some extra room on his cart and brusquely ushered me along for a stage or two. After a stage or two, I had just done a turn at shagging brass and had been relieved to go to the cart and get ready to load. Laura sidled up to me and after another round of telling me what to do, she kinda' grinned and said, "I'm a real pain in the butt aren't I!"

 

I glanced around and smiled, "No M'am," I said gently, "After dealing with the likes of Faith Hill and Trishia Yearwood and guys like Alan Jackson and George Straight, (most of whom are great to work with , by the way) you ain't no problem!!"

 

Before she could reply, another lady named Buxom Boo, who is nearly totally deaf and when her hearing aids are turned down, speaks rather loudly, said, "Besides!! If you make him mad, he might smack you into the next county!"

 

Laura jumped back three or four steps and gasped, "He's not violent, is he?"

 

Boo just kinda' grinned and laughed, "Well I don't know, but I don't think you want ta' find out!!"

 

We all had a great laugh at that point and now it's like we are all family. The kind of family you're glad to have around all the time!!

 

Those were the first folks I met in S.A.S.S. They're the folks whose best parts are what I try to be like!!

[Clueless Bob]

Saw a TV article which peaked my interest. Went on line and noticed a club very near me, Panhandle Cattle Company, Port St Joe, FL. Went down and was greeted by Jack Hammer(RIP), which he asked if I was there to shoot, which I was, and he guided me over to his wife, Tac Hammer, who handed me an application. I recognized name and address and after that, well in short, I was Clueless.

[Rex M Rugers #6621]

First match I ever went to everybody there was a stranger to me. It was 175 miles from my home to the only club in the state , and it had not been in existence very long. Match director was Doc Freud ; he and (if memory serves) Augustus McCandless were the first SASS members I met. That was around May-June 1995. Wasatch Desperados , Salt Lake City. Shot with that group about 16 months , then work transferred me to Four Corners area , Farmington ,NM.

 

Rex , who was originally "Hy Uinta" for a little over a year. Lived in Uintah County,Utah.

[Johnny Dollar]

The first match I attended was as an observer. I was invited by a couple people to see what it was all about. But the first person to come over that I didn't know was a fellow by the name of Gálvez.... Great guy with tons of knowledge and willing to share.

 

He came over to me and said this is a fun game.... Rules are fairly simple. The top rule is don't shoot the RO and you'll do ok.....

 

You have to know him to get his humor.

Anyway two years later and I'm still following his rule. So far I'm doing ok.

[Jess Money]

The biggest smile and the warmest welcome I have ever received was given to me by Diamond Lilly when I arrived for the first time, armed with only a camera, at Purgatory, the home of the Mississippi Peacemakers back in 2011. I felt like I had just returned from a long absence from my own family when this pretty bundle of energy came up to me, introduced herself, and said.."Welcome, friend!" I was to her, as she was to me, a total stranger! What a classy lady then...... and a wonderful friend now! How much better could a memory be than that when you're a part of this fantastic international family?

 

Thank you, Lilly, for all you do and for your continuing support.

[Jess Money]

Like Johnny Dollar said...Galvez Kid. He scared the hell out of me at my very first SASS match when he was RO. Reminded me of my first Drill Sergeant when I was in basic training at a tender age of nineteen. "Just try to hit the targets and not the RO. Take your time, Money, 'cause you ain't gonna win!" Good guy, knows his stuff and a pretty decent gunsmith to boot. Don't tell him I gave him any praise or he'll give me more grief !

[Shooting Bull]

Hmmmmm, pretty much everybody I've ever met at SASS matches has been strange. That's why I fit in so well.

 

Who first approached me to introduce me to the sport? That would be either Charming, Iona Vaquero or Daisy Mayhem.