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SASS- The Organization


Misty Moonshine

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Jonah Hex,

I'm relatively new to the SASS game having just begun in late 2014, still working running our small business. Given that, I don't get to shoot nearly enough to 1) make me happy; 2) become competitive, especially at these larger state matches.

 

Having just attended the Texas State Championship and watching the speed rifle and speed pistol competitions, it is rather frustrating to see 10 rounds from a rifle fly out at 2.82 seconds while I felt great with a personal best of 5.99 seconds. I had not been able to shoot since late February so that showed as fumble fingers and lower speeds. Day 2 was an improvement over day 1.

You bring up some very good points about: The motto was, "if it didn't exist in the old west or if you wouldn't see John Wayne using it, it was not allowed."

Knowing that owning and running a small business is going to take up most of my time for the next 10 years or so, I'll then be in the Silver Senior category.

 

Maybe it is a good idea to separate out the "speed racer" shooters into another category. Maybe separate categories for 'modified' firearms vs. non-modified. Maybe moving targets back a bit would make it more challenging. Some of the pistol targets seem to be close enough that I could lean over the table and whack them with my pistol.

 

Adding more elements like the dynamite throw, sitting in the jail cell and having to 'break out', etc., could add to the fun and challenge. Six Gun Justice in Idaho did those things and that is a fun shoot.

 

Kind of frustrating when I had a reasonably good match, only 2 misses the first day, clean the second but would still have had to shave 120+ points off my score just to get into a buckle at the TSC.

 

I'm not begrudging those that get to shoot every day, a couple times a week or even weekly. I would love to be able to do that and know I would improve greatly. Just wondering if there might be room for some changes.

But even if things stay exactly as they are, I will still play, still costume up and still meet some of the nicest, best people out there. SASS is wonderful and I wish I would have discovered it a couple decades earlier.

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I was involved deeply from about 1996 to about 1999. I remember taking my family to End of Trail in California. There were bands, wild west acts, marksmanship demos, , comedy, horses, stage coach rides....and it attracted a lot of people who had no idea there was a shooting match going on. Seeing ads in the LA Times and press on local TV in a giant population center helped SASS I'm sure. There was a lot of growth, even in a liberal land like Los Angeles, I believe because of the visibility of being near the media capitol and a huge population base. It was great marketing.

It seems that the move to New Mexico might not have been a strategic move in hindsight as t is not easy to get to from many parts of the country (no direct flights) and not a place where local news will influence national news....maybe I am wrong. Maybe moving End of Trail every year and keeping the "wild west show aspect" would do SASS a lot of good. Imagine End of Trail in Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville, New York, Chicago (plenty of shooting going on there), Denver, Branson, etc. It would be getting more exposure nationally, drawing more people into the local clubs and could be great for business and the sport.

 

As for the old days of shooting. The stages, as Jonah Hex mentioned, were based on fun. We had moving targets, people in ore carts being pushed down a bay shooting from the moving cart, shooting from a moving boat...in the desert, shooting from a moving dime pony, movement between targets with stick ponies, shooting a bow and arrow, a close rifle target was 60 feet, a distant one might be 120 feet. I think that the targets got closer because End of Trial and some of the local monthly matches like the Coto Cowboys were bigger than many state matches and they needed to move people through faster. Now that the clubs are smaller, maybe it is time to try the old ways again or mix it up a bit?

 

I got to shoot with some of the best in the late 90's, Island Girl, China Camp, etc. I still get to shoot with some of the fastest guys/girls around these days. The fast shooters were always the fast shooters. I believe that if targets were moved back and more "fun" added with starts and props, we would still see a lot of these same new top shooters at the top.

 

Having only shot a match a year for the last 18 years, due to family, money, life, and now returning, it is not the game I left for sure.  I for one have shifted to Wild Bunch as it is more like the old days with more interesting stages and I personally find it more fun. I just wish that more clubs were having Wild Bunch matches. 

 

I renewed my membership this year because I want to see SASS stick around. I have met some wonderful people over the years and think that the relationships made due to the organization makes it worth the meager investment. 

 

Sorry for being long winded.

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