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Where has all of the "fun stuff" gone?


Mustang Gregg

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2 hours ago, evil dogooder said:

 The stages  we remember and talk about are very rarely the fast ones.  It's the times bubba missed the easy target with a rope  or when Sally was able to shoot under a prop and beat everyone tall on the stage who had to shoot over it. Or the time at Fandango when Evil Dogooder shot the final stage of the match Outlaw style and put huge smiles on everyone's face?

   The day when all the fun/silly stuff leaves sass is the day the ideals that founded sass dies. And quite frankly I doubt the sport would survive it.

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

Its gone away because SASS Clubs are Catering to the Top Shooters .

This stuff all takes time , and the top shooters dont like that .

Just telling it The way it is .

Rooster 

Sorry, but you are wrong. The #1 reason we don't see the stuff that we did 15-20 years ago is because the majority of the shooters barely have the energy to walk back to their cars. Thats not a rip, it's a fact. The shooting population has aged. I'd crawl under a wagon or shoot from a claw foot bath tub and do it with a smile on my face. More specifically the matches here in Mi are not catering to top shooters........they are being put on by top shooters. Rockford, Hastings, Scottville, Sucker Creek, Saginaw.......all being produced by top shooters who work thier butts off for the game. Not to mention we would not have our state shoot if it were not for the group of "top shooters" that volunteered a enire week of their time to work like dogs so others can have fun. If a match was set today like we did back in the day 75% of the shooters would think they were on another planet because they never experienced it. When I started it was common to leave the club driveway at 4pm........nowadays keep anybody past 1:30 and you will get hung. Pretty sick and tired of seeing "top shooters" getting blamed for the perceived demise of the game when time and age is the biggest factor we are fighting. 

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It doesn't have to be one or the other.  I do some 10-10-4 stages and I mix in some stages that have bonus targets. I see bonus targets as being fair, you either hit them or not. The top shooters usually do a good job of hitting them because of their skill.

 

Roping, throwing knifes or tomahawk,bows and arrows and things like that I feel should be off the clock as they give a home range advantage.

 

SR

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Just my two cents

When I first started in 2007 many of the local clubs did the "fun" things.

I loved the movement involved, the challenge of manipulating odd shaped items, throwing knives, lassoes or reins, kicking down doors etc etc etc

UNTIL riding on a 55 gallon drum horse and the thing rolled sideways and I tore the meniscus in my right knee, until watching someone riding a mine cart who was too short to hit the brakes and hit the emergency stopping device (a tire hung on a rope) at near full speed and was nearly thrown out of the window at the end of the runway, until I watched someone kick a door open that someone had tied closed (for fun) and broke their ankle, until I shot from a stage coach with a three foot doorway (I am 6 foot tall) at targets so far to the left that left handed shooters could not see them let alone shoot them, until I laughed at someone struggling to get out of a bath tub and when I tried it had both pistols fall out of my holsters and I slipped and sprained my wrist to add insult to injury, until I shot while prone from under a wagon and slammed my head into the undercarriage moving from shooting position to shooting position, while the shorter persons could almost stand up under the thing, until I watched a shooter I happen to admire try to run down from the gallows miss a step and hit the gravel in a full face plant.:wacko:

Don't get me wrong, I still like carrying the gold bag from position to position, I like the funny starting lines, I like the weird sequenced sweeps. Further I like the knife throwing and roping and lassoing BUT I prefer those off the clock.

I don't think of myself as a top shooter but for what it is worth sometimes fun things make sense and sometimes they don't and as I have gotten older some of the more athletic "fun" things seem a lot less "fun"

Regards

 

:FlagAm: :FlagAm: :FlagAm:

 

Gateway Kid

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Cowboy Action Shooting is all about the action.  Great shooters do no just have "fast thumbs",  It is their transitions where they pick up speed.  Look at the difference between Winter Range and EOT.  Winter Range has targets that are set at three different distances.  Many of the targets are set at different heights.  In both shoots there is variety of multiple shots on one target and Nevada style sweeps.  There is a great deal of movement.   Regardless the champions are champions because they work hard to be champions.  If you want to better your placement in Cowboy Action Shooting, practice, become a student of the activity, learn from the best, take lessons and practice more.  If you just want to have fun, have fun.  It is a blast either way.  There is nothing out there as fun as SASS.  PS.  If you want to choke a duck, throw a knife or shoot out of the bath tub, there are clubs that still do that.  Have fun and I look forward to shooting with you.

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21 minutes ago, Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 said:

Sorry, but you are wrong. The #1 reason we don't see the stuff that we did 15-20 years ago is because the majority of the shooters barely have the energy to walk back to their cars. Thats not a rip, it's a fact. The shooting population has aged. I'd crawl under a wagon or shoot from a claw foot bath tub and do it with a smile on my face. More specifically the matches here in Mi are not catering to top shooters........they are being put on by top shooters. Rockford, Hastings, Scottville, Sucker Creek, Saginaw.......all being produced by top shooters who work thier butts off for the game. Not to mention we would not have our state shoot if it were not for the group of "top shooters" that volunteered a enire week of their time to work like dogs so others can have fun. If a match was set today like we did back in the day 75% of the shooters would think they were on another planet because they never experienced it. When I started it was common to leave the club driveway at 4pm........nowadays keep anybody past 1:30 and you will get hung. Pretty sick and tired of seeing "top shooters" getting blamed for the perceived demise of the game when time and age is the biggest factor we are fighting. 

Even if the so called fun stuff was injected back into each stage the top shooters would still be the top shooters. I can’t imagine the medical bills that would be incurred should old school become the norm. When I stepped upon the plastic milk crate to hang my cowboy hat on the antlers the milk crate broke and I came close to doing a face plant.

 

I know a top shooter that works his tail off as a match director and works the tails off of his kids and wife to make us all happy on the fourth Sunday of the month up at Norco. And he does it all with a big old smile on his face. If you don’t have fun shooting his stages you ain’t trying. I guarantee you that if he threw in a whole bunch of old school stuff at the next match he’d get lynched. Maybe occasionally something old school but not all of the time. 

 

like it or not this game we love has evolved and it will continue to evolve, if it doesn’t it probably won’t survive. Close and big is the way it’s played in a lot of places. Our sport is getting older, look around you at the next match and pick out the ones that could climb in and out of a bathtub or crawl under a wagon, shoot a rifle and then crawl to another location while dragging a dummy. Hell a lot of us have trouble remembering what to do during a stage and when to do it. When I got into this about 11 years ago I thought I was one of the young ones now I’m one of the old ones. We’re not attracting a lot of young shooters and IMHO if we slow the game down we won’t attract many at all because they think some of the stuff that we did in the old days is goofy and they’re not going to want to do it.

 

 

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I am far from a top shooter, but since I started I have worked my a** off to get from near the bottom of the scoresheet to become a consistent middle of the pack shooter, and sometimes occasionally breaking into the top three of my category. Now, I may never hit the top of the scores, but it does get kind of old to constantly see the top shooters blamed for why we don't do a lot of the fun things of the past. Some of that might be jealousy, but maybe not, but those top shooters that are being blamed put tens of thousands of rounds downrange every year in practice to get (and stay) where they are. I dare say that once they get to that level, they have to work even harder than the rest of us to stay there. Where a practice session for me might be a couple hundred rounds, they are putting five times that downrange in a session. They don't need me to stick up for them, but I think a lot of the change is due to our changing demographics, and 20 years ago, if you looked at the age and fitness level of the average competitor, it was probably a lot less gray. I would like to see more fun stuff return, as long as it is safe for all, a lot of the old stuff I have seen on videos is not realistic or safe for our customers, because in the end, the shooters that travel hundreds of miles are our customers, and we should strive to give them what they want. Most of the "big and close" matches sell out in a very short period of time, so maybe the customers have spoken.

 

And to blame a "top shooter" for why there is not fun stuff, I have a feeling that if Duece and I shot a match against each other, you could put all kinds of extra stuff in there, put pistol targets at 30 yards and rifle targets at 100 yards, and he would still not have to break a sweat beating me. 

 

I ranted enough. Thanks for your patience with this average shooter

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50 minutes ago, Ace_of_Hearts said:

From 1997

Some of the old stuff.

http://www.reloadammo.com/co030897.htm

 

From what I read at this match there wasn’t much shooting in Cowboy Action Shooting. 

 

I definitely prefer more shooting. 

 

Randy

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All  that fun stuff has a training purpose. The Duke never stood in the doorway with his hands on his pistols waiting for the outlaw to push the buzzer! I began shooting duelist and now gun fighter because I wasn't that good with my left hand. Now my left hand is faster. Guys that complain that they're distracted doing fun things are not the best Shooters on the Range. They are easily distracted. To be honest with you, the senior gunfighters that I shoot with that are physically challenged do not appear to me to be wanting to challenge the top shooter in sass, they are just there to have a great time. Personally I have no interest and dumping 20 rounds down range and not even remember a single shot. I load up my rounds to give some recoil and I would be perfectly happy to shoot my pistols at the rifle targets. My last two matches, shoot and fall back was the RO. You never knew what you're up against in the next stage. Everybody had a blast! If anyone there wanted to shoot fast, go ahead and shoot fast. But he's not going to make it easy for you with boring Target placement set Just For Speed. When I go home from a match I want something to think about other than the time clock. Sometimes I want to see how fast I can shoot and sometimes I want to do some creative shooting. My choice

If you if you have ever been to the lever rifle Facebook page you will find 80% of the people there trying to make their lever action rifle into a thousand yard magnum hunting rifle. Barrett makes a rifle for that! Let's keep cas what it is intended to be.

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One thing I noticed on "Bonus" targets, especially were its called for a rifle reload, and the Bonus is 5 seconds. To many time were these "Bonuses with re-load", and watching shooters last shot on timer, many took 5 to 20+ seconds (including fumbling, sighting, etc. ) for a 5 second bonus?

I did like one club, and haven't seen it since, were the stage started with a bonus, and the timer started when the shooter fired.  MT

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1 hour ago, Marshal Dan Troop 70448 said:

 

I did like one club, and haven't seen it since, were the stage started with a bonus, and the timer started when the shooter fired.  MT

 

That, sir, is a dern good idea!

 

Duffield

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1 hour ago, Marshal Dan Troop 70448 said:

One thing I noticed on "Bonus" targets, especially were its called for a rifle reload, and the Bonus is 5 seconds. TO many time were these "Bonuses with re-load" are done. Watching shooters last shot on timer, many took 5 to 20+ seconds (including fumbling, sighting, etc. ) for a 5 second bonus.

I did like one club, and haven't seen it since, were the stage started with a bonus, and the timer started when the shooter fired.  MT

 

Sawmill Mary wrote some stages where there was a bonus optional small target.  

As I remember,  a miss didn't count as a penalty but a hit took 10 seconds off total time. The rifle target was a maple leaf shape about 8" in diameter at largest points.  It was set at about 50 yards.   Oh the groans from the shooers. Although it was optional, every shooter decided to try it and as I remember,  everyone hit it!  

 

It attracted a lot of attention as each shooter went for the bonus shot.  Lots of grins. Lots of bragging.  But they sure didn't want to do that again. 

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Targets being bigger and closer are to make it more fun for the average shooter.   It may slow down the fast shooters a bit, but not by much.  A good example was the Palmetto Posse Christmas shoot.  They had a 20 knockdown stage and they were small knockdowns. You had to move between the rifle and pistols.  If you did it accurately, you did not need a SG to clean up.  I got all 20 in 30 seconds and thought I did it quite well.  Cowboy Junky did it in 19. 

 

A great shooter is a great shooter!

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One fun thing done on the clock which I totally never liked was the chance type stages. Drawing a card or spinning a wheel decided what target shooter began on. Not all shooter shot the same stage and time needed to find correct target to start at wasn't pleasant and never did care for these, especially at a match above a monthly.

When I wrote stages, I always kept the fun stuff off the clock, throwing dynamite, knife, or etc. But carrying stuff, box, bag, (small stuff) from table to table was kept on the clock.

Starting a stage from a sitting position was fun, but after seeing shooters fall or trip from a sitting to a standing position, I never used those again.

What I also dislike are stand and deliver stages, movement down range or sideways with options for starting from either end are my favorite. Round count stages, rather then specific shooting order, leaving it up to shooter to decide how to approach a stage is also fun. Shotgun targets staggered, rather then place side by side are also fun.

Many don't like dump targets, but I see more misses on these since many try to shoot faster then they maybe capable of. Seen many top shooters even miss large 5' X 3' foot targets because they outrun their guns.

Times have changed, many shooters can't do the physical stages that were a norm back when, but a good working posse can have fun in joshing or cheering their fellow shooters, and fun stuff can still be incorporated into stages if kept off the clock.  Besides, some of the best fun comes after a match sitting around with partners and waiting for the awards to be presented.  MT

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13 hours ago, Null N. Void said:

So long as the extra things are fairly simple, like pushing a door down or carrying a prop to the next stage, I have not heard anyone complain.  The complaints come when athletic bias come into play.  A stage that's a track meet carrying a prop is usually not appreciated by an older or weaker shooter.   You can keep the fun in, just don't do it on the clock.

Do you mean athletic like moving from position to position on  a stage.  That can be a "speed killer" for some of us who just don't move all that well anymore.

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When i start that it was great to do all of those thing. Now the new generation just wants to see how fast they can dump the gun ti the fast time. I think we lost all the comrade we had and helping out other shooter Boy those were tho GOOD OLD DAY .    

   

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15 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

Its gone away because SASS Clubs are Catering to the Top Shooters .

This stuff all takes time , and the top shooters dont like that .

Just telling it The way it is .

Rooster 

Not "top shooter's" just people that like to shoot......there's a difference IMO. I didn't buy all the guns and spend the time to shoot them well to get beat by a guy that can throw a lasso better than me and I really think a lot of people have that point of view.......not just the top shooters. 

 

I think many people are competitive and like to do well (that's why there are so many categories) and not many people want to lose because they didn't' throw a stick of dynamite in a box, rope a steer or land their hat on a stick as well as the "shooter" that beat them. 

 

Also I really feel like sometimes people get too silly and makes us not look like a serious  shooting sport and that's why many other shooter's don't take Cowboy as a true shooting sport. 

 

I think if done right you can have it all but in the end it should be about the shooting not the games. 

 

If you do that off the clock does it somehow lose the fun factor? 

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My observation of various Post:

 

1.  WHY do some use the word 'argument' when it would be more appropriate to use the word 'discussion points'.   I haven't seen anyone arguing but I have read some good discussion points and opinions.

 

2.  I find it humorous that many will make a comment about how they only want to shoot their Cowboy guns and have fun.  Some state that they are not there to be competitive and some don't even care about their score (time).  

Well, if they are there just to shoot and have fun, why does it matter if they shoot at a close target or a distant target?

And if they are there just to shoot their old Cowboy guns and thumb their hammer doubles, then why does it matter if there is no knife throwing contest or tomahawk chucking contest involved.  Why should it matter if a stick horse is involved in the stage or not?

 

I think I understand what most folks are stating, but some of the comments are contradicting.

 

I think those who are blaming 'fast shooters' for any 'perceived' demise of OUR game is greatly misleading.   Its as misleading as trying to give credit to slow shooters for the growth of OUR game.

 

This I learned a few years back..... if you and ample members of your club want a particular personality of a match setup, get involved.

Write your stages and show up for setup day.

Find out what members are also capable of and willing to do.

If you want 3 stages and hang around all day shooting 3 stages with multiple reloads in rifle AND pistols, then do it.

It will quickly become an 'all man' shooting club.

 

If you want 5-6 stages and hang around most of the day with minimal relaods, then do it.    This will entice many of the ladies and kids to stay involved.

 

If you want 10 stages of fast, stand and deliver and be home by noon...... then do it.   This would probably have the same effect as the 3 stage match.

 

I've been enjoying this years setups by Jackalope and Anita Margarita.   Targets are big and usually about 6 yds for pistol, but Jackalope uses some neat and fun props.

It allows the shooter to shoot as fast as they are capable, yet interjects some 'other' stuff that isn't based on luck or bonuses.

 

Anyhow, this is just my 'discussion' points.    The rest of you can 'argue' about it if you want.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

And as Barney Fife use to say:   "Keep A Good Thought".

 

..........Widder

 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 said:

The #1 reason we don't see the stuff that we did 15-20 years ago is because the majority of the shooters barely have the energy to walk back to their cars. Thats not a rip, it's a fact. The shooting population has aged.

 

It's certainly true enough that there are lots of current members that have been playing this game that long and they certainly have aged.  My impression is that the sport has also expanded considerably in that same time frame.  I don't know what the cross section of the membership was like back then but now it includes all ages from children to elderly.  That makes for quite a challenge for match writers to come up with stages that are creative, fun, and possible for such a group.

 

 

10 hours ago, Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 said:

Pretty sick and tired of seeing "top shooters" getting blamed for the perceived demise of the game when time and age is the biggest factor we are fighting. 

 

I agree that "top shooters" are frequently held responsible for the state of the game as it exists today but I think that comes from the impression that those in a position to make decisions cater to them more.  The degree to which that impression is valid is probably as varied as the current membership.  I don't know,  I have heard and read lots of comments that "Top Shooters like ____" and  "Top Shooter don't like ____" but the comments never seem to come from the actual "Top Shooters".  I would like to believe that any real "Top Shooter" just wants the game to be fair and will be open to whatever challenge is presented to them.

 

As I implied above, the variety is a bigger challenge than time and/or age.  IMO

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17 minutes ago, Cowboy Junky said:

Not "top shooter's" just people that like to shoot......there's a difference IMO. I didn't buy all the guns and spend the time to shoot them well to get beat by a guy that can throw a lasso better than me and I really think a lot of people have that point of view.......not just the top shooters. 

 

I think many people are competitive and like to do well (that's why there are so many categories) and not many people want to lose because they didn't' throw a stick of dynamite in a box, rope a steer or land their hat on a stick as well as the "shooter" that beat them. 

 

Also I really feel like sometimes people get too silly and makes us not look like a serious  shooting sport and that's why many other shooter's don't take Cowboy as a true shooting sport. 

 

I think if done right you can have it all but in the end it should be about the shooting not the games. 

 

If you do that off the clock does it somehow lose the fun factor? 

I hate to burst your bubble but the other disciplines are already laughing their butts off at targets so big and close you can kick them over and mouse fart loads so mild the timer won't register rifle rounds

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20 minutes ago, Henry T Harrison said:

I hate to burst your bubble but the other disciplines are already laughing their butts off at targets so big and close you can kick them over and mouse fart loads so mild the timer won't register rifle rounds

I'm involved in other shooting, I also attend other types of shooting venue's. To be honest, when asked what type shooting  I do, I never heard anyone downplay our game. In fact some said they would like to try it someday. I'm sure some take their sport so seriously, for them, no other game exist and might make that comment.

I have heard some say they would feel foolish dressing up as a cowboy, but that's the only negative I heard.

As to big and close, they are still missed by Top Shooters and lowly shooters as myself. Remember the OK Corral and 30 rounds fired at close range and the misses and probable procedures from that shootout? In the real world, most shooting do take place close up and personal.

Now long range shooting is a discipline in itself.

Some very good discussions here, and the politeness.  MT

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5 minutes ago, Henry T Harrison said:

I hate to burst your bubble but the other disciplines are already laughing their butts off at targets so big and close you can kick them over and mouse fart loads so mild the timer won't register rifle rounds

 

 

Howdy HTH.

I have had a few conversations with shooters from other disciplines and yes, they do have their comments on some of our target distances and I have heard a couple (as in 1 or 2) comments about lite loads, especially if the observer is watching a particular shooter at the firing line.

 

BUT, in all fairness, I hear more "Wow, that was a blast to watch" when the observer (visitor) witnesses a shooter firing their 5 pistol shots faster than they can shoot their semi-autos.   Or a good SxS, 87 or 97 shooter puts on a 3 second 'show' with 4 shotgun KD's.

And THEY really enjoy watching the Gunfighters.

 

And those observers are really in awe when someone like Jacklope or Long Gulch cut loose with them big bore BP loads they shoot as unbelievable speeds.

 

The main reason that ALL of those other discipline observers have commented to me that hinders them from being involved in CAS is the Cost and the Clothes.    YEP, it seems the CLOTHES are the biggest thing.

 

They may very well be laughing their butts off in front of you.

But I haven't witnessed that at the matches I've attended.

 

I shoot at the Oak Ridge Shooting club.   Hundreds of members with a designated 'Action Pistol' section with high bermed bays.   We get plenty of visitors and many of them are from the 3-gun and IDPA disciplines.    They find many of our techniques and speed abilities very entertaining and is some situations, awesome, to say the least.

 

Wasn't SASS/CAS created because of the disdain our Founders were experiencing from those 'other disciplines'?

 

..........Widder

 

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Marshal Dan Troop,

its funny that I posted my lengthy comment within 1 minute of yours.

I found it interesting that your comment about 'Clothes' is the same as mine.

 

Merry Christmas to ALL.

 

..........Widder

 

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8 hours ago, Blast Masterson said:

Let's keep cas what it is intended to be.

CAS was begun by shooting IPSC with cowboy guns. 

By competitors. 

As a competition.

 

Over time, it evolved into folks dressed funny standing around socializing and being silly.

 

And without that social and silly aspect; we are just another gun game.

And without the competition aspect; we are just a bunch of strangely dressed folks standing around plinking with old guns.

 

It is only by combining both social and competition that we live up to the potential of what we should be.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Widowmaker Hill SASS #59054 said:

Marshal Dan Troop,

its funny that I posted my lengthy comment within 1 minute of yours.

I found it interesting that your comment about 'Clothes' is the same as mine.

 

Merry Christmas to ALL.

 

..........Widder

 

Widder, it's funny you and Marshall Troop brought up clothing, my wife will tell you 38 years ago when we got married I had 2 pair of jeans, 2 western shirts and a pair of cowboy boots. She spent 26 years trying to convert me to "Normal" clothes, till I found Cowboy Action Shooting. Then she gave up. :D

 

Randy

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36 minutes ago, CodyMaverick said:

 

I agree that "top shooters" are frequently held responsible for the state of the game as it exists today but I think that comes from the impression that those in a position to make decisions cater to them more. 

Take a look at most clubs and pay attention to who writes the matches, sets the steel and runs the club.

Most of the time it falls on the so called better/ top shooters. 

 

The same drive, sweat and blood that drove them to become good shooters  is generally the same passion and dedication that is needed to make sure there is a match written and set every month.

 

And as far as catering to desires of the top shooters; most match directors have the same philosophy as I do...

 

I won't set a match that I don't want to shoot. 

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Guest Grass Range #51406
16 hours ago, Mustang Gregg said:

:FlagAm::FlagAm::FlagAm::FlagAm::FlagAm:

 

Hello, the Fire:

 

Why has the stuff like throwing a lasso, kicking open the saloon door, pouring a shot, tossing a stick of dynamite, etc., etc. gone away?

I used to write stuff like that into almost every stage.  And most of the local shooters said they liked it.

When we go to annual shoots and distant Saturday or Sunday shoots, I seldom see it anymore.

In fact I have heard some Pards seem butthurt and getting vocal that "they are there to shoot, and not to play games".

 

So anymore, I don't write stages with the "fun stuff" on the timer.  That stuff is still there, but not on the clock.

 

Merry Christmas,

Mustang

 

BTW:  When we get the new SASS outfit started, we will have some "fun stuff" written in it.

I guess we'll gauge our success by the number of shooters who show up.

I tried the lariat throw, knife throw, tomahawk throw before the shooting but even with only 5-6 shooters I was voted down so I quit

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From the perspective of a greenhorn...if everyone has to do the "fun stuff" on the clock, what is the disadvantage?  I'll wager the top shooters will still be the top shooters.  That said, if there is a prop that presents a physical challenge, there should be an alternative shooting position, or time penalty that would be equitable.  I'm a bit amused by the arguement that it's a "shooting competition".  I guess that's why we dress up like cowpokes...

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15 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

I once suggested adding a couple of "odd guns" to the string.   Maybe something like a .30-30 or an extra pistol that would be provided.   Gun would be fired at a giant dump target at middle distance.  No penatly for missing, no bonus for hitting, you just had to make the effort to fire the gun in the general direction of the target and then do the standard 10-10-4..   The general consensus was, "Sounds like fun, as long as it's off the clock."

 

Which to me seemed kind of defeated the purpose of adding it.  I think it's only a matter of time before SASS becomes a "game" where you just stand in one spot and fire all your guns at a single large target.

"Odd guns" on the clock are a bad idea and the video link at the end demonstrates the point. I hate to use myself as a bad example, so we'll just call this a good example of WHY not to use "odd guns" in scenarios. Pay close attention because there is a MDQ, a SDQ (the shotgun round over the berm was not) and a MSV on this video. . .and nobody caught them because everyone thought it was so FUNny. Only after reviewing the video did I see what all had gone on and gone wrong. Once I had the mishap with the "odd gun" my mind was blank, so the rest of the train followed the engine off the tracks and into the ravine. Even though I'm smiling, the truth is it scared the crap out of me. I don't like mishaps that involve guns and we greatly increase the odds of that with "odd guns." At the end of the day it was discovered that I was not the only one to have a mishap with the "odd gun."

 

I've got to give credit to the match director who was trying to make his match "fun," but after seeing this video and discussing other "fun" stuff included in stages that day, changes were made for future matches. There's a ton of "fun" stuff that can be included in matches that is fair to all and be on the clock.  

 

Who else has their worst stage of all time on video? I'm certainly not proud of it, but it makes a good point. Pure Ugliness Video.

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Henry T Harrison said:

I hate to burst your bubble but the other disciplines are already laughing their butts off at targets so big and close you can kick them over and mouse fart loads so mild the timer won't register rifle rounds

Other disciplines who?

 

The other "Action" disciplines are certainly not.  

There may be a impression of disdain from other games; after all we're not all practical and tactical - black plastic guns.

But let those disciplines actually come over and watch? 

Especially watch a good shooter rip thru a stage - smoke hanging in the air and transitions that look like ballet?

Never have heard a negative word or insult.  Never.

 

Now maybe, some insecure individual on some given day may have laughed at us/ cowboy; they may have implied that we are not challenging enough to suit his opinions; that the targets are too big or close to match his desires; that we make it too easy for old women, kids and crippled up men;  but, ya know what that is a byproduct of our inclusiveness not a slam on our game.

 

But what I have never seen; is that individual step up and shoot against us.

If it were so easy and we are so pathetic; it certainly seems that somewhere, sometime, someone would have came to a match, strapped it on and kicked our butts. 

 

Anyone remember that happening?

Me neither.

 

 

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Occasionally, we'll have an "old school" type stage.   Here's an example of Jackalope tending to Bad Luck Bob.

 

His_name_is_Bob.jpg.1eea9003928e42da315fd3ec960cdd03.jpg

 

Bob was full of arrows, a knife, and had snakes hanging all over him.  After firing each gun, the shooter had to pluck something off of Bob and put it in the box on the other table.  The reviews were varied among the participants.  The majority had a lot of fun with this, some wish we could do it every stage of every match and others didn't like all the antics.  One of the "more competitive" types even promised to boycott matches like this.  It takes a lot of work and imagination to set up stages like this, but overall, I don't think I've ever heard so much laughter.  I still get asked when Bad Luck Bob is coming back.  (I think we might see him in April...)

 

1 hour ago, Widowmaker Hill SASS #59054 said:

...If you want 5-6 stages and hang around most of the day with minimal relaods, then do it.    This will entice many of the ladies and kids to stay involved......

..........Widder

 

I'm surprised you would make a comment like this when Anita Margarita might see it.  :angry:

 

 

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