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About to hang up my spurs


Hillbilly Drifter

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I traveled from WV to S.C. to compete in an annual event this month. Somehow caught the flu just before the event so I did not attend. Got to reflecting on my enthusiasm for ‘this sport and am truly not sure I want to continue. My local club went through a loss of venue this past year and although it secured another venue it was a bad situation for many members. I have had some great times in this sport but it has changed all around me. Will see how it plays out over the near future. 

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There's still a couple months before warmer weather hits and maybe you'll feel different then. Sorry about your club. I know Tusco is a hike for you but hope to see you there! Good luck in your decision.

 

Rye;)

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The club that Hunt Mountain Drifter and I are currently running here in Oregon died a number of years ago. The venue was still there, the targets were still there, but the enthusiasm wasn't. We got tired of having to travel at least an hour to shoot and decided to resurrect CAS on our local range. We went and talked to the parent club's officers and started organizing for CAS. A couple of years later they were buying us more steel, etc. and two summers ago we put on our first multi-day match, which has so far met with enthusiasm. I don't know whether or not such a thing is possible where you are, or if you'd even be interested in doing it, but maybe what is needed is some new blood?

 

Or you can tell me to mind my own business...

 

YMMV...

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HD:

Yer always be welcome at Tusco.

I enjoy having you on my posse, and hope we can shoot together a few times this year.

--Dawg

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20 minutes ago, Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329 said:

HD:

Yer always be welcome at Tusco.

I enjoy having you on my posse, and hope we can shoot together a few times this year.

--Dawg

Dawg I love Tusco and shooting with you. Hope to get there again soon. It is a 300-400$ weekend for me to attend but I sure enjoy everyone there. 

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45 minutes ago, Hillbilly Drifter said:

I traveled from WV to S.C. to compete in an annual event this month. Somehow caught the flu just before the event so I did not attend. Got to reflecting on my enthusiasm for ‘this sport and am truly not sure I want to continue. My local club went through a loss of venue this past year and although it secured another venue it was a bad situation for many members. I have had some great times in this sport but it has changed all around me. Will see how it plays out over the near future. 

 

I know where you're coming from.  

 

Son and I joined 20 years ago and competed against each other.  Off to college he went.  Then his marriage, family and a career down Atlanta way ended our competition.

 

i spent a lot of money and time helping a SASS club  to relocate.  When there was a forced administration change I lost heart.

 

Thought about letting my SASS membership expire...local club ask if I'd design and maintain their website, I said yes.  Been shooting with them since.  More for the friendship and feeling useful.

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1 hour ago, Hillbilly Drifter said:

I traveled from WV to S.C. to compete in an annual event this month. Somehow caught the flu just before the event so I did not attend. Got to reflecting on my enthusiasm for ‘this sport and am truly not sure I want to continue. My local club went through a loss of venue this past year and although it secured another venue it was a bad situation for many members. I have had some great times in this sport but it has changed all around me. Will see how it plays out over the near future. 

Hillbilly some times we just need to step back for a while.

I have even done this myself. 

My Club I belong to has stopped shooting Cowboy altogether. 

And between running my business myself and my Bad Motorcycle crash three years ago .

I dont shoot Cowboy as much as I used to at all any more .

But I keep my Membership to SASS,  to talk to all of you and also be able to jump right back in with both feet , Win or if I choose to.

I say just take a step back .

And Over the winter you can see how things work out .

What ever you decide to do .

DONT Sell Your Guns ! 

You will kick yourself in the A$$ 

If you ever start thinking about coming  back to it.

God bless Pard .

So Saith The Rooster. 

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HD you are a standup cowboy and we all would hate to lose you. Please give it some time for reflection before you make a decision. Ace

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HD,  

This is some sad news.  As others have said, take some time and reflect on what you enjoy the most about CAS.  Hopefully you can find a way to continue that enjoyment.  Sometimes we can get overly enthusiastic about something and after that initial enthusiasm starts to fade it seems like we dont enjoy it as much anymore.   Maybe after some time you will feel that enthusiasm start to rebuild.  Don't make any hasty decisions just yet.  I enjoyed meeting you in Kansas last year and hoped we could shoot together again.  Take care, pard.

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Matthew Duncan,

we still have room for a few good people down here in Atlanta.

come move down, be close to your family, and shoot with us - and bring HD.

the weather is great, the taxes are low, and the gun smoke is AWESOME !

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2 hours ago, Hillbilly Drifter said:

Dawg I love Tusco and shooting with you. Hope to get there again soon. It is a 300-400$ weekend for me to attend but I sure enjoy everyone there. 

I'm just on the other side of the hill from Tusco. If you have a camper I have space for you to park it next to the garage. I'd be happy to throw you an extention cord and access to facilities. Should save ya a few bucks for a weekend.

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Don’t do it, HD!!! I want to posse up with you some day.

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I got back into Cowboy Action Shooting last spring after about a 15 year break. When I decided to hang up my spurs I never envisioned I would be away from it as long as I was. My return couldn't have come at a better time in my life and it has been a huge benefit to me is many ways.

 

Maybe just a break is needed? Keep your options open!

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Don't do it HD. We need to make a few more Classic Challenges together with the Major!!

Jax T

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HD Try the Lightening Up method. Only shoot major events or whenever you can for ,say, ten years. Then you can make a more informed decision.

 

Imis

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Come to Iowa for the Classic Cowboy Showdown and be revived! Yore a good pard hang in there. 

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HD.. I think that we all go through ups and downs in this game. I've been doing it since 93, and have experienced periods of waning interest. Health issue certainly play a part in that... but I've always managed to work through those periods. I'm not the Fireball that I once was, but I've still got a spark or two left.  I believe that it is very likely that if I ever step out of the saddle, it will be unlikely that I'll ever get back up.... so I don't stop. What else is there to do? After all of these years my only friends and associates are part of the CAS game and a great number of them have died off or moved away. Yes, it is costing a great deal of money to continue this game... easily a $1,000 per month for the two of us to shoot at the clubs we are members of, and that doesn't even include the Big matches like WR and a few others we attend. Bottom line is this... unless you have something else to do, rather than sit and watch I Love Lucy, I suggest that you stick it out and pull yourself up by your Bootstraps! Life is what we make it, and Attitude is EVERYTHING. Best wishes in your pursuits.

 

Snakebite

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I hung it up for about 4 years. Just started back about 3-4 months ago.

Then just about put them back up a month ago. Thought hard about it for a day or so.

But going to keep at it for awhile longer.

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My Father in Law used to tell me that when you quit moving, you'll quit moving.  He kept moving until his cancer finally ended his active life at 97.   I always respected that attitude and drive, working along side him.   At 90, he could physically work like a 50 y-o.  

We do this CAS game for fun, and we are the only ones who can keep it that way for ourselves and for our friends.  It's all about participation. 

My advice to you is to up your engagement ante and do whatever it takes to make it fun again.  For me, that means shooting more matches, working more with good friends on our range and events,  joining additional clubs and meeting new friends. 

I keep looking at the big hole that would be left if I stopped participating.  I've found nothing else this fun and fulfilling to fill that void.  So look carefully before you decide to leap.  It's like an old engine.  Once you stop, it might be very hard to restart.  

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Most of our pards have said it already, but hang in there. You know the the enjoyment you've had in CAS so far. I can assure you, that fun and excitement are still there for you to enjoy. I have enjoyed shooting with you and hope to more in the future. I plan to do this for as long as I'm physically capable. As the grandkids get older, we may have to pull back a tad, but then I hope to shoot with them in the future also. Besides, we need all the Classics we can get. You keep me on my toes.

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Hillbilly you can't quit.  You are one of the mainstays to our small club.  We depend on your participation and support.

 

I bought an enclosed cargo trailer and have received permission to park it on our range.  I plan to store our larger targets and anything which would not fit in my Target Box.  (The Tombstone Rack, Dueling Tree, Shotgun Knockdowns, etc.) 

 

I am currently making more targets to bring up in addition to the ones already at the range.  Plus, I am making three range tables.  Jack said I needed to make some the size that you had made.

 

We need you there to help with the newer shooters who we are expecting to join us next Summer.

 

Frontier Lone Rider

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22 hours ago, Turkey Flats Jack said:

I'm just on the other side of the hill from Tusco. If you have a camper I have space for you to park it next to the garage. I'd be happy to throw you an extention cord and access to facilities. Should save ya a few bucks for a weekend.

HD

I don't know you or your situation but it sure sounds like you would be missed by a lot of pards. I suspect you would do some missing too.

Turkey Flats made an extraordinarily generous offer.

Course I don't know if you have a trailer. Maybe not. 

I do a bunch of travel shooting and I can tell you that I couldn't afford to do half of it without camping. I don't have a trailer either. I camp in a tent. It makes shooting affordable, it's challenging at times and it's FUN!

 

Sure hope you reconsider.

I know if I quit it would leave an awful big hole in my life.

 

Waimea

 

 

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I kinda know what you mean.  We had one of the oldest east-of-the-Mississippi clubs that bit the dust because our home club's Powers That Be chose to forget how many years our CAS members carried the club.  We have even proposed an old-timers reunion shoot that has received zero support.  Petey's thinking he might reinstitute CAS at another nearby site when he retires, or at least can cut back.   I know it ain't what it was but it's where all my friends are and I'm not giving up yet.

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I'm planning on shooting CAS until I can't move anymore! That said as I get older I do tend to pick and choose a little more than I used to. Weather has a lot to do with it plus I still work part time and being self employed sometimes I can't pass up the $$$. I can afford more guns that way!!:lol:

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I figured I'd shoot till I dropped. But, found out things can and will change. Did not by far want to stop, but sometimes things dictate different. I hope you can shoot as long as possible. Guess I shot as long as possible.

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Thanks Pards for all the feedback and encouragement. When I wrote this thread I was really bummed. I had traveled 600 miles to attend the shootout with the barber put on by the Hurricane Riders in South Carolina. I came down with the flu after getting here and was unable to attend. I spent considerable funds on this trip. Bummed me out. I shot this event last year and it was one of my favorite shoots of the year. Some really great people. 
I expect to get back out and shoot some more soon. Winter in West Virginia can cast a somber mood. 
thanks again. 
HD

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Hillbilly Drifter... my Great Great Grandfather, Archibald Gilmore,  was born in Hampshire County, Virginia in 1813. I think that is now part of West Virginia, so that means we must be related!;)

 

Snakebite

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HD , winter can cast a dark shadow on ones mental state most everywhere , we get cabin fever up here from it - but just a little sunshine certainly helps when we get it , its been dark and gloomy for a few months now , got another month or two to endure before it gets better, im lookin forward to spring 

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HD-

 

The only reason you should be hanging up your spurs is if you have a moment of weakness and decide to not wear them because you are shooting a category other than Classic.

 

:D

 

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