Rattlesnake Slim Posted November 23, 2025 Posted November 23, 2025 Yesterday marked the beginning of preparations for End of Trail 2026. We had met three weeks prior to clean and organize the storage yard, but yesterday the power tools came out. About twenty brave cowboys and cowgirls turned out under threatening skies to try and beat mother nature, and a success it was. The clouds started leaking just as we were putting things away. All photos by Darlin' Darla, our new Media, Marketing, and Communications Coordinator. The 2026 theme is "The Cattle Drives of the Old West", so the first order of business was to cut a herd of plywood longhorns. Sly Puppy supervises the painting of the herd. Next we needed a crew of "standup" cowhands, so off to work we went. Rough stock needs to be "broke", so Lead Finger and Matador have just the skill to get that done. Captain Dan Blodgett's Green Chicken Posole' is just what we needed to warm up enough to finish the afternoon's tasks before the rain. Somebody said "Why did you buy a paper pattern when we could have just laid Rustler down and traced him??' I don't know, what do you all think? Rollin', rollin', rollin', Sweet Shot Sue keeps the paint rollin'. The number of people that turn out, especially on a day like this, to give back to their fellow cowboys and cowgirls always humbles me greatly. Joe McGlue and St. Helena Slinger study the piece of plywood carefully before deciding just where to cut. That's their story and they're sticking to it! Ransome Hawk and Kit Foxxe travelled from about four hours north to help out, and brought new tombstones for the graveyard. Our next work party is scheduled for Saturday, December 6th, we'd love to have you join us.
X Mark Posted November 23, 2025 Posted November 23, 2025 Sure looks like a lot of fun !! Great Pictures !!
Sixgun Seamus Posted November 23, 2025 Posted November 23, 2025 Good to see old friends and fellow rangers. Can't wait to get out there. We head out the last week of January.
Rattlesnake Slim Posted November 25, 2025 Author Posted November 25, 2025 1 hour ago, MBFields said: U guys r the best. 🤠 We'll need a good trailer wrangler for setup. MB is a World Champion trailer backer.
Rattlesnake Slim Posted December 17, 2025 Author Posted December 17, 2025 Thanks to Buckshot Sheridan, Renegade Roper, St. Helena Slinger, and Joe McGlue, Stage 12 Coosie's got some much needed repair. The building was originally built with a back wall made of OSB, not the best material for the hot desert sun. Once the old material was stripped off, new exterior plywood siding could be installed. All painted, just a few pieces of trim to finish. Our next work party is this Sunday, December 21st. We meet on the far west end of the Ben Avery Practical Pistol Ranges at 9:00,am and we'd love to have you join us if you are in the area.
Rattlesnake Slim Posted December 22, 2025 Author Posted December 22, 2025 Well, we had 18 or so hardy volunteers show up in record heat (80 degrees) for our last December work party. What an incredible job they did! Once again THANKS to Darlin Darla for the fantastic pictures. Building new cargo boxes for shooting positions entails lots of painting. Serenity painting box parts before assembly. Many more parts being painted. Sly Puppy leads her "Puppy's Crew" in their painting mission. Here's Headshot Hannah, Serenity, Darlin Darla, Puppy, and Renegade Roper. The final plywood Cattle Drive cowhands get cut out by Lead Finger and Medicine Creek Johnny. Buckshot Sheridan, EOT Rangemaster and Ranger Coordinator, lays out the figures with Little Gunder and Dusty McGregor. The finished projects look AWESOME and ready for paint. That's Little Gunder from North Dakota. He just showed up, said "Howdy, I'm Little Gunder, put me to work".
Rattlesnake Slim Posted December 22, 2025 Author Posted December 22, 2025 Here's a few more. Joe McGlue, St. Helena Slinger, and Legendary Lawman making and carpeting the shooting positions for a new stage front. Rustler and me building a freshly painted cargo box. FILE THIS UNDER "YOU SHOULDA BEEN HERE" Captain Dan Blodgett went over and above in fixing us a true "Cattle Drive" lunch. And we ate steak and beans in the warm desert afternoon, just like in the cowboy days. Oh yeah, don't forget homemade green chili cornbread! If you can handle this kind of fun, join us. The next work party is Saturday January 3rd, 2026.
Jackrabbit Joe #414 Posted December 22, 2025 Posted December 22, 2025 Thanks to all you great cowboys and cowgirls for the work performed by you all and its well-deserved of yah. Jackrabbit Joe
Rattlesnake Slim Posted December 22, 2025 Author Posted December 22, 2025 And thanks for loaning us Sly Puppy for the day!
Rattlesnake Slim Posted January 13 Author Posted January 13 Sunday started windy and cool but with plenty of sunshine. Look closely, you won't find people wearing this many clothes in Phoenix very often! We had about 25 cowboys and cowgirls pitch in to get an incredible amount of work done with 43 days till the first shots go downrange. Our Match Director, Red River Wrangler blew in from Colorado, so it's time to start working on targets. Here he goes through the target inventory with Range Master Buckshot Sheridan and Little Gunder. Lost in a sea of steel, quiet since March 2025 but ready to ring for YOU. We start with about 175 plate targets and a like number of knockdowns, and there will only be about 20 left when the range is set. Still plenty of painting to do, here Marshal W Hill paints picket fence by hand because it is too windy to use the airless sprayer. Shirttail Bess painting with the same intensity that makes her shoot like a World Champion. Cowboy Rick, Medicine Creek Johnny, and Dusty MacGregor survey a herd of split rail fence posts looking for weaklings. Reverend Leadslinga' and Cactus Wen work to reinforce the posts that don't pass muster. Headshot Hannah and Renegade Roper put a fresh coat of paint on (empty) whiskey barrels. Turquoise Bill, Joe McGlue, Lead Finger, St. Helena Slinger, and Sarival Slim assembling headstones for some unlucky cowhands. There's a whole lotta work going on here, all so you can have the time of your life when you are here. We can't wait to have you see all of it. Thanks again to Darlin Darla for the wonderful pictures!
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