Golden Heart Shootist Society
Fairbanks, Alaska
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Cowboy Camp 2004

What a turnout!

Memorial Day weekend signaled the official start of another great season of Cowboy Action Shooting in the Golden Heart of Alaska. New shooters as well as seasoned veterans converged on our range at the F.E. Gold Camp in Chatanika for a fun weekend of shooting, cowboy life, and camaraderie.

Quilt Raffle Winner: Cowgirl Jesse

Winner of the Quigley Shoot: Judge Yukon Hatch, who generously donated his share of the pot to the club.

We had 59 in attendance on Saturday with 19 being new shooters! Our club is sure growing! We started off the day with an introduction to Cowboy Action Shooting, our organization, SASS, what to wear, how to find it, and even how to come up with an alias. From there we all moved up to one of the stages where new shooters were introduced to the many types of firearms, holsters, and safety protection used in our sport. Then the fun began! Everyone got a chance to try the various different pistols, shotguns and rifles on 3 of our 5 stages. The stages were divided up so that each new shooter shot a pistol only stage, rifle only stage, and shotgun stage. They then put all three together in one complete stage.

After a short break to give the cooks time to check on the grub the group setup for the Quigley shoot. In a old time shooting gallery format the competitors took their turns at the variety of targets including 6 steel gongs, a complete set of bowling pins and a bonus bottle of water. Out of the group 2 shooters actually scored strikes on their first shot at the bowling pins proving that it could be done. Judge Yukon Hatch was the overall winner of the Quigley shoot and graciously donated his 55/50 winnings back to the club. It looks like the club has Long Range fever.

With a full days worth of shooting under their belts, the participants sat down for a hearty potluck featuring a pot of old-fashioned beans cooked in giant kettle over an open fire. Even the evening shower that blew in couldn't dampen our appetites as we sampled a wonderful variety of dishes brought by various club members. If nothing else, the shower helped to bring everyone closer together both literally and figuratively.

 

Sunday kicked off with a wonderful church service including music by Valencia Rose and her Autoharp followed by a message from Poco Loco Louie. The blue sky and white clouds made the perfect setting for this service outside. Afterwards the shooting commenced again with 26 shooters in attendance, many of who were brand new to the sport just the day before. Five regular stages tested the skill of the new and old alike and the light heared atmosphere kept all laughing and enjoying the day. To end the day Sunday Golden Heart Shootist Society celebrated another birthday with Cake, Watermelon and great fellowship.

Everyone, including new shooters and, at times, visitors, pitched in to make the event a great success. Because of this, the orientation, registration for the shoots, score keeping and the posses ran very smoothly. As a result, for many folks their first taste of Cowboy Action Shooting was a very positive experience. A large number of those new shooters came back on Sunday and again on Monday Significantly a large number of them were women on both days. One new-comer was heard to say "I've never seen so many women packing iron in one place. I like it!"

Monday Morning started in appropriate fashion for Memorial Day. A flag raising along with the firing of a replica Cannon followed by a 21 Gun salute and blessing helped everyone remember and honor all those who gave so much so we could do the things we love in this great country. Another 5 stage match kept the Cowboy spirit alive and again provided for some challenging shooting.

With a storm brewing on the horizon the remaining participants chipped in and preformed an amazing feat, the complete tear down of camp including wall tents, the trash was collected and disposed of, the targets were all down and all gear was stowed awayin less than one hour. This is the true spirit of the cowboy. Work together to get done what needs to be done, while having a grand ol' time doing it. It was as if, we'd never been there. Fantastic! This is probably a record time!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone that made this event possible. This couldn't happen with out the generosity of many club members. If you are new to Cowboy Actions Shooting and the Golden Heart Shootist Society we would love to have you join us at a General Membership meeting (see the Calendar) or contact anyone on our Executive Board for more information. Come on out and join us!
 
   
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