Space Cowboys

I've always felt the irony that CAS wouldn't be nearly so popular without the modern invention of the internet.  One of my favorite tools on the internet is the mapping tools, specifically, Google maps. You can get an idea of just what a place looks like from above before you go there, thats handy!



Until recently, the images covering TVR weren't of high enough resolution to make anything out. Apparently, Google has updated their images and you can now see the layout of TVR in all its glory. This image is probably a year-and-a-half old, but you get to see the stages and cart paths.



Yes, there's a hill, you'll get used to it. The cart path was kind of a pain for a while, but within the last year, Redneck Rebel straightened it out and made it longer, but flatter. That's a good thing. He also opened up parking down by stage 8 for those that still don't want to climb the hill, mostly, our older shooters park down there.



TVR is my favorite range to shoot at, there's just something about the place I find comforting.

Practice Good

As Judge's last post mentions he needs to practice more. Lucky for him he's a range officer for his department and last week got to do a lot more shooting than he does normally. Granted, it was almost all autos and DA revolver, but the thing is, it counts. Shooting anything is better than shooting nothing (I know, I'm a prophet). How do I know it helped? Because he kicked my butt during the match on Saturday and shot as well as he's ever shot a match, he shot it clean to boot!



I got the chance on Friday to join him and while it helped me feel much more comfortable during the match and my pistols were pretty good all day with one stage being the exception when I lost my count on which was the lead pistol and just really screwed up. I had some better raw times than Judge, but misses counting 5 seconds hurts too bad. You can't miss fast enough to win



We need to figure out how to get this practical practice, dry fire is valuable, but I think that slinging lead more than once every two or three weeks is critical to getting to where I want to be and Judge for that matter. Maybe its time to look in the real estate market to get a house in the country that I can set up a range. Of course there's the price of gas and land prices in this area that can kill that idea.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: Covered loading and unloading tables, Sunday’s weather, Stage 6 and 7, Hooten Old Town.

The Bad: Stage 5, Saturday’s rain, slim on the vendors

The Ugly: Saturday’s shooting, The shotgun targets



I was very unhappy with my shooting on Saturday. I just felt like I was working in slow motion and the shotgun targets were giving me fits. After lunch it felt much better and Sunday I shot well. Looking over my stage rankings I can see it wasn't just my imagination. On Saturday before lunch we shot stages 9, 10, 1, and 2. My average rank score for those stages was 140. on the plus side my average rank for the last 6 stages I shot was 79.6. My highest rank score was 148 on Stage 2 and my lowest rank score was 60 on Stage 7.



So what does that mean? I don't know, maybe I get nervous at the big matches and screw it all up. What I can tell you is that if I had shot the first 4 stages like I did the last 6 stages then I would have finished 80th overall instead 101st and I would have finished 5th in my category which was a goal of mine from the beginning (Indiana State gives awards out to 5 places and I was shooting for an award) instead of 6th.



I guess I need to start practicing.

Hooten Hollerin' Old Time

We made it back yesterday from the Kentucky State Shoot at Hooten Old Town. Much fun was had as we shot our way through the 10 stages and tried our darnedest to beat, well, pretty much anyone. The number of shooters present was impressive, 258 cowboys, cowgirls, buckaroos, buckarettes and young guns through at least 75,000 rounds downrange over three days.



As for the shooting, well, I didn't do real well, placed 116 out of 258 and managed to let Judge slip by me with too many misses. Bah! Of course he's resorting to the heathen traditional style shooting in B-Western category (which he should) and that'll make a difference, but overall, he shot better, period. There weren't that many in our posse that were on their games, in fact, I'd say most of the shooters from PVR & TVR didn't shoot up to their potential.



Judge, Copper and myself traveled together and shared accommodations in Berea, KY which is 24 miles North of the range, but takes 45min to get there through the winding hills of Kentucky. The drive wasn't without its perks, for on Saturday night after eschewing the match dinner due to rain, we came across a Sonny's BBQ that had "Unlimited Ribs" (cue chorus). We sipped ice tea, gorged ourselves on pork and watched the KY derby, it gets better than that, but not much.



We shot with several of the TVR and PVR regulars and I must say that I'm continually impressed with the way those two clubs are represented by the membership. I don't find too many other shooters who actually work, let alone work stages as well as the folks from TVR/PVR. I think the attitude quite honestly can be tracked up from the membership to the club officers to the club founders, they just know how to get things done and continue to go out and do it. When I see folks from other parts of the country lounge about during the shoot, it fills me with pride to think that nobody from our clubs are joining them.



I've put many of the pictures we took at the match up on my flicker account, so take a look at what handsome fellas we are and what great shooters look like (I think there's one or two in there).



As always, Hooten Old Town is a great place to go shoot CAS and get away from modern life.



UPDATE: More photos posted at the Hooten website.

Back to the... er past?

We're off to Hooten tomorrow. One of the wonderful things about shooting and especially Hooten, is getting away from everything. I was asked by my boss yesterday if I'd be available via e-mail or phone while I was off, I gleefully replied that I'd be deep in the hills of Kentucky and should she need me to get someone with a donkey or horse to come fetch me. Good thing she's got a sense of humor.



Seriously, it is so nice not to deal with e-mail or telephone, angry/whiny clients, traffic, news or any of the other trappings of modern society. Just think, for a whole three days I won't hear the names of Rosie O'Donnell, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Brittany or Anna Nicole. Joy!