Category Archives: SASS

SASS

Chisholm Trail 2014

Posted on by kathousekelli70

A few days relaxing in Milmerran and getting things sorted ready for a week of Nationals Championship fun.

A club shoot at the Gold Coast Pistol Club found our rifle and Jacks shotgun not working as anticipated for the match. Thanks should be noted to Mad Dog for having a look at it and making some minor adjustments.

Next try out would be when we headed to Dalby with a good turn out of shooters having a practice match and lunch prior to getting out to Chisholm Trail 2014.

We caught up with many known cowboys and cowgirls and a few new faces for this year, well many actually which was fantastic to see!

Soooo, rifle still not responding so tried out the borrowed 38 of Trixies (thank you, thank you, thank you Trixie and Dug). Jack got a SKB from Mad Dog which worked well and we were set for the Championship ahead.

Although he did turn it into a 'cap gun'!

Monday 29th September – more cowboys and cowgirls arriving, I helped out with signing in shooters, giving out packs meeting new and old faces and loving the atmosphere this year more than ever. My little girl also texted and said she passed her next assessment with Defence!! One proud Mummy indeed.

Tuesday 30th September – a Chisholm Trail trip is never complete without Toowoomba Tuesday! Off we headed to Toowoomba for shopping in fabric stores, junk shops and having lunch (with Clancy, Ruby Redsmoke, Myskal, Dangerous Dolly and Luck E Shot)

Wednesday 1st October – The Trappers Birthday! Happy Birthday Trap. We went through about 3 bottles of water chatting on the verandah while Jack and others slept off the previous nights activity. Wednesday was Jack's John Wayne Challenge and afternoon warm up match.

Thursday 2nd October – this morning was the Pat Garrett match and we'd like to thank Bronco Billy for the use of his 30-30. We didn't do that crash hot but had a lot of fun regardless!

Saloon night!! Poker or Bingo, choose your poison 🙂 Clancy and Amazing Grace run the Bingo while RC Shot runs the poker game. We ran it hard and fast this year with 4 games and prizes. Congratulations to our winners!!

Friday 3rd October – opening Ceremonies for Chisholm Trail 2014 and first day of main match commences, we completed the first 6 stages, a full day finishing round 3.30pm in the afternoon.

Kick in the Redneck girls roaming around camp, stirring up fun, drinking tequila and freaking the hell out of new shooters! Haa haa haa. 2 choices for dinner, gator and fries or fries and gator – Mary Lou June and Mary Lou July assisted (lol, or hindered!) in the dinner line keeping the crowds calm.

Redneck games ensued afterwards (aka cornhole or horseshoe toss), it went like a well paired Fastdraw Match with our final overall winner being Lily aka Susan Jacobs.

Saturday 4th October – Second day of main match and completing stages 7-12, weather is continuing to be warm and sunny, well what will be will be after today. A few too many misses for the match but will see how it turns out in the wash.

Saturday night banquet and Spanish Grace emerges. Clancy and I check out the costuming for this year and then make a transformation into GI June and July aka Cpl Punishment and Pvt Parts! An eye opener for most I presume who had not experienced Mary Lou June and July before.

Here's Amazing Grace and Lethal Lilly.

What a blast, costume winners were announced and with the entertainment choices of Juan Marlboro aka Mexican cousin of Marlboro Man the GI's took care of crowd control for the men in black and Johnny Cash, helped pump up the YMCA crowd, the Cupid shuffle, Macarena, and the duck song with the kiddies. Didn't my knees pay for that the next day!! Holly thought it was fun and silly if nothing else.

The top 16 men's and Top 8 ladies were announced and festivities continued long into the early hours of the morning (not to mention 'shot glass sports' from the floor!) too funny!!!

Sunday 5th October – it's prize draw morning, saying g'day to all the shooters coming through and heading down to the range for the Shootout! Visitors from the camp oven festival have even turned up from Milmerran to see what the cowboys can do. We went through our eliminations with RC Shot for men's and Jazzi Jess for ladies taking Gunfighter rights for 2014.

Awards were held with top overall honours going to the following – Overall SASA National Champions, Henry Sharps and Violet Rose – Overall SASS Australasian Regional Champions, Henry Sharps AU and Ruby Redsmoke NZ.

To top it all off, Ricochet (aka Jackaroo) finished 15th overall and Australian National Senior Champion 2014. Amazing Grace (aka Kathouse Kelli) finished 3rd Regional/2nd National Lady overall in 23rd place and Australian National Lady Wrangler Champion 2014!

Congrats to my fellow Lady Wrangler competitors with Clancy AU placing 2nd and Myskal NZ in 3rd.

Many goodbyes happened this afternoon and the rest of the hangers on had dinner, conversations and of course the footy finals!

Final goodbyes, laughs, hugs and tears for Monday as we pulled out of camp and Chsiholm Trail 2014 draws to an end.

To all my Aussie, okay – and New Zealand, alright – and the odd couple of American cowboy/cowgirl ring ins, I truly miss you and your company this year, I've had an absolute blast!!

Love Kat xo

 

A Day Out with Friends

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Yesterday we had rain for most of the day, first time in a few weeks or more. Was nice to be able to have the doors open, air con off and it cleared to a sunny late afternoon in time for drinks!

An early start to the day as we head to Stillwater for the last club match here for a while and it's a clear, cloudless sky!

22 shooters formed up 2 posses for 6 stages. Fast but not clean, a hell of a lot of fun and laughs to go with it though.

When we head to Stillwater it warrants lunch afterwards at El Vaquero, the busiest Mexican restaurant I've ever been in. Most head in there after where we can chat and discuss scores over lunch.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Aussie Dad's this morning, mine especially, love you Dad xo See you soon!

Kat xo

 

Shootin’ In The Shade

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Hot Springs, Arkansas, home of the Mountain Valley Vigilantes and hosts of 'Shootin' In The Shade' Annual match (which was also the 2014 Arkansas State Championships).

Hot Springs is known for it's many bath houses and healing waters, it was developed as a bath house town in the 1800's. Their 8 historic Bath Houses maintained by the National Park known as Bathhouse Row on Central Avenue. (See pic below and bottom right corner is The Arlington Hotel – where Al Capone often visited!)

A few have Native American names I noticed and a little bit of research tells me that they of course knew of and used the healing waters for many years and so some of the bath houses were named after different tribes.

Labour Day weekend is also their Blues Festival so it was a very busy little town! Despite an occasional shower of rain.

Check out this marble statue in the middle island of the street.

This huge hotel, bath house looks like it is unfortunately being torn down.

And I had to get a pic of this cake shop! What an awesome name! Love it.

The MVA's range is set wayyyy out in the forest amongst beautiful trees in the Ouchita Mountains, great facades and facilities. Whilst it was extremely humid, there was plenty of shade!

So we had set off Thursday catching up with our Okie mates along the road in Alma at the Catfish Hole and later for drinks, dinner and stories (lies we would say, hey TR?!).

Friday was the Professionals match which we shot with our usual Wild Bunch guns and then the afternoon was filled with practice, speed events and a ladies 'High Tea' where Velvet Glove, Cheeka Bow Wow, Mimsy and Ima Dunnit shared secrets, shortcuts and ideas for costuming for all ends of the spectrum and budget.

Main match commenced Saturday with 6 stages under our belt and a few misses too!! The targets are smaller than we're used too and you will see by the pic's are out there! So a little more precision was required.

The evening ended with the banquet held in Hot Springs at The Regency, filled with cowboys, Victorian Ladies, Saloon Girls, Silver Screen men and ladies and Military. The band if I recall was called '1, 2, 3' and Fast Fingers Green once again picked a couple of tunes with the band!

Annie Shadows took 3rd Place, Mustang Toni 2nd and myself, Kathouse Kelli 1st Place in Best Dressed Soiled Dove.

A great night of laughing, chatting and dancing.

Sunday morning and a low mist looked like we might get rain today for the final 4 stages (we got some rain during the last 2 nights) but it stayed away until just before the awards where there was a short heavy shower and then it cleared for the drive home.

So times weren't blinding fast for this match but the stages were quite good, a nice mix of transitions and we did have a great Posse. Once again we shot with some familiar faces and met some new people with Boomstick Jay and Elle Wood, Buffalo Bill Matthewson and Longbranch Kitty, Dusty Dee and Rusty Rider, Copper Rose and Printer Doc, Kid Koo, Kowboy Koo, Rotten Shot Laura, South Paw Mike, Yell County Kid, Outrider and our Posse Marshall Dewey Cheatem. Dewey's twin cherubs came and helped pick up brass today, cute and very well behaved kids.

So this is what I remember with awards for us and some of our friends.

Senior Category – Jackaroo 2nd Place, Snake Oil George 4th Place (1st I Reckon, 3rd Place and Arkansas State Champion Just Charlie)

B Western – Flat Top Okie 2nd Place

Wrangler – Scott Wayne 3rd Place (1st Place C S Brady, 2nd Place Slick McClade)

Elder Statesman – Tail N Kid 2nd Place (1st Place Arizona Ranger, 3rd Place and Arkansas State Champ Piney Woods)

Silver Senior – Ambler 1st Place, Fast Fingers Green 3rd

49ers – Naildriver 1st Place and Arkansas State Champ

Frontier Cartridge Duelist – Bois D' Arc 3rd Place

Lady Senior – Tacky Jackie 3rd Place (Copper Rose 1st Place and Arkansas State Champion)

Lady 49er – Missouri Mae 1st Place (Mustang Toni 2nd Place)

Lady Wrangler – Kathouse Kelli 1st Place (2nd Place Ivory, 3rd Place and Arkansas Champion Cheeka Bow Wow)

A few more placed but without scores yet, can't remember their categories.

In closing, Top Overall Lady was Missouri Mae and Top Overall Man was CS Brady. Top Arkansas State Champions were CS Brady and Velvet Glove. Congratulations to all winners for this match and to all shooters in attendance.

Now it's time to head back to Oklahoma!! Night y'all!

 

Kat xo

PS 1st Place in Ladies Traditional for the Professional Match with 2nd Place Garbage Gertie 😉

PPS for more information on the Mt Valley Vigilantes, take a gander at the following. Cheers!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Springs,_Arkansas

http://mvvcowboys.homestead.com

 

 

Headin’ Out

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Yee haa, car's packed and in the morning we will be heading off to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the annual known as 'Shootin' In The Shade'.

We haven't been to this one before but have heard it's a good'un!

I've got car projects coming out the whazoo so should keep me entertained for the 6hr drive and then some.

Well it's midnight so I'll say goodnight and wish you all a great weekend. Some we will see there and others will just have to live vicariously through another adventure!

Kat xo

 

Black Gold Shootout 2014

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Wow! What a sensational weekend.

Thursday started out good, sunny and warm shooting 4 stages of Wild Bunch in the morning before lunch and then the afternoon for speed events and warm up stages.

Into the evening and they held Cowboy Olympics. This involved a whole heap of fun and laughter amongst drinks!

Game 1 – Cans hanging from a frame, shot with a slingshot, now you can choose to shoot Traditional, meaning rocks off the ground or Modern with marbles.

Game 2 – take your pea shooter, a straw, and load Traditional with spit wads of paper or Modern with frogs eyes (the BB gun pellets).

Game 3 – then go a round with Hilary and Obama caricatures. Take your bow and arrow and shoot through their smiles, then ‘chunk coal’ through their smiles. Oh and you had to wear an Indian head dress (feathers in an elastic band, fruit of the loom off yer underpants!) and have an Indian name, so mine was Fanny Fosters Walkabout from the Crackatinni tribe!

Game 4 – was golf with a walking stick and ball pit balls. Hit into a flowerpot or you can try for the mason jar.

Game 5 -the final one you had to lasso a steers head on a bale of hay.

Hilarious, good times and nearly everyone there had a go.

The evening was finished off with a little too much drinking and dancing. The table and I met a few times going by the bruises on my leg and wish I had a picture of Whiskey Creek Johnson and Jackaroo doing a slow dance! Fun in Kentucky!!

Friday, feeling a little seedy to say the least was main match, 5 stages, now it really pays to listen when you don’t have a shoot book in the guncart. I can’t remember the last time I had a procedural but got one today much to my sheer horror! Jack had a sensational run!

The rain set in after we finished shooting and didn’t really let up into the night. That put paid to team shoots for the afternoon and instead we opted for the Motel and a Nanna nap.

We headed back out for dinner and the band. They had 11 entrants for the lying contest, a brownie and cake bake off and side match awards. And then came the band. Wow! These guys are a sensational Bluegrass band (Virgil Abolis?). Duelling banjos style!! Awesome!

A much earlier night getting back around 11.30pm.

Saturday, saw more rain on and off and the final 5 stages. Two train wrecks and a miss for me, shotgun re-engagements, pistol round the world and a miss. Hey! Had fun though! Jackaroo had a great match and finished clean!

We had team match in the afternoon when it wasn’t raining. Our team consisted of myself, Jack and Let’s Go. We shot a few times, switched up with other’s but at the end of the day no one could beat our sensational run! All plate knock downs alternate between static, run tip the other person onto the guy at shotgun and Texas star targets. 24.97 we ran!

Anyway Jack finished 3rd in category, clean shooter and finished 9th place overall! Congratulations to 2nd place Knob Creek Drover, and in 1st place Fast Eddie!

Congratulations to Lady Wranglers 1st Place Sue Render, 2nd Place Anita Margarita and Kathouse Kelli 3rd place.

Overall champions for 2014 Blackgold Shootout were Ladies – Dixie City Gal and Men’s – Missouri Lefty.

Saturday night finished off with Blackwater Desperado and Milkbone, their band out of Nashville. They played Lynnard Skynard, Joe Cocker and a whole heap of other stuff. Opened with ‘who stopped the rain’ seeing as it had been raining a good part of the weekend!

Thanks to the Jarvis family and Ponderosa Pines for a great weekend! To all of those who put in effort before and during, we take our hats off to you!

Kat xo

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Kentucky

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Kentucky, home of unbridled spirit the sign says and birthplace to Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the US and famous for his Gettysburg Address.

Some 17 hours travelling time later we have made it to Kentucky. I can't help but think 'Justified' here seeing as I just finished watching all 5 series again, and wondering what's up in them hills!

Moonshine? Old whiskey runners and stills? Are the Bennett's running weed and are there really any bodies down mine shafts here? Just my over active imagination at play.

BUT there is coal in these parts and we are headed the next few days for Ponderosa Pines – Black Gold Shootout. Sitting right in back of what seems to still be a working coal mine.

It's gorgeous through Southern Kentucky up here to Manchester, it's winding roads, hills and an abundance of trees, and the weather is perfect. Well for today, next to no humidity and sitting around 79F/26C.

We found Ponderosa Pines and ventured in, coming out to a clearing, green grass, covered entertainment areas, a stage, a pond and then beyond the pond is the ranges. This looks like party Central and as 'Blackwater' said, “this is a party with a side match of a shoot!”

Too funny, this should be a ripper, looking forward to it. Pic's of the range tomorrow.

Cheers! Kat xo

 

CO State Championships Main Match

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It was clear skies heading to the range Saturday morning after a spectacular fireworks display over Fort Collins last night for Independence Day celebrations.

We could see the mountains, a gorgeous sight with some small patches of snow still on the tops of the “Fourteeners”.

Second day of shooting was done on Saturday ending up with 4 misses for me and a clean match for Jackaroo! Well done man!

Thank you Posse 5, great work! And to all those who helped out with this shoot for some 165+ Shooters, good match, thanks Pawnee Station and to The Full Moon Saloon for shutting down their bar to host a bunch of cowboys n cowgirls for fun, frivolity, banquet and games on Saturday night.

This morning, Sunday, was another hot start to the day with many throwing their name tag in the bucket and being drawn to see who’s going head to head in the Top Gun Challenge. We had a crack at it but small mistakes mean it’s anyone’s game for this! Congratulations to Painted Filly who came in for our round when I dropped a shot and to Shaky when Jackaroo was ahead then fumbled with his last two rounds, theirs was a very close match!

When it was all said and done, the final winners of the Top Gun Challenge were Lefty Jo and Gateway Kid! Yee haa!

Out of the 165 odd shooters there were 11 of them that had a clean match including our Aussies, Jackaroo and Sam Balin.

When it all came out in the wash, there were a lot of very happy shooters – myself and Jack included.

Jack finished 1st Place Senior, Cat Tracker 2nd Place and Colorado State Champion, 3rd Place Mountain Mike (?). Yay! An unexpected win for Jackaroo as he truly thought he had mucked up on a few stages that would have cost him a placing.

In Lady Wrangler category I finished 1st Place, Turquoise Queen 2nd Place and Colorado State Champion, 3rd Place Ivy Wild.

While I was taking photos of others and not paying attention, I heard Red River Wrangler announce they were going to read out the top 10, (thinking top 10 combined) when I sat back down they were going through some ladies names and next thing I know, Lefty Jo is standing with her hand extended and me wondering what the hell she was doing when they called my name as 1st Lady overall!! Wow, very much a surprise!

So a good weekend finish for both of us. Had a ball!

AND I need to mention that the 2014 Colorado State Champions are Cobra Cat and Lefty Jo! Our very hearty congratulations to two fantastic people.

Cheers

Kat xo

P.S. An outstanding year for Cobra Cat, Cowboy National Champion, World Champion and now State Champion. A true young gentleman to boot – just sayin’! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

4th July, Independence Day 2014

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Here we are Independence Day in the United States, July 4th.

Now despite my being Australian, I like to think I have an affinity with America due to the fact that today is also my birthday and the second I have spent in the States.

I decided we needed to have patriotic outfits for the Colorado State Championship shoot given it would be over the July 4th weekend and of course Jack was up for it!

So here we are in our costume for today.

Today was first day of Main Match, having shot side matches and Wild Bunch yesterday including the very interesting side match – Annie Oakley – where you shoot the rifle over your shoulder lining your sights up using a hand held mirror, closest to target wins. Was not easy but a lot of fun!

Our Posse for the weekend consists of Aspen Filly, Aspen Wrangler, Blazen Vaquero, Dog Man, Dynamite Mary, Hurricane Camille, Hyman Old Cowhand, Jackaroo, Kathouse Kelli, Smokewagon Bill, Sonora Blaze, WB Earp, Sadie Marcus, San Juan, Trego Kid, Tahachapi Hornn, Union Jack. A great bunch of people, everyone’s working, shooting good and having fun.

Most people were wearing red or patriotic Stars and Stripes in any form or combination of red, white and blue! Was great to see!

Aspen Filly and Aspen Wrangler.

And myself with Turquoise Queen.

So one day down, second day main match tomorrow followed by a dinner at the Full Moon Saloon and side match awards tomorrow evening. Shoot out and awards on Sunday.

Stay tuned!!

Kat xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tales of End of Trail

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Founders Ranch, Edgewood, NM, where games are won and lost in the world of cowboy action shooting. The 33rd Annual End Of Trail 2014 World Championships have been held under a clear blue New Mexico sky, hot and dry conditions with plenty of the usual fine powdery dust.

(That's why I'm sitting in the laundromat now – trying to get dirt and dust out of white petticoats!)

 

This year we were on Posse 22 – Apostle Charlie, Bordello Baz, Doc Rankin, Downunder Undertaker, Ex Sighted, Jackaroo, Kathouse Kelli, Johnny Behan, Max Montana, Pious Player, Shanley Shooter, Tejon Buckaroo, The Bandit, US Grant, Whiplash Whitey and the lovely Singin' Sue stayed to do scoring for us!

A few new faces, a few from Australia with us and a few we already knew. Fun, fun, fun!

Three days of fun at that! Thursday through Saturday were the main match days where I finished clean!!! Jack was clean……….with a P. Dang!

It was an interesting match, targets were up close and speedy, and THAT's what made it interesting for the faster shooters! The top 16 shoot out was again, as always, fun to watch (Savage Sam from Aus and Ruby Redsmoke and White Lightning Jack from NZ in it) watching the Wild Bunch shoot out as well which R C Shot from Aus was in. (Alvira Sullivan Earp was too but didn't shoot)

Scores were done, rank points added up to see who'd be the best in the world. Congratulations to all 539 shooters who attended EOT, and 127 clean shooters this year, I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Jack finished 12th in Senior category and 108th overall, I finished 4th in Lady Wrangler category and 145th overall.

There were 23 Australians and 8 New Zealanders this year which was pretty cool, with half or just over half placing in the top 10 of their category and receiving a buckle. A very credible 2nd place to Savage Sam in the Cowboy Category and 3rd place to Alvira Sullivan Earp in Ladies Senior category and to Ruby Redsmoke 1st and World Champion in Ladies B-Western!

Top honours this year and your 2014 World Champions (I thought I was T-Bone Dooley and Ringo Fire announcing then!lol!) are Men's – Cobra Cat and Ladies – Sasskicker, who I might just add is only 16 years old!

Besides all the fun with the shooting Friday evening was the saloon night “Daggers and Derringers”. Five of us contested the saloon girl/soiled dove competition with Diamond Blaze taking first and a derringer, the rest of us received a Damascus blade dagger!

Saturday night was the party night and yes I did manage to be able to dance in an 1887 bustle dress with reasonable ease from boot-scooting to two-step. BUT the best part of all is seeing everyone dressed in their finest and seeing all who go in the Best Dressed Costume contest. This year I won 1st place Best Dressed Lady! Yes! I finally got it right with my 1887 walking dress for day on the streets of Tombstone!

 

Cheers!

Kat xo

 

 

EOT Opening Ceremonies

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Not much done today, we didn't go shoot side matches but headed out after lunch and strolled through the vendors and visited with many.

Opening ceremonies were on at 5pm. Italy, France, New Zealand, Canada, United States and Australia were all represented with 2013 World Champion, our own Aussie and friend, Savage Sam bearing our flag for the parade of colours.

There were SASS Scholarship presentations, new Regulator presentations and a stirring speech by Coyote Kay for an additional scholarship presentation for the Coyote Calhoun Scholarship Fund.

2014 End Of Trail was declared open by SASS #1, Judge Roy Bean.

The after party with supper hosted by the Dooley Gang and Margaritas were happening again down at Hot Tamales.

Tomorrow is the first day of Main Match, we are on Posse 22 and start on the mid rotation but will be out there for the day. Let's go!!!

Good luck to all the Single Action Shooters attending 2014 End Of Trail, we wish you all the best of luck for great competition and most of all FUN!

Yeeeeee haaa!

Kat xo