Cowboy Fast Draw Match Report

The last time we tried to put on a Cowboy Fast Draw match at the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club all of the publicity for the match got fouled up and the wrong date was sent out. So, just about no one showed up. We still had fun, but it was a small crowd, for sure! This time, things went much better publicity-wise, and I would call it our first true match, with the previous one being sort of a "Testing Out" match to get the scoring and so forth all figured out.Even though there was a steel match not too far away that attracted some of our shooters, we still had ten hardy folks show up to give the new sport a try.

Two Point and Taliban Dan in an early round.

We've got the full setup, with targets with the "Start" light in the center, sound sensors on the targets to record the hits, and an electronic fast draw timer to record the times to the 1,000th of a second.

The Other Half beats Taliban out of the Holster.

We ran the match as a 3X format match. Each round you would shoot five draws against another shooter, with the best of five winning the round, and the loser getting an "X". Once you get 3 X's, you are out of the match. If it's a tie, then we would shoot one more draw as Sudden Death, to determine the winner of that round.

Taliban Dan gets the shot off first.

We had a number of Sudden Death tie breakers, and the competition was amazingly close. Not only was it a fun match to shoot, it was also a lot of fun to watch, with the closeness of the times. Everyone assumed an "Alias" name for the match, which also added to the fun!

After a bunch of really close matches, we finally narrowed it down to "Dozer" and "Taliban Dan". The final couldn't have been any closer. Taliban Dan won the first round, Dozer won the second, Taliban Dan won the third, and Dozer won the fourth.  It all came down to the final round, with each shooter having won two rounds. "Shooters on the line -- Shooters set...", a few seconds of random delay, and the start lights came on. Both shooters drew and fired, but it sounded like only one shot had been fired. Yet, the timer showed that both shooters had fired and hit their targets. The time separating Dozer and Taliban Dan was only three hundredths of a second ! WOW, what a final!! Dozer was the winner, but only by a blink of an eye.

We have scheduled another Cowboy Fast Draw Match in late June, and I suspect Taliban Dan is going to be back for a little revenge! I hope so, as it sure was a fun final to watch!