Columnist Barb Henderson: Cowboy Action Shooters have a bang-up time in ‘Utah War’

Barb Henderson

Friday, Aug. 20, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.

The Cowboy Action Shooters competed in the "Utah War" shooting event about 10 miles East of Park City, Utah, last weekend.

I was unable to make it up to Park City due to an outdoor assignment here in the Silver State, but Cowboy Action Shooters Hick and Marshall Sackett were kind enough to share all of the cowboy action that had taken place.

To hear them tell it, the Utah weather was perfect, giving a great western backdrop for the cowboy shoot.

There were 40 RVers who enjoyed cool evenings under starlit skies. The pot luck Dutch oven dinners were extremely popular, offering a real cowboy treat -- eating "out on the range."

"All in all we had a great time," said Marshall Sackett, the match director.

Approximately 170 cowboys and cowgirls competed at stations that had been set up with the old West in mind.

Seventeen of the shooters were from Nevada with the rest of the shooters representing Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota,Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Each shooter has a cowboy alias. The shooters participating from Nevada were known as: Diamond Jim Bandy, Swayback Duke, Dutch Dalton, Madd Mike, Sasparilla Sal Vashum, Cheyenne Dawn, Desert Rose, Early Dawn, Livi Langtry, Nellis Blue, Blackhawk Willy, Hick, Buffalo Sam, Suski Pete, Nevada Stampede, Know Justice and Rafe Covington.

The even is based on the 19th century West. The western shooting enthusiasts shoot at silhouette metal targets while dressed in cowboy garb, boots and cowboy hats, using firearms typical of those used to tame the West -- single-action revolvers, lever-action rifles and side-by-side double-barreled or lever-action shotguns.

During the shoots, safety and proper handling of firearms play important roles.

Nevada shooters placed as follows:

Within the top 10 shooters, Madd Mike placed seventh and Diamond Jim Brandy ninth.

"We were glad to let our friends from Nevada take home some trophies and look forward to coming down to Eldorado 2004 and the next Utah/Nevada War to take more back," said Marshall Sackett. "We really appreciate all the help and support we have had from our southern neighbors."

Eldorado 2004 will be for the Nevada State Cowboy Championship. It is scheduled to take place from Sept. 30 through Oct. 3 in Boulder City.

Marshall Sackett said the second annual Utah War was a success and that plans for next year's event are already in the works, with the theme "Movie Westerns -- Tom Mix to Wyatt Earp."

There are nine Cowboy Action Shooters clubs in Nevada: Silver City Shooters Society, Desert Desperados, Nevada Rangers, Eldorado Cowboys, Pahrump Cowboys, Roop County Cowboys Shooters Association, Silver State Shootists, Barb D Hombres and High Plains Drifters.

Should you have a hankering to find out more about the western spirit of the groups in Nevada, visit www.nevadacas.com. For more information on the Utah War visit www.utahwar.com.