First Match

[Arcey]

'Preciate ya postin' the old P.E.C. graphic, Marshal.

[Marauder]

I'd shot at a couple matches at Lone Star Shooting Society but had a year or so between them due to Sunday commitments.  I finally got really hooked and wanted to shoot as often as I could.  So there was a small club in South Dallas that I went to with my one Uberti, one Blackhawk, a Rossi carbine and 20 gauge SxS Stoeger.

I was doing pretty well and having a great time.  Then on about the third stage, I shoot my pistols, then my rifle.  Picked up my shotgun, loaded it up and went Clcik, CLick.  What?  I opened the gun and it was empty!!. 
I quickly looked around wondering, "What happened to those shells??!!!"
Loaded up two more and was starting to close the action when I noticed, where did THOSE two go!

They were way down that barrel.  So I pointed the barrels up and out came four shotgun shells.
So we all stopped and I finally realized that when we were talking, I'd pickup up someone elses Stoeger and it was a 12 gauge. 

They do all look alike!

We had a good laugh about it on the CAS-L.  Didn't realize then that the Marshal hadn't had a chance to compete yet.

[Camille Eonich]

See Marshal'ette...everybody is nervous on at their first match.  Strap on them guns and get to shootin' with the Marshal!


I said with him....Not at him!!!!

[Tensleep]

My first match was in June of '97, put together thing in the middle of a field. Only two folks had ever shot a match, they were trying to get the rest of us hooked.
I showed up with a Colt DA, a Taurus DA, an orginal 92 in 25.20 and a Ithaca model 37 pump.
I missed a lot of targets, took my P's like a man and had a ball.
The weather was hot and there was no shade. Eleven people shot the match, well, we shot 4 of 6 stages that had been planned before heat exhaustion set in. Took me over two hours to rehydrate and get rid of the cramps when I got home.

That was enough to hook me. A friend and I started to build a range on my farm and the rest is history. CAS is my passion.

I have met the best people and had as much fun as I could possibly have shooting with Arcey, Lucky Bill, Dakota and too many more to mention.

The CAS L was our school and we learned from all the pards, thanks Marshal.

To my "daughter" Cammy, thanks for this thread darlin'. Brings back lots of memories.

[Marshal'ette Halloway]

See Marshal'ette...everybody is nervous on at their first match.  Strap on them guns and get to shootin' with the Marshal!


I said with him....Not at him!!!!

Dang it~
There's always a catch! I suppose that part about NOT shootin' at your husband is in the rule book?

[Big John Denny]

It sure is. I just penned it in.

[Micheal Fortune]

It sure is. I just penned it in.

Well BJD, I wish you would of told my first two wifes about that rule................

[Pukin Dog]

Let see, for my first match all I had were a couple of C & B pistols (A Walker and a Dragoon to boot!!), a '73 Win bought used that I had never shot yet and a borrowed shotgun which also of course had never shot.

So I'm shooting Frontiersman (still the toughest class to shoot in my humble opinion, I shoot FCD now) with 2 of the biggest dang pistols you can find and with 2 long guns I'd never shot yet!

Funny thing is though, I wasn't nervous at all!  I thought I would be but had told myself that the first rule was to just shoot safely and accurately.  So I wasn't concerned with impressing anybody with my speed or skills.  That seemed to work.  I did well but was in the bottom of the rankings, but man did I have fun.

You'll have a great time too!  Just have fun the first time, and worry about competition later.

[bobby twohorse]

Loved reading the stories of everyone's first match, hopefully in a couple of weeks I can give you mine. Yalls stories have made me feel a little better about my up and coming first match, been looking forward to it but a little nerveous. So far I have my outfit and have bought a matched set of Remm. Outlaws in 45 colt, a 92 in 45 colt and a stoger side by side, all I am waiting for is my leather which should be here by the end of the month. Shot rifles most of my life but very little experiance with pistols. I have been to the local shoots a couple of times to watch but have yet to step up to the plate and shoot a match, will let yall know how it comes out."shaking in my Boots"

[Sod Buster]

Loved reading the stories of everyone's first match, hopefully in a couple of weeks I can give you mine.

Bobby,
Where are you located?

Good Luck at your first match. 

[Marshal Halloway]

.....will let yall know how it comes out."shaking in my Boots"

We are all looking forward to hearing about your first experience. As I say to the first timers being a little embarassed about their first shooting appearance and maybe a few misses:

Well, you had a few misses, but dang, you did it with style. 

Have fun and be safe, that's what counts here.

[Lou Graham]

Well, lessee... about 5 years ago I knew all the range safety rules and could put a few holes in paper with a 9mm and a bolt action rifle as long as someone that knew what they were doing was with me to help if anything malfunctioned.
It was boring.
I was afraid of shotguns.
I had never been in any kind of competition, just plinking at the gun club.

I joined SASS without Wonnerful Hubby as he didn't think at the time that sort of think was his style.  He helped me pick my guns and gear and showed me how to operate it all.  I practiced for several months, loading, shooting and unloading as instructed in the rule book.

My first stage of my first match is etced in memory for forever.  Snake Eyes Frank was the kind and helpful RO that saw me through my first stage.  Pistols - clean, move, shotgun - clean, climb onto horse and shoot rifle. Panic -- I've never shot sitting!   Can I do this?  Jump on horse, pick up rifle, bang- clang, bang-clang.  I CAN do it!  I AM doing it! bang-clang I'm doing it! bang-clang I'm not a bystander, I'm DOING this! bang-clang bang-clang bang-clang Yipee! bang-clang bang-clang Lookit me, I'm doing it! bang-no-clang.  I missed the last shot on the last gun 'cause by then I was shaking quite a lot and grinning from ear to ear.  I was VERY slow, deliberate and careful.  Everybody cheered and clapped.  After all, they had a new lady shooter, kinda rare at that time here.

[Camille Eonich]

Yalls stories have made me feel a little better about my up and coming first match, been looking forward to it but a little nerveous.

YAY!  Then it is serving it's purpose. 


Welcome to the game....you may think that you are hooked now but wait until after you get that first stage past you.

[Irish Red O'Toole]

Wel about three years ago Christmas, my brother comes over and gives me a HUGE box and a little box as presents.  Inside the little box was his old Blackhawk .45 Colt and in the HUGE one was a compete set of cowboy duds.  Now I had no reason not to shoot.  So we picked a Saturday shoot and he drove out to get me (60 miles out of his way!!) at 6AM.  I was so excited that I was up at 5AM waiting for him.  When we got to the match, I had to borrow everything but a belt.  Well the good pards at the Cajon Cowboys took real good care of me.  I was loaned guns (other than my new Blackhawk) and holsters and off I went.  I hung back and watched the first half dozen or so people shoot then my brother came over and said "load up".  THAT got my knees shaking.  I loaded my borrowed guns so slowly I thought the sun would go down before I was done.  Anyway, I finally got up to shoot.  I had a pretty good idea what to shoot and when.  The timer buzeed in my ear and off I went.  I don't remember thinking about the people behind me or anything.  But when I was done, I looked at the spotters.  They all indicated I shot it clean!  As I was walking past one of the ultra fast guys, I heard him muttering, "new shooter my a$$!!"  That made me walk just a few feet off the ground for the rest of the day.

[Russ T Chambers]

My first shoot was so long ago I don't even want to think about dates.  It was at Lake Elsinore in Southern California.  I was living in Oceanside at the time, and had one used SAA.  I read about End of Trail in Guns and Ammo, and thought about going to it (good thing other events intervened, and I didn't make it), I wasn't anywhere near prepared for even the low key event it was back then!
A little later I got in contact with Bill and Dorothy Hahn.  They put on a shoot at Elsinore, and by now I had acquired a rifle.  Dorothy was kind enough to load me a shotgun (I got my own Rossi coach gun at the end of the match from a shooter who was going to be more competitive by getting a '97).
To be honest, I don't remember the details of my shooting, other than being scared to death of dropping a gun, or making any other stupid safety oops.
I do remember after the first stage, I realized I probably wasn't the total klutz I thought I was going to be, and really allowed myself to enjoy the people, the shooting and the closeness that a bunch of cowboy shooters exude when they get together.
I still have the shooter's badge from that shoot, (honestly I didn't know Bill wanted them back at the time), and I wouldn't trade it for all fifteen consecutive EOT badges since then.

[Camille Eonich]

Ok we got a bunch of new members here now.  Let's hear your stories.

[Arcey]

Got my first shoot comin' up Saturday.  Can't wait!

[Russ T Chambers]

Got my first shoot comin' up Saturday.  Can't wait!

Arcey
Don't ya know ya can go to hell  for lyin' just as quick as ya canfor stealin'. 

[Camille Eonich]

Got my first shoot comin' up Saturday.  Can't wait!

Yer a mess! 

[Arcey]

Awwwww c'mon, y'all.  It's my first shoot this week........................

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