I'd join NCOWS, but....

[Virgil Lantey]

...the nearest posse is 1200 miles away! Needless to say,  I've never even seen an NCOWS match.
I'm wondering if some of you might be willing to describe some typical stages of fire that your group shoots, i.e. target sizes, target distances, etc. Armed with this information and the Tally Book I can possibly set up some courses of fire for my own practice that would comply with NCOWS rules.
It would be much appreciated!

[Abilene]

Howdy H,
I had an interest in NCOWS for 20 years before I joined.  I should have earlier simply because I like what they stand for.  There is a club a mere 315 miles from me, and I WILL make it up there for a match this year.  I conversed with one of their members via PMs and got an idea of what the matches are like.  But you know, there are bazillions of youtube videos of SASS (I just put up 30 of them in the past month  ), but not near as many of NCOWS, and lots of them not recent.  But there are certainly enough to see to get an idea of the variety of stages at different places.  The first NCOWS video I just clicked on was from a Nationals and the pistol targets were big and close, which surprised me.  But other videos show some more challenge.

[Virgil Lantey]

Good idea, Abilene, I'll search for some videos.
I dabbled in the SASS game...not my cup 'o tea.
Like you, I appreciate the NCOWS standards.

[River City John]

I would love to offer some more examples of stages I've written, but I'm off traveling to the NCOWS Convention in a few minutes, and I will be away from my computer.
Target placement is really more a function of each range's dimensions available. Farther distance is better, with emphasis on the need to use those sights rather than close enough to point shoot.

This one got me into a little hot water:

           "THE LEGEND OF 'YODELING EUSTIS' AND HIS FRONTIER JUSTICE "

     "There is a story told along the cattle trails of a cowboy whose honesty, steadfastness and skill when riding herd made him the darling of every Trail Boss. A cattle drive was guaranteed profitable if they could hire on this drover. There were fewer beef lost along the journey, higher prices than anticipated offered at trail's end, . . .why even Cookie's grub seemed to improve!
He was known as 'Yodeling Eustis'. He claimed the secret of his success, and hence his moniker, was that his yodeling held a powerful spell over man and beast.

     Now our story takes place at the lazy end of summer two years after the locusts, but several years before the great blizzard. It was the year of that devil twister, if you'll remember.
 We find our Hero enjoying some well-earned entertainments at the railhead town after the end of another cattle drive. And these entertainments included whisky, a fine cigar, and a turn at the gaming tables. But unbeknownst to our Friend he had fallen into a crooked game run by an impecunious, vile, most foul. . . .Well!, if you knew half of what I've heard, the less said the better.
     This rake and his cronies thought they had stumbled on easy pickings, and grew smug and discourteous because they believed they would easily cheat our Innocent out of his entire poke.
     But our Pride 'n' Joy was no one's fool, and soon after discovering their deceit he rose to his feet to call their bet. He drew iron and looked them square in the eye.

     And then he began to yodel."


( No shotgun.)
 
Set up the stage with the targets at different ranges, enough to offer increasing degrees of difficulty, from easy to "you gotta be kiddin'!" Assign an increasing point value as they go up in difficulty.
Then play the stage as if it was a hand of poker. NO TIMER USED. Each shooter plays against the other members of their posse. THERE ARE NO MISSES, and each target must be hit ONCE in ascending order. Once a shooter misses, or shoots a target out of order, they're out of the game for that stage. Draw cards to determine the first shooter. Each shooter builds their point score starting with the first target. When they reach a point level where they're comfortable it's going to be hard to best, they can stand pat and let the next shooter have their turn. If a subsequent shooter raises the best score, those who have not been eliminated can try to beat that new score by starting on the next target from the one where they had left off. 

There could be a lot of flexibility when setting target arrangement and to assign which firearm to be used when engaging groups of targets.
Here's the 'wild card'. All shooters must yodel while engaging their targets.

And the scoring?
It's winner takes all, so the winner has their final point score REMOVED from their overall match time as a bonus. All other posse members have the winning score ADDED to their overall time.
So there is a real incentive to not miss.

[St. George]

Contact 'Books O'Toole' - he has all you might need to start your own posse and it isn't as difficult as one would think.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Virgil Lantey]

I've entertained that idea, and it's still a possibility, but the biggest hurdle would probably be the requirement for a minimum number of members. I live in rural western Montana and finding 10, let alone the 20 required for insurance coverage, might be next to impossible but I'm still exploring that option.

[Navy Six]

I'm in the same situation--no NCOWS matches anywhere near me. However, I have been a member for almost 20 years and enjoy receiving "The Shootist" as the articles are interesting and I like to hear their prospective on things related to our activities. I am also an active SASS member but find the historical aspects of NCOWS very appealing.

[Cliff Fendley]

Heres one that Bowiemaker put up 10 years ago and it seams like just yesterday. He has other videos too

[Snake Oil]

I have a couple videos of my kiddos taking turns... here is my channel...

https://youtube.com/channel/UCPQw4BDW-Uyry4z6dZqQgIw

I hope to catch a few more stages tomorrow!