Cowboy Action Shooting in Billings, Montana

We woke up to a cool, overcast and breezy morning. We arrived at the Billings Rod and Gun Club yesterday and this is where our "new front yard" will be for the next 2 days. 

The reason I don't compete is because I don't want to get up at the crack of dawn and I can stay in bed where it is toasty warm. 

For those of you who do not know about Cowboy Action Shooting, I will sum it up with the help of Wikipedia. CAS is a type 3-gun match that uses a combination of pistol's, rifle and shotgun. They are from the western era and can be the "Real McCoy" or replica's. The pistol's are single action revolvers, the rifle is a pistol caliber lever action and shotgun can be either a double barrel or a Model 97 pump shotgun.

Participants must dress in period correct clothing from the era. You will see anything from Old West, Victorian, Mexican period dress and even B-Movie cowboy dress such as Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy.

Participants select an "alias" out of the Old West or something with "old west flair" such as Dead Horse Dan, Dirty Darla, Shady Lady, Lead Poison Larry, Tall Texan, Sod Buster and etc. Many are very creative. Some use the real names of the famous and colorful characters of the west. They can be gunfighters, soiled doves, Indians, saloon girls, Sheriff's, Marshal's, Judge's and soldiers. The names are then registered with S.A.S.S. which stands for Single Action Shooting Society. No one can use that name once it is registered. Ralph's name is "Lefty Rhodes". He is a left handed and Rhodes comes from part of his last name.


Competition involves different shooting scenarios and at each stage you use all your firearms. The targets are metal and placed at all kinds of distances and are usually different shapes and sizes. Some move and spin like that of an arcade. 

It is a timed event and misses add 5 seconds to your time, safety and procedural violations can add 10 seconds. National and World Championships can attract over 700 competitors.

Top shooter's can shoot their single action pistol faster than people can shoot an automatic. Electronic timers are used so first and second place can be the difference of a fraction of a second.

The first day of competition Lefty had several misses. Sometimes he is on his game and other times not so much. Maybe tomorrow he can redeem himself. But he loves this sport and has a fun time no matter what.

Janna my mentor who for the last 2 long, long days has been trying to teach me to do a blog. This is my maiden voyage to do it with out her standing over me with that ruler hovering over my knuckles! I hope she will be proud that I did not flunk out.

Happy Trials, Angela

Happy Hour

Our last night here on the ranch with Mike and Janna. Janna has been a great teacher but I think in her past life she was a nun because I almost got my knuckles whacked with the RULER.  But then again in my past life I was probably one of those remedial students. I will miss them and Emmi. Here we are enjoying Happy Hour.

Pendleton Round Up Adventure

Early September we went to the Pendleton Rodeo in Pendleton, Oregon. We spent about 10 days there. We visited the Pendleton Hall of Fame and Museum, several Saddle Makers

and the famous Pendleton Woolen Mills. I always wanted a Pendleton Blanket and I bought the Blanket called “Celebration of the Horse”. It is beautiful and fits right in with our western and Native American décor.

The Pendleton Hall of Fame was great and we spent several hours in there. There was a famous saddle bronc named War Paint who bucked off about 90 percent of his riders. He was a bucking horse for 20 years and he won the title “Bucking Horse of the Year” title in 1956, 1957 and 1958. He was a pinto and was the first horse inducted into the Pendleton Hall of Fame. He was retired and died in 1974 and a taxidermist preserved the body.

The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo and it was started in 1910. We watched the athletic and brave cowboys participate in saddle bronc riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, wild cow milking, team roping and the breath taking Indian relay races. The cowgirls did their exciting barrel racing.

During Round-Up week, we rode our bikes to Stillman Park, the VFW put on a wonderful and delicious all you can eat pancake breakfast that included eggs and a huge slice of tasty ham, plus coffee, tea and juice.

There were several vendors around the rodeo grounds that we visited and I bought some nice things that were made by Native American’s for Our Rolling Ranch House.

We were told by Oregonian’s that we had to stop by Hamley and Co.  The Hamley family history goes back many generations to Cornwall England, where the trade of saddle and leather craftsmanship had been passed down through the Hamley generation. They built quality handmade harness, saddles, bridles and other gear for working cowboys. They have provided many Trophy saddles for rodeo world champions. 

After deaths and retirements of the last of the Hamley’s, a pair of working cowboys bought the business, trademark and the Hamley name.

They have continued the tradition of fine craftsmanship of handmade saddles, bridles, chaps, spurs, western wear and gear. Museum quality artwork, paintings, sculptures and bronzes can be seen throughout the 2 floors of their huge shop.

In 2007 they opened the Hamley Steakhouse and Saloon next door. The western décor was breathtaking. We started off at the Saloon for happy hour and had the best time with our bartender Randy, he was very personable and you could not have asked for a better bartender. You could tell he loved working there. I love anything hot and spicy so our bartender made me a jalapeno mango margarita. DELICOUS!

After a bit, we headed over to the dining room where we met our waiter Jeff. He was great and this was one of the best steak dinners I’ve ever had.  During our meal, the manager even came over to ask us how everything was. This was by far an impressive place to eat. Only the best quality meat is served here.

Before we headed out, I stopped in the ladies room. Oh was I happy I had my iPhone. There was beautiful artwork throughout the ladies room of tastefully done nude men. I was in there for a while needless to say.

We are happy to share our adventures with family and friends. Happy Trails!

Visiting With Our Montana Ranching Friends

Here are our wonderful Montana friends Michael and his wife Janna. We met them in 2003 in Arizona while they were RV-ing and hit it off. Our trails have crossed several times and we have been able to visit each other around the country. We spent 2 months on their ranch in 2007 as honorary ranch hands. We are enjoying a delicious steak dinner on their deck that overlooks a nice babbling brook.
While passing through Spokane, WA. we stopped to visit our friend Mary and her dog Maybelline. We met her and her late husband Gene the same time we met Michael and Janna. They were all competitive “Cowboy Action Shooters” and we were camped at a range for a competition in Arizona.




While passing through Spokane, WA. we stopped to visit our friend Mary and her dog Maybelline. We met her and her late husband Gene the same time we met Michael and Janna. They were all competitive “Cowboy Action Shooters” and we were camped at a range for a competition in Arizona.

This is only my second blog post, we will see how this goes!