Out east of Bend, playing cowboy is all the fun

Lots of kids play at being a real, rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ cowboy. Some just never outgrow it — and don’t really have to.

Twice a month, the Horse Ridge Pistoleros meet up at the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association, 24 miles east of Bend.

Affiliated with the Single Action Shooting Society, the group competes against the clock to test speed and accuracy in cowboy action shooting.

One of the five founders, Don “Big Casino” Emerson, says “there’s no money awards, the win is just bragging rights so we just have a good time.”

It’s a simple course: two pistols, one rifle and five rounds against steel targets. Each round is set up in a different order, and time is added if you miss a target.

“We just do it because we like it,” says Mick “Mojave Mick” Howard.. “We grew up enjoying and appreciating the old Westerns and the Western history, and we all like the old guns. It just gives us a chance to play cowboy again, except with real guns.”

The guns, the gear and backdrop wouldn’t be official without a cowboy or cowgirl name. Tequila Rosie, Cactus John, Sunrise Bill, Wildcat Annie, Rusty Ranchero, Big Casino and Pinky Dark City Kid are just to name a few already taken by this group.

You can learn a lot more, including when and how to take part, at the Pistoleros’ Website, at http://www.hrp-sass.com/