SHOOT! Magazine Editorial - EOT SPECIAL EDITION 2004

An Introduction to the End Of Trail 2004 Annual Edition

My Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) badge number isn't as low as many, but at 9,068 you can tell I have been involved in cowboy action shooting for a while.  It is a sport that I knew I wanted to get into as soon as I heard about it.  Since starting Shoot! Magazine in June of '99 (the first issue, Volume 1, was October/November 1999) I have become familiar with and participated in most of the sports I include within the term Western-action shooting.  These include cowboy action, black powder cartridge rifle silhouette, lever-action silhouette, buffalo matches, cowboy fast draw, and side match events such as fastest shotgun fastest rifle, fastest pistol, derringer, .22s, long-range rifle and pistol, cowboy skeet and trap, and others.  I am planning to enter a world fast draw event within the next year and though I haven't competed in mounted shooting yet, I have ridden a course and intend to compete at least once.

Over the years I have heard stories of events, both good and bad, read and listened and even written some about conflicts regarding clothes, club policies, types of guns, calibers, loads, classes and categories, vendors, spirit-of-the-game, and history.  Many times, as I have had my ear to the speaker or eye on the printed word, these conversations have been oriented towards how SASS controls too much of cowboy action shooting and on occasion runs rough shod over clubs, vendors, and rules, and is only doing it to make money.  I believe this to be an unfair and biased evaluation that needs to be rethought.  And yes, there was a time when SHOOT! Magazine didn't have the best of relationships with SASS, though we have an excellent one now. 

SHOOT! maintains an extremely impartial role, and I believe an objective one, regarding clubs, organizations, gun manufacturers, advertisers, and vendors.  We try to assist each as much as we can, and there are times when opportunities and circumstances allow us to do so to a larger degree and help promote an organization or company.  Promoting Western-action shooting, our history, moral, and ethical values that have grown out of settling the West, and the 2nd amendment are specific objectives of the magazine (along with providing the staff a forum for doing something they love.)  

SASS and the Wild Bunch (old and new) are responsible for bringing this sport and the spirit-of-the-game to life!  It is still the fastest growing shooting sport and attracts people of all ages and all backgrounds.  This sport provides a venue for bringing the anti-gun individual into a world they never imagined, and being able to turn an attitude filled with prejudice and fear into one of fun and enjoyment involving firearms.  It provides a positive image for firearms for the young and old.  In fact, due to the many contributions that SASS has provided over the years, I believe it is probably the most important organization to impact the firearm industry since the National Rifle Association was founded.  It is an organization that could have only succeeded as a business, and the Wild Bunch should be commended for what they have produced.  Each and every member of SASS that promotes the sport, safety, and doing the right thing, should also be commended.

Supporting SASS is a must-do activity.  Just as supporting the NRA is.  It is the right thing to do regardless of whether you agree with every single rule or not, for this is not the question.  No organization, club, or business will be able to make all of the people happy all of the time.  Look at what they have done and are continuing to do to support not only your sport, but the proliferation of the idea that it is okay to talk about shooting and own a firearm.  SASS has and is doing something special in providing all of us an activity that we can enjoy for years, and a group of friends that will stand by us.  This is an organization that I am proud to be a member of.  If you aren't a member you should join, even if you don't participate in the events.

End Of Trail is the culmination of a year's worth of shooting and preparation leading up to this World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting.  It is an event that is not only for world championship shooting, but a time to celebrate the Old West, to have fun, and bring your children and grandchildren to.  It is an experience, and I hope for each of you that attend, a welcome one.

Join me now in enjoying this second SHOOT! Magazine Special Edition of End Of Trail.  This is an edition where I hope we have provided you with the feeling and perspective of what EOT is all about, along with a series of some of the best photographs and articles on those that attended.

Please send your comments to editor@shootmagazine.com, or you can post your comments on the
SHOOT! MAGAZINE BLOG or SHOOT! MAGAZINE FORUM.

View the Table of Contents for this issue, order this issue on the SHOOT! Mercantile.