Cowboys and Furtrappers

Ziplok · November 9, 2001, 01:50 PM

I'm not one to put on a costume to go shooting, but I have to admit, those who do...usually decked out like 1870's cowboys or 1830's bever trappers, are an impressive collection when gatherd in groups of a dozen or more, military reenacters are _Truly_ impressive, as they tend to move and fire as organized units.

There's one armed group that preceeded and superceeded the groups mentioned above that I haven't seen organized as a competetive shooting sport...FARMERS!

The majority of the US
population was rural and were shooting pests, predetors, indians, outlaws, and always, meat for the pot.

Most of the trappers, cowpunchers and soldiers were farmers or at least came from farms, that's where most of our past population lived and were taught to shoot.
How come no "Farmer" shooting sports?

jpm63 · November 9, 2001, 02:51 PM

There is one shoot I know of which represents this type of shooter. That is the Sgt. York shoot held every year at the site of his old family farm. The young Mr. York learned to shoot as a farmer's son and won many local shoot prizes. The competition trys to recreate the type of ML shoots he participated in.

If you never have, read his biography. Good for 10 - 15 year old kids too!

JPM

Cap n ball · November 9, 2001, 03:10 PM

I can see it now....accuracy and speed with a 12ga. load of buck or salt depending upon if the popup target was a traveling salesman or a kid raiding the melon patch or egg-sucking dog. Difficulty points depending upon starting position, asleep or in the out house or in the field. Sounds fun. Would overalls and straw hats be mandatory?

Wildwilley · November 9, 2001, 07:32 PM

I belong to a group of fellas who are just what your talking about.
We emulate the rangers of the 18th century frontier. The everyday guy. We don't have flashy rifles or smothbore muskets and we don't have flashy uniforms.
But we got skills...
Twice a year we have open compitition shoots which practice our woodskills, markmenship, and knowlege of history.
The first is Rangerquest, it's based in the time period of the French and Indian War. You may have to navigate through the woods by landmark or compass. Find hidden contraband like powder, lead, or food then shoot at hidden targets and make it back to camp without being wounded or killed. This takes approx. one whole weekend and it's a hoot.
We extend the invite to all those who dress the time period and live the entire weekend, "primitave." (We even have a primitave keg of ale for the end of the quest.)
Over all we have had up to 25 guys at a time and everyone has had a great time.
The second shooting event is based in the time of the American Revolution. We call it Shuetzenfest.
Again it's a "farmer" based shoot. The German/Dutch settlers of Eastern Pennsylvania, would take down tavern signs that would have made reference to the British Empire and use them for shootin' matches. Usually a cow was the prize and the best shot took the cow.
We carry on that compitition by having fancy tavern sign type targets painted. Bullseyes are hidden in the artwork and you draw straws to see who shoots which one. These today are money matches with the target as part of the prize.
We held our first one last year and had better than 20 shooters attend. It's common to have 50 or better out in Eastern Pennsylvania.
The prize money can really run up and the targets can get pretty fancy.
But these are farmer based shoots.
As for the A. York shoot. It's percussion and you better be dang good. A rifle builder friend of mine has got em' shooting flinters now. It's a great shoot.
We could use a few new "farmer" type shoots out there. There fun and less expensive than most other types of compitition.

November 9, 2001, 01:50 PM	#1
Ziplok Senior Member Join Date: October 27, 2001 Location: California Foothills Posts: 100	Cowboys and Furtrappers I'm not one to put on a costume to go shooting, but I have to admit, those who do...usually decked out like 1870's cowboys or 1830's bever trappers, are an impressive collection when gatherd in groups of a dozen or more, military reenacters are _Truly_ impressive, as they tend to move and fire as organized units. There's one armed group that preceeded and superceeded the groups mentioned above that I haven't seen organized as a competetive shooting sport...FARMERS! The majority of the US population was rural and were shooting pests, predetors, indians, outlaws, and always, meat for the pot. Most of the trappers, cowpunchers and soldiers were farmers or at least came from farms, that's where most of our past population lived and were taught to shoot. How come no "Farmer" shooting sports? __________________ Our third-rate snivilization..... There is something even more valuable to civilization than wisdom...and that is character.

November 9, 2001, 02:51 PM	#2
jpm63 Member Join Date: March 26, 2001 Location: Michigan Posts: 75	Sgt. York Shoot There is one shoot I know of which represents this type of shooter. That is the Sgt. York shoot held every year at the site of his old family farm. The young Mr. York learned to shoot as a farmer's son and won many local shoot prizes. The competition trys to recreate the type of ML shoots he participated in. If you never have, read his biography. Good for 10 - 15 year old kids too! JPM

November 9, 2001, 07:32 PM	#4
Wildwilley Member Join Date: September 29, 2001 Location: Southwest Pennsylvania Posts: 51	Rangers I belong to a group of fellas who are just what your talking about. We emulate the rangers of the 18th century frontier. The everyday guy. We don't have flashy rifles or smothbore muskets and we don't have flashy uniforms. But we got skills... Twice a year we have open compitition shoots which practice our woodskills, markmenship, and knowlege of history. The first is Rangerquest, it's based in the time period of the French and Indian War. You may have to navigate through the woods by landmark or compass. Find hidden contraband like powder, lead, or food then shoot at hidden targets and make it back to camp without being wounded or killed. This takes approx. one whole weekend and it's a hoot. We extend the invite to all those who dress the time period and live the entire weekend, "primitave." (We even have a primitave keg of ale for the end of the quest.) Over all we have had up to 25 guys at a time and everyone has had a great time. The second shooting event is based in the time of the American Revolution. We call it Shuetzenfest. Again it's a "farmer" based shoot. The German/Dutch settlers of Eastern Pennsylvania, would take down tavern signs that would have made reference to the British Empire and use them for shootin' matches. Usually a cow was the prize and the best shot took the cow. We carry on that compitition by having fancy tavern sign type targets painted. Bullseyes are hidden in the artwork and you draw straws to see who shoots which one. These today are money matches with the target as part of the prize. We held our first one last year and had better than 20 shooters attend. It's common to have 50 or better out in Eastern Pennsylvania. The prize money can really run up and the targets can get pretty fancy. But these are farmer based shoots. As for the A. York shoot. It's percussion and you better be dang good. A rifle builder friend of mine has got em' shooting flinters now. It's a great shoot. We could use a few new "farmer" type shoots out there. There fun and less expensive than most other types of compitition. __________________ Wild Willy

November 9, 2001, 03:10 PM	#3
Cap n ball Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2000 Posts: 247	I can see it now....accuracy and speed with a 12ga. load of buck or salt depending upon if the popup target was a traveling salesman or a kid raiding the melon patch or egg-sucking dog. Difficulty points depending upon starting position, asleep or in the out house or in the field. Sounds fun. Would overalls and straw hats be mandatory?