Shootout at Cavern Cove 2023

April 29, 2023

With so many cowboy matches being done over the years, there is really only a few pieces of source material that haven't been done before is a theme for a major match.

Barkeep Casey and I being the ever so imaginative ones went back and tried to find some source material that had never been done before at a cowboy match. That's when we stumbled upon the idea of Stagecoach!

Based on the 1980 comedy spoof Airplane!, the source material was one of my favorites, and I've seen it numerous times. It was one of those movies that sometimes would be played late on a Saturday night, back when we only had four television stations available to us at night. I hope that we've pulled off the underlying thematics of the movie very well. What makes this even funnier is that we are spoofing a movie that in itself was a spoof of another movie.

When putting the shooter's book together, I was struggling to come up with the cover. I had one already done, and it was good. But it wasn't great. That's when I stumbled on a piece of artwork. We use the full artwork on some of the promotion material that went out before the match, but as I was doing edits to the book, I stumbled upon what ended up being the final version of the cover. The zoomed in look at the source subject that ended up being the final version really portrays the theme as well as the original poster for the movie.

As far as the match goes, this is as big and close as we've ever done. I say that knowing that a month prior to the match, a whole host of new 18x24 targets and stands were delivered to the range. These new additions are only made possible by the attendance and support that we've received from Shootout and Ambush over the years.

The awards are special this year as well. I was sitting on the couch one afternoon sketching out and idea for the awards. I sent a text to Barkeep Casey not knowing that he was searching for information on creating new awards as well. We took my idea and digital design, and his execution knowhow and labor, and came up with one of the best awards for state champions that this club has ever done. I hope y'all like them as well as we like putting them together.

For those of you who do not keep up with me on Instagram, or follow the news of the North Alabama Regulators, you may be surprised when you find out that this match is the last one for me to put together. I hope it ends up being as good as I planned it to be, and I appreciate you all being there.

Perhaps this change for me will help free up some time for some other things that I've neglected over the past several years. But, no matter what happens, I hope to see you out there on The Firing Line.

Ambush at Cavern Cove 2022 Preview

September 22, 2022

The world has changed a lot since last year's Ambush. An ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continue to keep fuel prices at all-time highs. The stock market entered a steep downward slide with no end in sight. Reloading components continue to be scarce.

The world of Cowboy Action Shooting has changed a lot, too. With the World Championships moving to Arizona in the spring and the National Championships moving to Oklahoma in the fall, many other events on the cowboy action shooting calendar had to pivot as well in order to accommodate the new normal. Ambush was no exception. With Land Run moving to the weekend before Ambush, the North Alabama Regulators decided to separate their dates some, moving Ambush back to the "traditional" date - the first weekend in October.

Personally, we are all affected by change. Some years provide bigger changes than others. Myself, I saw a son graduating high school and starting his career, found myself changing careers (again) and deciding that I needed to finish something I started almost 15 years ago.

While my personal struggles to find time to balance between family, work, personal/professional development, and what is supposed to be a hobby continues daily, I have worked on one thing for the past 12 months that has not changed...my commitment to making Ambush the best match that I can. In that, I also realize that there is only one thing that is in my control, and that is why you are here in the first place...the stages...

As many of you are aware, last year's Ambush was the grand finale of the Range Wars trilogy. While there are so many other stories that we could have told in the Range Wars universe, I wanted to seek out a new theme and direction for the match. With so many Ambush matches that have previously taken place, I struggled to find an epic western to draw inspiration from. It was Barkeep Casey who challenged me to boldly go where no CAS match has gone before and, thus, we present to you A Million Ways to Die in the West.

While the source material for our epic adventure has changed, my formula for the stages has not. Ten fun-filled stages drawing folks from throughout the Best Region in SASS and beyond to the foothills of the Appalachian mountains for a weekend where we - if nothing else - can forget about all that other stuff going on in the world.

If you're reading this before the match is over and have not signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Consider this your personal invitation to join us as we each take the stage and find out if there truly are A Million Ways to Die in the West.

We again offer a video walk through of the stages for all to enjoy. Maybe, after that catches on, we can do away with the walk through on the range.

Hope to see you out there on The Firing Line.