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.

Shootout at Cavern Cove 2022 Preview

April 24, 2022

As I sit down to write this, steel is moving about on the range in preparation for our third Shootout.

While last year's match was promoted as "big and close," I always had misgivings about calling it that. We only have so many targets, and those are the same targets that we use for every monthly and annual match. So, while we don't use targets smaller than 16" square during Shootout, we don't do that at other matches, either.

And last year's Shootout was written for a specific purpose with a specific feel to the stages. While we pulled the steel in a couple of feet, I always felt that there is more to a match that promotes itself as "big and close" than just dropping pistol steel at 10 feet and rifle steel at 15 feet.

Folks who shoot a "big and close" match have other expectations about the shooting sequences,movement, as well as the size and location of the steel.

And, I'll be honest, I don't have much experience shooting "big and close" matches, let alone writing them.

All that being said, this year's Shooter's Book was designed from the ground up as my first attempt at a true "big and close" match. While I am still struggling with how to do it, I hope that the ten stage offering pleases all y'all.

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 you enjoy this year's match, and, we'll see you on The Firing Line!