Ambush at Cavern Cove 2007

April 05, 2021

Held October 3-7, the 2007 Ambush at Cavern Cove continued to reinvent itself in its eleventh iteration. Mercifully, the costume contest was shortened and now only covers two pages of the shooter's book.

While the schedule looks like it added a day, the truth is a bit stranger than fiction. Wednesday was for setup. Thursday morning completed the setup as ROI and ROII classes were taught. Thursday afternoon was for the shoot through. Friday saw the return of Pistoleer's shooting school, side matches, and other festivities. Saturday had competitors shoot six main match stages then head off to the banquet before returning to the range on Sunday for the remaining four stages.

Speaking of side matches...This was the first Ambush to have the traditional side matches that most matches have become accustomed to - Speed Rifle, Speed Pistol, Speed Shotgun and Long Range. There was also a speed 3-gun thrown in there as well.

If you ever forgot to add a theme to your match, a simple solution back then would be to go to your VHS collection and pull out an old John Wayne film and write your ten stories. This match really went all out and pulled a stage from ten different John Wayne westerns. It always goes back to rule number one of Cowboy Action Shooting: The Duke can do no wrong.

Round count for the first nine stages included 10 pistol, 89 rifle, and 36 shotgun. The Secret Stage asked you to bring 20 pistol rounds and for shotgun said that "you should probably bring as many as you can carry." Well, have fun with that.

There was also a posse shoot that year.

Sidekick would again come out as the top cowboy from Alabama. This was his third consecutive Alabama State Championship title. With the 2021 Alabama State championship right around the corner, we'll have another opportunity to write more stories from The Firing Line.