The Cowboy Year: A Story of Dads and Guns by Ethan D. Bryan

Author:Ethan D. Bryan [Bryan, Ethan D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: personal memoir
Publisher: eLectio Publishing
Published: 2015-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Prince of the Pistoleers, Part Two

“You can’t win if you’re afraid to lose.”

—Red River Ray

Dad turned up the soundtrack from Wyatt Earp as we left our hotel and drove to the range. The powerful bass line reverberated in my insides, much like a shotgun blast from Fingers McGee’s heavy loads.

We pulled up to the range and parked next to Titus A. Gnatsass. The first thing I noticed were the brown and white chaps he was wearing. “That brown and white colored mix on those chaps is called brindle,” Dad commented. “Bet they keep the legs warm, but I think they look pretty sharp!”

I shook Titus’ hand and wished him good luck on finishing the second day clean; I really wanted to see what the new clean match pin looked like.

“Well, seeing as I’m no longer in the running for a clean match, I’m gonna shoot for speed today. It’s really the only chance I’ve got at catching Deacon Stone. He didn’t miss any yesterday and we usually turn in times pretty close to each other.”

Deacon Stone and Dad have been friendly competitors since they became acquainted at the Kansas State Championship in 2008. Today they were both competing in the Frontiersman category, and Deacon had informed Dad by email that he would be gunning for him. Deacon was on a different posse but he and Dad traded encouragement as they charged their cap and ball Ruger Old Armies for the first stage of the second day.

On the second stage of the day, Dad was informed he had won a door prize in a drawing—a mini-camera from Midland Radio Corporation, ideal for securing to a hat and recording the shooter’s point of view during a stage. I had noticed that Fingers was wearing one during lunch the day before. “Tell you what, I’ll turn it off while you eat. Don’t really want that kind of footage.” I struggled a little on the second stage and had a couple more “get away,” as Jimmy Reno would say. I was a little disappointed as I had been hoping to have a clean second day.

After the third stage, we had a lunch break and Dad and I sat down near Coyote Roper. Coyote Roper was the only person on our posse shooting in my category.

I have been a competitive person for as long as I can remember. My competitive drive pushed me in baseball and golf and even in school. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tried to find creative ways to transform my competitive nature into a more cooperative one.

When I first started shooting, I was so slow and had so many misses that I never considered winning anything. But when I placed third at Woolaroc, I experienced the powerful truth of Noz’s observation: You don’t care about winning until you actually win. At the end of the first day, I noticed Coyote Roper and I were virtually tied.

But when you share a meal with a guy, when you swap stories and laugh together, you no longer see that guy as “competition.

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