Wolf's Howl Newsletter May 2004 SHOOTING WITH BUCK TAYLOR GUNSMOKE! 
- Buck Taylor,center, an actor who has played roles in the movies "The Alamo" and "Tombstone" and on the television show "Gunsmoke," competes against Kirby Jonas, author of "Yaqui Gold," Friday during the Cowboy Fast Draw National Championships in Meridian. Contestants paid $5 each to test their quick-draw skills against celebrities, with the proceeds benefiting cystic fibrosis research.
Howdy all!
Thanks to my friend Val I've been motivated to get this newsletter done that I've been promising everyone. She just sent me the internet reference for the article I appeared in in the Boise Statesman on May 8, 2004. Here it is, if you want to check it out:- It's high noon in Meridian
Final rounds set for today in fast draw championships- MERIDIAN — Cowboys, lawmen and gun-toting ladies sporting jangling spurs, low-slung holsters and feathered bonnets squared off Friday in the Cowboy Fast Draw National Championships.
- About 40 competitors and a slew of spectators came for the lightning-fast action. Today, the men's final rounds and women's competition are scheduled from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. next to Sportsman's Warehouse in Meridian. Organizers expected between 3,000 and 4,000 visitors over the three-day event, which began Thursday.
- "What a neat event. I think they went over and above in making sure it was a safe place," Mayor Tammy de Weerd said. "It's just a very unique and fun event."
- Boise-based Shoot! magazine organized the competition. Andy Fink, editor-in-chief and publisher, says he will hold the event again next year in the same location. The competition started with a celebrity charity event Thursday that included De Weerd and Meridian Police Chief Bill Musser.
- "I think I held my own pretty well," Musser said. "I think they did an excellent job. It was a very safe and well-conducted contest."
- Eye protection is required in the event area, and hearing protection is available for those who want it. To compete, shooters line up in front of 24-inch metal targets wired to timers. Competitors from as far away as Texas fire harmless wax bullets at the targets. It takes less than a second to decide who records the best time in each round.
- The shooters sport historic outfits, guns and holster rigs accurate to the 1880s. Most wear cowboy hats and boots, and many sport lawmen's badges or neckerchiefs. Some female competitors wear Victorian outfits, or dress like American Indians.
- Cowboy Fast Draw competitors also assume Old West identities like "Quick Cal," or "Sawtooth Annie."
- "I think it's a wonderful sport," said Cal Eilrich, aka "Quick Cal," from Fernley, Nev. "Western shooting sports are the only sports where you can dress in the clothes of your grandparents and wear the smile of your grandchildren."
- Eilrich is a former all-around fast-draw world champion and a leader in cowboy action shooting.
- Crystal Bissell of Boise said she is an avid competitor in cowboy shooting sports.
- "I've always enjoyed shooting sports, cowboys and Indians and the Victorian age. It's fun to be part of the Old West," said Bissell, who goes by the pseudonym "Sawtooth Annie."
- http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2004405080315
By the way, it appears in the photo as if Buck beat me, but that is illusion. Yes, he fired first. But as they say in the business, "you can't miss fast enough to win." He fired one tenth of a second before I did, but I hit the target, while he missed. BUT....when it comes right down to it, if I had to choose, I wouldn't want to shoot it out with Buck Taylor. He is quick on the draw!
So....can you imagine my thrill at this shoot? At the age of 10, the last year Gunsmoke was one the air, I used to sneak downstairs and watch my favorite Western around the end of the couch, then hide in the stairwell during commercials. Gunsmoke came on at 9:00, and that was our bedtime. But I never missed it! Now here I was in Boise, not only sitting selling my books out of a booth right next to Buck's but lined up at the shooting line with ol' "Newly O'Brien" covering my right side. He is such a great guy. I wish you all could meet him. And his art is getting really good, and REALLY collectible.
We raised a little money for cystic fibrosis, although not as much as I would have liked. But it was a great benefit, and we made a lot of new friends.
I apologize for not getting back to many of your emails since I returned home, but the very next day my German shepherd dug up a nest of baby cottontails, and ever since we've been bottle feeding babies. Yes, five days later they're still alive, although we've had a couple of TOO CLOSE calls. Baby, Roamer, Lucky and Solo are all still with us. Roamer, the runt, is a people rabbit, and he spends a lot of time cuddled up in my shirt pocket sleeping. His teeth haven't come in like the others, so he's still sucking "Kitten Meal Replacement" laced with Caro Syrup. Maybe we'll save him yet. He was seemingly on his death bed yesterday morning, but a lot of TLC has brought him back from the brink of death.
My next trip is to Couer d'Alene, Idaho, where I'll be teaching classes at an author's seminar. That should be fun, outside of the horrendous gas prices. With that big truck of ours we'd almost be better off renting a car!
I could tell you about my latest book, Disciples of the Wind, but I'll leave the suspense heavy by saying, "We're workin' on it!" I hope to have good news soon.
Until then, take it easy and keep your nose to the wind.
Kirby Jonas