Wild, wild West in the Valley

from http://www.mcall.com/sports/outdoors/all-cowboys0925.6049085sep25,0,5460199.story?page=1
September 26, 2007
Article by Christian Berg: cberg@mcall.com

If you bumped into Jody or Megan Snyder on a weekday, you'd never guess the Whitehall couple enjoys an alternative lifestyle.

Weekends, however, are an entirely different matter.

That's when Jody, a machinist, and his wife Megan, a nurse, escape the workaday world by donning their Old West duds and becoming ''Timberland Renegade'' and ''Mustang Megs'' -- two of the sharpest-dressed, slickest-shooting gunslingers this side of the Susquehanna.
The Snyders are among several hundred Lehigh Valley residents who regularly participate in Cowboy Action Shooting, a fast-growing sport that's part marksmanship, part theater and part historical re-enactment. For the Snyders, that adds up to a whole lot of fun.

''Honestly, I'd never see him if I didn't shoot,'' said Megan, 28. ''But it's something we love. It gives us a lot of time together and it brings more of a friendship to the relationship.''

There are four local gun clubs that host Cowboy Action Shooting competitions one Saturday or Sunday a month March through November, and up to 100 shooters join the local 'posse' each week.

Attending the 'Dakota Badlanders shoot at Guthsville Rod and Gun Club in North Whitehall on September 9th was like stepping back in time or, at the very least, stepping onto the set of a spaghetti Western. Cowboy boots, spurs, and wide-brimmed hats were standard issue, as were shiny silver revolvers, lever-action rifles and 12-gauge shotguns. And just like in the movies, the good guys never got hurt.

''What we're doing is reliving our childhood with this,'' said Dennis DeFranco, an Allentown retiree who has been cowboy shooting for 12 years. ''It's not so much the competition as it is dressing up and having a good time.''

Who's the fastest gun?
A typical Cowboy Action Shooting competition features five stages, each featuring a different shooting scenario with nine or 10 rifle targets, five pistol targets, and four or five shotgun targets. In keeping with the cowboy theme, targets bear the images of bandits, cacti, saloons, and the like.

''We shoot the guns of the Old West at metal targets that are real big and up close,'' said DeFranco, noting that .38, .44 and .45 calibers, many of them Italian clones of pistols originally made by Colt and Ruger, are among the most popular. ''It goes bang and clang, and it's a lot of fun.''

The goal -- in true Wild West fashion -- is to see who can complete each stage the fastest. A shooter's score is based on time, with a 5-second penalty for every missed target and a 10-second penalty for shooting targets out of order. Special attention is paid to safety, as competitors are required to load, fire and unload guns under the supervision of a range officer.

DeFranco, one of the elder statesmen among Lehigh Valley cowboy shooters, serves as a ''territorial governor'' for the Single Action Shooting Society, a California-based organization that founded Cowboy Action Shooting and sanctions events. Since its inception in 1981, SASS has grown to include more than 75,000 members across the nation and in 18 other countries. The organization even has its own television show on the Outdoor Life Network and owns a 480-acre ranch in New Mexico where the Cowboy Action Shooting national championships are held each year.

Alter egos
In addition to having authentic firearms and costumes from the 1860-1900 period, every SASS member chooses a cowboy ''alias'' to be used during competition. Many competitors say they may have known fellow shooters for years, but still have no idea what their real names are. The cowboy names, kept in an official SASS registry so that no one else can use the same one, can be either made up entirely, or based on historical figures such as Jesse James or Wyatt Earp.

DeFranco, for example, goes by the name ''Lester Moore'' during cowboy action events. His character is based on a real Lester Moore, who worked as a Wells Fargo agent in Arizona and was shot dead during a dispute over a package shipment. Moore was buried in Tombstone, Arizona, with a grave marker that reads, ''Here lies Lester Moore. Four slugs from a .44. No Les. No More.''

''I'm real easy going, honest and respectful of others, and I'd like to assume he was, too,'' DeFranco said. ''You harken back to the days when a man's handshake was his word, and we try to operate that way.''

Others, such as Barb Snyder of Allenwood, Union County, prefer to create their own names and develop a back story to go with it. Snyder goes by ''Black Hills Barb'', a fictional character born in South Dakota and raised by Indians.

Jody Snyder, 34, chose ''Timberland Renegade'' because he grew up at Timberland Acres horse farm in Walnutport, and Megan Snyder chose ''Mustang Megs'' to stick with the equine theme.

Start small, spend big
Like many Cowboy Action Shooting enthusiasts, the Snyders have spent thousands of dollars on the pastime. Ammunition alone costs a small fortune, and Jody said he reloads about 10,000 rounds each winter in preparation for the next year. Some of their other expenditures include costumes, custom-engraved replica revolvers and a new camping trailer and pickup truck for traveling to shoots throughout the region.

However, the Snyders said you don't need a lot of fancy equipment to participate.

''I started off with borrowed guns until I could afford them myself, and that's how a lot of cowboys get started,'' Megan said.
The welcoming atmosphere at Cowboy Action Shooting events hooked Mike and Kathy Stoehr right away. Kathy said she learned about the sport from her brother in California, and when they found out there was an event Sept. 2 at Topton Fish and Game Association, the Chalfont couple checked it out.

''All of the people were so nice and friendly, and they invited us back,'' Kathy said.

So, they returned to Guthsville the following week and, before they knew it, they were shooting targets, making friends and enjoying the simple pleasures of life on the range.

''It's a blast,'' said Kathy, aka ''Abigail Flapsaddle.'' ''I was so nervous the first time, I could hardly hold the gun -- but I didn't miss a target.''

Mike, aka ''Gunshy Mike'', said the respect for history and attention to detail is part if what makes Cowboy Action Shooting so enjoyable.

''They have all the fancy toys,'' he said. ''There's no way a shooter could have more fun.''

For more information about Cowboy Action Shooting, including links to affiliated clubs throughout the country, visit the Single Action Shooting Society Web site at http://www.sassnet.com