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The Latest News:
After 25 years, the Youngsters
Dominate Cowboy Action Shooting
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Entrance to the Founder's Ranch
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Chuckwalla Kid
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Randi Rogers -
The Master Gunfighter
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The 25th End of Trail gathering of Single Action Shooting Society members ended Sunday, June 25, capping off ten days of shooting competition by more than a thousand registered competitors. The 12 stages of fire at SASS Founder's Ranch Range outside Albuquerque, NM comprise the World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting.
Californian Spencer Hoglund, better known in Cowboy Shooting circles as Lead Dispencer, turned in the fastest time overall to claim his second world title. Hoglund won his first World Title in 2004 at the age of 19.
After taking a year off from SASS competition in 2005, the now 21-year-old Lead Dispencer has holds both the National Championship (won earlier this year) and now the World Championship to boot.
Lead Dispencer's closest competition for the world title came from 18 year old Scott Stephenson, The Chuckwalla Kid, from Scottsdale, Arizona. Stephenson finished the End of Trail match as second overall. Remarkably, the 18 year old has only been shooting Cowboy Action competition for two years.
The women's title again went to 18 year old, Randi Rogers, better known as Holy Terror. Rogers is the granddaughter of former world and national champion Gene Pearcey, aka: Evil Roy. Having won a number of women's national and world titles since 2002, it's really no great surprise that Rogers would again claim the Women's World Championship.
What was remarkable was the finish of the Master Gunfighter competition that closed the End of Trail events on Sunday.
The Master Gunfighter Shoot Off pits the top 16 finishers in the overall match in a head-to-head shoot off. It's a simple format: two competitors at a time shoot identical banks of targets. The first one to the stop plate wins. It's also single elimination: when you're beaten, you're out.
In the final rounds, Randi Rogers was matched against Spencer Hoglund.
Rogers won, becoming the first female to win the Master Gunfighter title.
Randi told us there is no reason women can't be as fast as men in Cowboy Action Shooting. She was certainly in a position to make that statement.
What becomes even more clear following this weekend's action, is that the youngsters with their faster reflexes and keener vision totally own the sport at the highest levels.
It may be the Silver Anniversary of the End of Trail gathering of SASS members, but it was once again a young person's competition.
Not one of the thousand shooters gathered for the biggest SASS event in history would complain.
The appeal of living the Hollywood version of the Old West for a few days in New Mexico continues to make Cowboy Action Shooting the most successful story in the history of the shooting sports.
RELATED LINK: SINGLE ACTION SHOOTING SOCIETY
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