Agarita Gazette – Long Juan
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March 2011 AAGGAARRIITTAA GGAAZZEETTTTEE A Chronicle of the Plum Creek Shooting Society Agarita Ranch Lockhart, Texas Marshalls Long Juan here! Range Marshall - Delta Raider This month I received and used some photos from Cree Vicar See profile page 3. Dave. Thanks, Cree. But I need more help. NCOWS Marshal Territorial Governor - Jake Paladin Dave Scott said it best in the latest issue of The Shootist, “I Safety Marshall - Elroy Rogers Protest Marshall – Vacant certainly hate to nag, but I must Stage Marshall - Boon Doggle appeal to the membership once again, Long-Range Marshal l- Wild Hog to please send those articles and Administrative Marshall - Boosey Babe photos to me.” I cannot do it all Medical Marshall - Jake Paladin myself every issue. I need your help. Raffle Marshall - Shotglass Costume Marshall - Lorelei Longshot Don’t worry if you are not a great Entertainment Marshall - Old Bill Dick writer or photographer. I can edit. Special Events Marshall - Belle Fire Please call or email me. (512) 750- Side Match Marshall - Texas Sarge 3923 or [email protected] Editor, Agarita Gazette – Long Juan Ride with Pancho Villa 2011 has come and gone. No word reached me about pre-match Bradley won Derringer and Dragon Hill Dave preparations, but I am won Pocket Pistol. Joe Darter won Fastest sure much was done in Pistol and Rifle, while Dragon Hill Dave won advance to make the Fastest Shotgun. Hawkshaw Fred won Fastest weekend successful. I 3-Gun and Man-on-Man. showed up late Friday Saturday morning, the main match began with morning and watched Artiman and his some of the Wild Bunch artillery crew firing Side Match. There were only ten shooters on their great cannon, the posse, but it sure looked like they were followed by the having fun. The modern class was won by pledge of allegiance Lucky Nickel, with Joe Darter running a close and a rousing second. Dragon Hill Dave won the traditional prayer by Cree class and came in third overall. Other side Vicar Dave. There were four posses with 49 matches Friday afternoon included Derringer, shooters. They shot ten stages, six Saturday Pocket Pistol, Fastest Pistol, Fastest Rifle, and four Sunday, in 21 different categories. Fastest Shotgun and Fastest 3-Gun. Buck Boon Doggle’s stage scenarios were as Page 1 interesting and challenging as ever. When the In addition to great shooting, there were grand smoke and dust cleared about mid-day Sunday, eats for dinner Friday and Saturday and for the winners in categories with more than one breakfast and lunch Saturday and Sunday. shooter were Tahnimara, Ladies Wrangler; Joe Sunday morning, Cree Vicar Dave and his wife Darter Forty-niner; Waterloo, Cowboy; Dragon led a great cowboy church service in the Hill Dave, Classic Cowboy; Lars Agarita Chapel. For those in attendance, Cree’s Christophorson, Cody Dixon Lever; Cherokee message was inspiring. We also had a silent Jones, Elder Statesman; Jake Jones, Frontier auction of donated items over the weekend and Cartridge Duelist; Artiman, Grand Army of the raised $978 for Wounded Warriers. That’s Frontier, Repeater; Buck Bradley, Senior 100% of the high bids. Thanks to all who bid. Duelist; Hopalong Herpert, Silver Senior and Phantom, Wrangler. A note about the awards: Some mistakes were made in the effort to get the awards presented immediately after lunch on Sunday. The winners of Senior Duelist, Wrangler and the Derringer side-match were incorrectly announced. Buck Bradley won Senior Duelist and Fastest Derringer; Phantom won Wrangler. Gentlemen, your awards are in the mail with our sincere apologies. All shooters, with main-match “winners” in each Does this man look like a preacher to you? category highlighted, are listed on page 8. Thanks again to Delta Raider, other club Complete scores for the weekend are available members who helped get ready and run the on the club website at pccss.org. match, and all of the great shooters from our We all need to thank Whiskers for bringing his club and others around Central Texas and the great Gatling Gun to Agarita Ranch once again. country. A great time was had by all. At $1 for each .45-70 cartridge, it was the best money most of us spent all weekend. BEST HAT ???? FFAASSTTEESSTT DDEERRRRIIINNGGEERR Page 2 Profile: Delta Raider, Range Marshal This month I am beginning my planned profiles of Plum Creek Shooting Society marshals. We have marshals instead of club officers. I am beginning with Delta Raider, our Range Marshal, because, … well, just because it seems appropriate. Delta Raider, a/k/a Chuck Leshikar, and his wife Kitchen Kate (Nancy) own the Agarita Ranch. They bought a home 5 miles north of Lockhart in 1977 and moved into that home in 1988. They bought the ranch in 2005 with the idea of creating the best cowboy action shooting and horse carriage driving venues in Texas. Chuck is a retired CPA. Nancy, whose than seven months after Chuck and Nancy favorite saying is, “For every rancher, there’s a bought it. Everything at the ranch, including all wife that works in town”, is a soon-to-be-retired the buildings and props used for cowboy action attorney. Chuck and Nancy lived and worked shooting, is a labor of love for Chuck and all his in Austin when I met them thirty years ago. buddies. Chuck is particularly proud of the Their son “T” and our son, Ted, attended St. chapel, a building Nancy really wanted. It is Andrew’s Episcopal School and played on all used for cowboy church and occasional the sports teams together. T is now a tax CPA weddings. Chuck hopes the future will see the with KP&G in the Caymans. Chuck and Nancy ranch also used for business retreats, family also have a daughter, Jamie, who lives in reunions and similar activities, but his number Austin and works at an auto racetrack. one goal was and is to have the best cowboy Chuck started horse-carriage driving when action shooting venue in the entire country (and Jamie stopped riding the family horses. Chuck of course the best horse-carriage driving says driving a horse carriage is incredibly venue). peaceful. I guess he just loves to hear the When asked what the Range Marshal does, clippedy, clop, clippedy, clop of horse hooves. Chuck says, “Well, he’s in charge of the range.” Chuck’s interest in cowboy action shooting That means Chuck is responsible for all the fine began when he read an article in an NRA stages we shoot every month. That does not magazine. You can imagine what Nancy mean he does it all alone, but he is the man; he thought he said when he told her that groups of is responsible. Chuck’s philosophy for the cowboy action shooters are called posses. In Plum Creek Shooting Society is, “no politics; the beginning, Chuck shot with clubs in enjoy the sport.” I think we all agree that he is Columbus and Eagle Lake. Then he and Nancy succeeding with both his goal and his bought the Agarita Ranch, which at the time philosophy. Thanks, Delta Raider! was nothing but lots and lots of brush and Next month’s profile: our territorial governor, wooded areas at the time. Chuck told me Jake Paladin. Agarita is a native holly that grows abundantly in Texas and especially on the Agrarita Ranch. The first cowboy action shooting match at Agarita Ranch was held in November 2005, less Page 3 WINTER RANGE I have read accounts of Winter Range, End of Trail, and other large regional and national cowboy action shooting matches. I have never attended. After the Plum Creek shoot in February, I ate lunch with Jake Paladin. He told me Winter Range is the best of all cowboy action shooting matches. He described great shooting, easy parking, good places to stay and eat, and what he called the finest vendor set-up in cowboy action shooting. I was hooked. I went to the Winter Range website, checked out the schedule and made plans to attend, not as a shooter, but as a “conventioneer.” My story follows. I caught an early flight to Phoenix Thursday awesome and the props are simply stunning!” I morning, February 24th. After landeding, I agree. Of the 12 main-match stages, three are grabbed a rent car and drove north about 25 now permanent installations (the Saloon – built miles to the Ben Avery Shooting this year in 30 days immediately before Winter Range. I arrived about 10:30 a.m. I Range, Fort Sinclair and Coosie’s). The other went to the large main event tent and nine stages are temporary and have to be set up picked up my conventioneer’s packet, and taken down each year. which included a copy of the official program Those nine stages included book, a shooter’s parking pass and a Philthy Phil’s, Lincoln County “shooter’s” badge. The program book included Jail and Cattleman’s Bank. As stage descriptions and the shooting schedule I wandered around, I was for all posses. The parking pass let me park amazed at the number of Central Texas really close, which was very nice. The badge let shooters who were participating in the main me participate in everything just like I was a match. Thursday afternoon I checked out shooter except shooting in the main match. sutlers’ row. There were 93 vendors with Best of all, I was able to get inside the something for everyone. There were spectators’ rope to watch the shooting up close. gunsmiths, guns, clothing, leather, and all sorts This was the 20th anniversary of Winter Range, of accessories.