SHELLY DONAHUE/VIEWEldorado Cowboy group members make their way to the shooting range at Boulder City Rifle and Pistol Club, March 3.
Top, the Eldorado Cowboys member known as Big Mad Dog Dave participates in the group?s monthly shooting contest at Boulder City?s Rifle and Pistol Club, March 3. Right, president of the Eldorado Cowboys club, Nancy Myers, also known as Charming, is interviewed as the club members known as Daisy Mayhem and Big Mad Dog Dave look on. Below, Eldorado Cowboys Vice President Mercury Mann is interviewed about the group. Eldorado Cowboys have various day jobs. One is a campus security officer at a middle school. SHELLY DONAHUE/VIEW
SHELLY DONAHUE/VIEWThe Eldorado Cowboys member known as Kid Sopris loads up a pistol at the Boulder City Rifle and Pistol Club, March 3.
Top, the Eldorado Cowboys member known as Big Mad Dog Dave participates in the group?s monthly shooting contest at Boulder City?s Rifle and Pistol Club, March 3. Right, president of the Eldorado Cowboys club, Nancy Myers, also known as Charming, is interviewed as the club members known as Daisy Mayhem and Big Mad Dog Dave look on. Below, Eldorado Cowboys Vice President Mercury Mann is interviewed about the group. Eldorado Cowboys have various day jobs. One is a campus security officer at a middle school. SHELLY DONAHUE/VIEW
Top, the Eldorado Cowboys member known as Big Mad Dog Dave participates in the group?s monthly shooting contest at Boulder City?s Rifle and Pistol Club, March 3. Right, president of the Eldorado Cowboys club, Nancy Myers, also known as Charming, is interviewed as the club members known as Daisy Mayhem and Big Mad Dog Dave look on. Below, Eldorado Cowboys Vice President Mercury Mann is interviewed about the group. Eldorado Cowboys have various day jobs. One is a campus security officer at a middle school. SHELLY DONAHUE/VIEW
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It was a cold, windy day when someone, with teeth chattering, grumbled, "It's goin' to be an ornery day, I can tell," but that didn't stop Shiloh, the Clearwater Kid, Shado, and Blind Bill -- their names stood out like credits in a spaghetti western movie -- from showing up in all their regalia.
Actually, they, and dozens more, are members of the Eldorado Cowboys, a collection of single-action shooters from Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and even Utah, who will be out at the Boulder City Rifle and Pistol Club this weekend.
The public is welcome to come out to the club -- take the right-hand turn on the dirt road just before reaching the landfill at the end of Utah Street -- at 9 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday to watch some good, old-fashioned shooting like in the days of the Old West.
Admission is free, but ear and eye protection is mandatory regardless of age.
"It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on," is how Arizona Gray, better known as Ken Lyman of Boulder City, described the outing.
The cowboys stage the friendly competition in posses, or groups of shooters, within a variety of divisions such as 49er (those shooters at least 49 years of age), gunfighter (one pistol in each hand), duelist (one-handed shooting), traditional (one gun using two hands), elder statesman (70 years and up) and classic cowboy where the competitors dress up in period clothes and shoot period-style guns.
"We're family-oriented and we like to see the kids come out here," said Charming, the president of the Eldorado Cowboys, who's also known in these parts as Nancy Myers. "We started this in 1996 and have been out here for three years now. We used to shoot at Nellis (Air Force Base) and then 9/11 happened and it was hard to get on the base with guns. After that, we were in Jean for a while and then we got in with this club and we've been happily shooting ever since."
The Eldorado Cowboys are affiliated with the Single Action Shooting Society, or SASS, which began some 25 years ago.
Getting into the sport is not as simple as strapping on a gun and showing up.
"It costs a lot to get outfitted," Myers said. "Pistols are about $500 each, shotguns are $300 and up and rifles go for $400 to $500, and then there's the leather that ranges anywhere from $200 to $600. One of the requirements to come in is you've got to have four guns and leather."
Mercury, who is the Cowboys vice president and shoots traditional-style, explained how the competition works.
"You've got three stages with two scenarios for each stage and anywhere from 24 to 26 shots per scenario, depending on whether you're shooting a rifle, pistol or shotgun," said the Yellow Book USA advertising executive, whose real name in Mercury Mann. "The pistol is shot from 10 feet, the shotgun 15 feet and the rifle 20 feet. Each competitor is judged based on their speed, accuracy and time so it's not as easy as it seems."
After two days of competition and elimination rounds ending with a Top 10 shoot-off on Sunday, the winners receive brag tags for the best scores.
Charming said their membership is aging and filled with retirees looking for something to do.
They all have varied backgrounds and have had a diversity of jobs, like the unique position German Rose Bud has with the Clark County School District.
"I've been shooting traditional cowgirl for about a year now and I enjoy it and find it fun," said Cathleen Harrison, who works as a campus security officer at Lied Middle School in Las Vegas.
The shooters come all dressed up in their traditional Old West garb -- spurs, chaps, Bowie knives, boots and hats are common sights -- on the first Sunday of each month and the preceding Saturday, but they all look forward to the Nevada State Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting that occurs this year during the first weekend in October.
"They come from all over the U.S. and Europe for the four-day event that runs from Thursday through Sunday," said Mann, who created the Desert Desperadoes in 1992 that eventually morphed into the Eldorado Cowboys. "When it's all over, they hand out 151 trophies."
He also said single-action shooting is the fastest-growing sport in the world and has grown to a membership of 75,000.
"We're rebuilding it and keeping it alive," Mercury said, noting that, "When you're walking around with guns, everybody's nice. It's amazing how that is."
For more information on the Eldorado Cowboys and their schedule, log on to their Web site, www.brpc1.org, or call 293-1885.
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