Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Local 4-H participants with the Dead Eye Shooters club will get the chance to help with the second annual Shootout at the Kimball Korral, a mounted shooting competition to be held Saturday and Sunday at the Kimball County Fairgrounds. The event begins each day at 10 a.m.
Mounted shooters will navigate four timed courses while toting two single action .45 pistols to demonstrate their six-shooter skills, according to a press release from Kimball County tourism director Jo Caskey.
They will follow with a demonstration with a two-stage mounted shotgun match.
“Riding horseback full out on a timed course isn’t easy. Shooting at and hitting a target isn’t all that easy, either. But, doing both at the same time, wow, that takes some serious practice and skill. It’s going to be exciting to watch,” Caskey said.
The Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association, which began in 1993, is a national organization with more than 13,000 members.
CMSA sanctions the World Point Qualifier shooting competitions with divisions for men, women, seniors and youngsters.
Shooting contestants are expected from neighboring states and all shooters in the competition will earn double points each day during the local contest.
Nearly a dozen local 4-H shooters will spend the weekend blowing up balloons for the trick-shooters and replacing those as each shooter completes the course, according to Dead Eye Shooters 4-H leader Nicole Snyder.
“The kids have a good time watching the trick shooters, but it is a lot of work,” Snyder said. “The kids have to run out into the arena in the soft dirt, and we have to do it quickly. It gets tiring.”
Caskey invited the club to help last year for the inaugural event, Snyder said.
“Anytime the kids can hang out with other shooters and see there is more opportunity in shooting, it is good,” Snyder said. “This is a fundraiser for us as well.”
The event is free, but a $5 donation from adults is appreciated. Any funds raised will be given to local organizations who help with the set-up and clean-up.