Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Facts Are Cowboys Were Poor Shots

A long time ago, around the mid 1970's IIRC, My hunting partner and I helped with a round up and branding One of the other cowboys did the job of nutting the calves. When we were al done my buddy and I went and did a bit of pheasant hunting. What is interesting is what happened after the hunt.
We were over by the corral and got to talking with a 90 something year old cowboy. He noticed my Ruger .44 mag. and asked if I had an empty chamber under the hammer. Well, the gun was a new model so I said no i didn't. I got one of the most beautiful ass chewing I've ever had the pleasure (?) of getting and when he finally ran out of gas I explained that it was a "new" model and was safe with 6 in the cylinder he just shook his head and said the did not believe that to be true. I found a fair sized rock and pointed the gun at the ground and gave the hammer a solid whack. Of course nothing happened but for some reason after that I now load even a new model Blackhawk with the hammer on an empty chamber. I also own old model Rugers and a few Colt single actions so just figure it's probably a good habit to maintain. I wish I could have talked with that old cowboy. What tales he could have told. He passed about 6 months after I met him. One old timer I met when I lived in Winnemucca was just a kid at the time playing hooky with his pals. They actually witnessed Butch Cassidy and his gang rob the bank. That old boy is long gone too. I worked part time with his nephew who was the local gunsmith.
Paul B.

Almost painful to watch.

Facts are most people that own guns are bad shots, this includes those whose jobs require them to carry

He was.

Lots were. Including me, when I was young, dumb, and cowboying.

I could already shoot VERY well. But I didn't practice often. I had always shot well, even as a very young boy.


When I traded a cold horse for a warm patrol car, and eventually ended up at the range, they all wanted to know who taught me how to shoot...

Nobody. I just taught myself.

Then the more I shot, the more I learned, and took a bit of coaching and went on to shoot competition in a couple of different shooting sports, and even on to shooting professionally after competing.


Practice and training help. But unless you have a God given ability, you probably won't ever be anything but an avg. marksman.

Off topic, a new thing on the 'fire, I had been around firearms all my life. There were boots that could out shoot me that had never seen a rifle until basic training.

It's still safer behind me than in front however.

yup, but certainly no one here...

I’ve been to the OK Corral. I was amazed at how small it was !

And I’m betting he was a pretty fair hand at cowboying too.
He certainly spent quite a bit of time mounted on a good horse from what I’ve read.