Buscaderos bring excitement of cowboy action shooting to Bigfork

With colorful nicknames such as Billy Two Hares, Danger Rabbit, Prairie Daisy, Katie No Clue and the Duck of Death. they donned their unique outfits and gathered at the Bigfork Gun Club on Aug. 21, just as they do every third Saturday of the month from April to October.

Sporting various styles of Old West cowboy hats, coats, vests and dusters, they crack jokes and fill the air with laughter as they await their turn on the firing line.

They are the Bigfork Buscaderos — the Spanish word for "seekers" — the cowboy action shooting club that has brought the fun and excitement of their unique sport to the area for more than two decades.

The action is as simple as it is challenging, using a pair of single-action revolvers, a pistol-caliber lever-action rifle, a side-by-side double-barreled, pre-1899 pump, or a lever-action shotgun, shooters must engage a series of steel targets in a predetermined pattern. Misses will cost 5 seconds and shooting out of sequence will add 10 seconds to a shooter's time. The fastest time wins.

The sport is as much fun to watch as it is addictive to participate in.

"It's fun and it's habit forming. I got into it when Billy Two Hares had four hairs, 15 years ago now, and I have never seen a single argument. It's all for fun. It's not so much the shoot as it is the people. We're a family," said Dawn Smith, who shoots under the moniker Chiparoo.

"I'll drive 75 to 100 miles in a weekend just to get to a shoot. It keeps me off the streets and out of the bars," he laughed.

Smith went on to explain how shooters compete against each other in their age range, but when chided by the others that there is nobody else in his age range, Smith shared his secret strategy.

"My motto is, if you can't outshoot them, then outlive them," he said.

Such is the atmosphere as they each take their turn at the various five stages of the match, each kicked off with the recitation of a nauseating pun.

The shooters come from all walks of life, from Prairie Daisy and Bodie Camp, the retired investment banker and laser designer who were married on the club's gun range several years ago, to the young physical therapist and his wife, Danger Rabbit and Katie No Clue, who have been shooting with the club since the end of 2018. There's also Charlie Martin, the resident gunsmith who shot using the alias "Bullet Man" during the recent match, but is known by many names, including the Duck of Death, Two Pumps and even Spittoon Girl.

"That's what's great about this sport," said Diane Ritz, aka Prairie Daisy. "It doesn't matter what you do for a living, it's all about getting in character and having fun when you get out here."

While the group has adopted the rules and procedures of the Single Action Shooting Society, which hosts competitions at the state, regional, national and international levels each year, the Bigfork Buscaderos are otherwise unaffiliated with the group as they emphasize the fun of the sport over competition.

"It's a blast. We really enjoy coming out each month and it is a good group of people to spend your Saturday morning with," said Katie Johnson, who shoots as Katie No Clue.

The club's matches begin with a mandatory safety meeting at 9:30 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month from April until October. There's a shooting fee of $15, but those who show up early to help set up stages or stay late to help tear them down can shoot for $10.

Newcomers are welcome, and first-time shooters always shoot for free. The club's website is bigforkgunclub.com/cowboy-action-shooting.

Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 406-758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com.