RIDIN' FOR THE BRAND



I stood staring at the bank of steel targets across the pasture.  “How far?” I asked.  It was the Texas State
Championships and cowboys and cowgirls had gathered up from near and far to compete for the top
honors.  I was new to this particular range and was being shown around by one of the local club officers.  
We were standing on the firing line for the single shot buffalo rifle competition.
“A tad over 200,” he answered.  He wouldn’t get more specific even as I attempted to coax it out of him.  
“They will allow you one fouling shot and then you will fire ten shots on the clock.”  He indicated that the
targets had different values determined by their size and that we would be shooting for score first, with
any tie being broken by the fastest time.
I love to shoot long range, especially with the old Sharps rifles.  I continue to be amazed how we can hit a
target at such extreme distances with these old guns.  Where cowboy is a “move fast-shoot fast” sport,
long range is a discipline.  An imperceptible error at the firing line in cowboy is of no consequence where
it translates into a miss when shooting long range.  Competition of this nature is the pursuit of perfection
and is stiff.  The shooters generally engage in playing pre-match head games with each other.  Anytime
you can get another competitor to think of something besides his shooting you have the edge.  So we go
about telling each other that we have the latest, greatest trick to help us hit the target.  It’s all in the spirit of
the game and is designed to give him something else to think about.
Generally speaking, long range is a game of honor.  When the smoke clears everyone gathers around
the winner and glories in the fact that he was able to shoot so well on that day.  Every man on the line has
the capacity to be a champion.  It just that on some days one cowboy will shoot better than the rest of us.  
This year was the exception.
Everyone knows there is no such thing as a secret. Just as soon as another person knows what you
know the secret is out and will be talked about.  As we were getting our heads into the long range the cat
escaped the bag and we begin to hear what we were not supposed to know.  This year the playing field
was not level.
One of the members of the local club wanted to win the long range match.  Not just win, we all wanted
that, this man passionately wanted the state title.  In the week before the match he sighted his gun to the
202 yard distance and begins to practice shooting at those targets at that distance.  He worked until he
could hit the small high value targets with all ten shots and do it quickly.  He had complete confidence in
his gun and his load.  By doing this he knew what we did not know; his exact sight settings.  While we
would be using “Kentucky windage” with the information gained from the fouling shot, this cowboy would
be shooting the targets with exact sight settings.  The honor of the game disappeared.  He had
manipulated himself a competitive advantage.
The loss of honor was not the heart of the problem.  There will be another match, another day.  This man
had represented himself as a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.  He was vocal about his faith and
openly critical of others he perceived as having “less faith.”  As his deed became common knowledge,
comments could be heard about the “Cowboy Way” to “ride hard, shoot straight, and to tell the truth” and
Christians writing there own rules of fair play.  We were all cheapened by the comments.  
Not a word of rebuke or condemnation was spoken.  He won the match and was recognized as the
champion.  Our sadness lay in the knowledge that such have their reward in full.  His testimony ceased
being heard for his actions spoke so much louder than what he was saying.
The next day a few of us gathered to say our good-bys and the conversation naturally turned to the long
range event.  How do we counter the harm that has been done to our witness?  The truth is we can’t.   The
enemy won this one.  This is one of those instances where the more you say or attempt do to convince
the lost that this man is an exception, the more convinced they become that this is the general rule for
Christians.  The enemy works that way.  All we could do is keep our heads up, say nothing, refer any
direct questions to the particular shooter, and trust God for the ultimate outcome.  No one ever said we
would win ’em all.

© Carl H. Lenz, 2007
LONG RANGE