EOT Wild Bunch 2025

[Boggus Deal]

32 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

I get this is an entertainment business but I sure hope WB doesn't get dumbed down to the point where it is SASS with a 1911 because of how EOT unfolded..

It’s already going there… Hell, there has been a push for a number of years to go back to 5 in the magazine. 

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

I am watching the evolution of Wild Bunch with a great deal of interest, as I enjoy it as much (and maybe more than...!) Cowboy Action Shooting.

Evolution does not reward that which is best; it rewards that which is best suited to survive, given a certain set of conditions at the time.

I was intrigued by the match; the abrupt changes made to WB were undertaken to increase the interest in the game, and, given the modestly robust turnout, with a host of new attendees, may have worked.  But I feel like the match itself ran contrary to that ethos.

I shot it, and did reasonably well. But, this is the entertainment business, and, listening to shooters who attended, I heard a few things which stuck with me. 1.) "I was never having any fun.  I was working the whole time."  2.) "It was humbling; perhaps even humiliating, to have one shooter clean the match." 3.) "When the Super Bowl comes around, they don't move the goalposts back another 20 yards."

I'm not sure what the game plan is, but I didn't think it was  a great match.  I respect all the work that went into it, and the workers who made it so.  Also, I will shoot whatever you put in front of me.  But the Fast Guys (and Gals!) will still win, and match organizers might do well to consider the experience they are offering for the 80% who want to shoot safely and just have a good time.

Cheers,

FJT

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Frederick Jackson Turner