Fifteen shooters engaged the steel bad guys at the December Peacemakers indoor shoot December 20. Everyone cooperated to make the shoot go smoothly and we were tearing down before 11 a.m. There are six clean shooters: Dangerous Dan McGrew, Marshall RD, Chenoa Tim, Tomahawk Johnson, Sheriff Boo Boo Bottom, and Ranger Runner.
The top five finishers are: Dangerous Dan McGrew, Comstock Charley, Marshall RD, Chenoa Tim and Father Fib. Scoresheets are linked below.
Merry Christmas to all Peacemakers. Our December 20 match will be indoors, so no shotguns, black powder or carts. Arizona Buffalo Joe has written 5 stages which are linked below. Feel free to decorate your outfit for Christmas (within reason). Registration at 8:15 a.m. Shoot starts after 8:50 a.m. safety meeting.
The club officers met last Monday. The meeting minutes and the 2026 schedule are linked. Highlights: March 14 will be the annual club banquet at Pizza Ranch in Bloomington. There will be three Wild Bunch and two Quigley matches this year. The June and July cowboy matches will be one week earlier to avoid conflict with the Beloit Reckoning on the Rock Match and the Milan Illinois State Match. A “new shooter” clinic is planned for May 31.
There are SASS rule changes coming for both Cowboy and Wild Bunch matches, also linked below. They will be published in the 2026 Shooter’s Handbook January editions.
A Peacemaker member for 11 years has passed on to the big roundup. Johnny Whitehawk, aka Leland Pirtle, hadn’t shot for a couple of years, but many of us knew him. He repaired and welded many of the target stands for the club. He will be missed.
Arizona Buffalo Joe and Tomahawk Johnson built new steps for the McLean County Mercantile Prop Tuesday the 9th. Joe’s heated shop worked out excellently.
Fourteen Peacemakers members competed last weekend at the SASS Illinois State Championship called “Reckoning On the Rock” in Beloit, WI. The Wild Bunch Match was Friday Morning. Seven Peacemakers members shot the WB match: Comstock Charley, Dakota Tim, Father Fib, Mackinaw Jack, Stogie Jack Daniels, Grey-Eyed Rider, and Dangerous Dan McGrew. Dang, those targets were close. You still had to aim carefully, though, when the stage required shooting the rifle targets with your 1911. Also, I found out that your 1911 doesn’t work too well when you load it with an empty mag. Whoops. A beginner blunder, for sure.
The main cowboy match started Saturday Morning (5 stages). Enjoy the photos below of Peacemakers gathering for the match’s safety meeting.
The stages were imaginatively designed, and several stages required lots of movement. For example, stage nine: At stage-left, start with rifle in hand and engage the rifle/pistol targets. Then, to your left, shoot two shotgun knock-downs. Then move to the other end of the bar and shoot two more shotgun knock-downs. Then run to the stage-right barrel and shoot two more shotgun knock-downs. Then run to the barrel in front of the rifle/pistol targets and engage them again, except this time with your pistols. Whoa! Stop and catch your breath.
Stage 1 was the Trapper’s Cabin. I was shooting black powder from the windows of the cabin. After I shot, it was pretty funny watching the T.O. and brass pickers run out of the cabin to escape the smoke.
Lady Lou’s rifle failed to extract a piece of brass, which, of course, caused the next round to jamb behind it. It was very sad. She was doing so well. As you know, rounds that don’t go down range, for whatever reason, count as misses. Lefty Lindy loaned her rifle to Lady Lou to finish the first round of stages. Then, before lunch, Jean Duke fixed Lady Lou’s rifle for us from the back of his pickup truck. Great people. It made me smile and say, “Wow”.
On Sunday morning, we shot 5 more stages. Rain was predicted in the afternoon. So, start-time was moved up to 8:00 a.m. We were done by 10:42 and had plenty of time to get our equipment into the car before the awards banquet.
At the awards banquet, we had a pulled pork lunch, followed by the awards. Here are the Peacemaker members’ awards.
Comstock Charley and Dangerous Dan McGrew: Cowboy Action Clean Shoot
Tomahawk Johnson: Raffle winner
Mackinaw Jack: Wild Bunch, 3rd Place Senior Modern
Comstock Charley: Wild Bunch, 1st place, Illinois State Champion, Senior Traditional
The McLean County Peacemakers held their annual banquet on Saturday, March 8, at the Pizza Ranch in Bloomington. Personally, I thought the fried chicken was better than the pizza, but there were mixed opinions about that.
Club president Mackinaw Jack led the evening by eating the most pizza. No. Wait. I mean, he led the evening as far as announcing the various parts of the banquet and running the business meeting.
What’s New for 2025:
Four new AR500 targets
Two scheduled Wild Bunch matches at Darnall’s (May 31 and August 30)
Illinois State CAS and Wild Bunch Championship is in Beloit June 6-8
Special Thanks were given to:
Dangerous Dan McGrew for all his work on the website and email comms
Tomahawk Johnson for gathering all the door prizes
Ron Darnall and his staff for all the set-up work they do each month. Also to Ron for the shot shell door prizes.
Finally, all the setup helpers that get all our stages put up every month.
The checking account has just over $1800 in it. The future expense for new, larger AR500 targets is expected to be right at $800. The great majority of the membership dues have been paid for 2025.
Tomahawk also led the door-prizes portion of the evening: In addition to the club door prizes, donations were made by Marshal RD – 10 Box shotgun shells,
Dangerous Dan – Custom made Earring and boot charm set, Lady Lou – Boot coffee mug and boot toothpick holder, Comstock Charlie – George straight CD set, Arizona Buffalo Joe – two 50 packs of new Remington 38 spl brass in plastic shell boxes, Tomahawk Johnson – 1911 double mag pouch and leather fringed rifle case. Everyone’s a winner.
Dangerous Dan McGrew and Lady Lou led the group in a boisterous 4 rounds of their “Cowboy Dad Jokes” game. Let’s hope the rowdy boos and yee-haws didn’t disturb the other restaurant patrons. Team Shotgun won the game.
So, each member of Team Shotgun received their grand prize of a brand new, unopened can of cowboy beans. Van Camps, too. My favorite.
It was mildly cold when 20 attended the indoor January Peacemakers match today. We had one new shooter, Kennerer Kid; plus two who drove up to 3 hours to shoot with us: Arkansas Lew and Average Joe. Chenoa Tim won the 50/50 drawing and donated his winnings to the club. Thanks.
Three clean shooters were: Chenoa Tim, Arizona Buffalo Joe, and Dakota Tim. Top five finishers are: Comstock Charley, Chenoa Tim, Arkansas Lew, Average Joe and Marshal RD. The score sheets are linked below.
Mark your calendars for March 8, when the Peacemakers will have their annual banquet, meeting and officer elections at Pizza Ranch in Bloomington. Further details will be shared later.
McLEAN COUNTY PEACEMAKERS 
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