The three-day South Island Cowboy Action Championships started yesterday with a crack and a bang at the Kaitangata Pistol Club shooting range.
Forty-four competitors attended from both islands to prove their worth as the fastest gunslinger in the South.
The clubrooms were decked out with John Wayne posters and memorabilia including a large framed horse rope and signed photo.
Every cowboy or cowgirl had an alias or "alter ego".
One woman who identified herself as Miss Kitty said very few of the people attending knew each other’s real names.
She was not somebody’s "mother or grandmother" when on the range, but was only ever seen as Miss Kitty. The championships
include a special banquet tonight for which competitors are encouraged to dress in their best Western attire.
The final event tomorrow will be a "man on man" competition.
"It’s really to see who hits the targets the most," Mrs Barnett said.
