Return to the Articles page

Guidelines for Writing Scenarios

September 2023

Here are a few guidelines for writing scenarios for Cowboy Action Shooting. These are things that I’ve discovered work well and often help to reduce confusion for the shooters.

1. When specifying target order for handguns, don’t say “With the first handgun shoot these targets, then with the second handgun shot these other targets.” Doing this fails to take into account gunfighters who shoot both guns at the same time and are to alternate guns. Instead, say something like “shoot the first 5 handgun shots at these targets, then the second 5 handgun shots at these other targets.”
2. An exception to the first rule is if the shooter needs to move positions between the first and second 5 handgun shots. If the scenario calls for the shooter to shoot the first 5 from one position, then the second from another position, Gunfighters can switch to double-duelist where the first 5 shots are fired from the first position using one hand only (duelist), then the second 5 shots are fired from the second position using the other hand only (again, duelist).
3. If the shooter has a line to say, make it after the buzzer. A couple of reasons for this. First, cowboy shooting is supposed to be fun. Having to say something after starting the stage just and adds to the fun. Second, saying a line before the buzzer is silly. The shooters says something then stands there, looking stupid, waiting for the RO to start the timer.

Return to the Articles page