Shooter Spotlight: Whistlin Will

This weeks spotlight is a nice polite young man from the frozen tundra or what everyone else call Canada. He's a fast shooter but he couldn't escape the ASN Bounty Hunt at EOT 2019. I personally, took him off the streets of Founders Ranch for a couple minutes before he made a break for it and shot a very fine match. Let's get to know Whistling Will.

Where do you live? (what state or country)

   British Columbia, Canada
 

When did you start shooting CAS and how did you or who got you into the sport?

When I was very young one of my brothers got into the sport. My dad became interested and got into the sport. I grew up at the range and started competing at the age of 9

Who was your mentor, either known to them or not?

Cariboo Lefty and many others

How much do you practice, how many rounds a month do you send down range?
I don’t practice nearly as much as I should, other then some practicing at a big match. Probably 120-150 a month.

Have you won any state, regional, national or world championships?
I have won the Vancouver Island Championships 3 times, BC Provincials 3 times, and the Canadian Nationals twice.

Tell us about your most memorable match: Its hard to say when every match is awesome.

What is your favourite aspect of CAS?

The people!

Is there a story behind your alias, and what is that story?
When I was 5ish I was at a shoot and being young I was bored, so I was always whistling. We were trying to come up with A alias for me, and a fellow shooter said “Whistlin’ Will” (My first name is William) and that’s been my alias ever since.

Do you have a travel/shootin buddy? (you know that friend that makes this game what it is)
My Dad (Little Edgy)

Where is your favorite place to shoot? (range or match past or present)
Probably my home club, the Valley Regulators have built an amazing range called Boomtown. Check it out at  http://valleyregulators.com/as-it-is-now.html

What category do you shoot?

Cowboy

Have you tried other categories? What categories have you shot and how did that go?
I have shot gunfighter a couple times now. Once a year my club has a shoot with what we call the “B-western Challenge” where every stage is a different shooting style.

What is you posse job of choice?
Probably either TO or Scorer

What is the time of your fastest clean stage?
8.95 I believe

What was the best advice you got from a fellow shooter, and who was it?

It's hard to pick out one thing, but I’d have to be with my mental game. When you have a bad stage you can’t dwell on it and think stuff like “I blew it” etc. I’ve had matches were I thought I had blown it on the first stage, moved past it, then shot the rest of the match perfect and took home the win.

What advice can you give to some of the shooters reading this?
Don’t ever let the game get to your head, have fun and enjoy the shooting and people around you. For shooting advice I’d have to say, a lot of people miss the little things and just try to shoot fast. Play around with different transitions and find out what works best for you. I love having videos of me shooting, I’ll watch them over and over to look for anything I could improve on. Remember, smooth is fast, and fast is smooth.

What keeps you playing this game?

The people. No matter where I go I find great people in this sport.

What is your favourite thing to do when you are not on the range or shooting?

Spending time with friends and working on some cars