Shooter Spotlight: Slippery Stew

I met this shooter at the South Carolina State match a few years back. Fun guy to shoot with even more fun to party with. Sit back, sip your "coffee" and read about Slippery Stew.

 

South Carolina

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

I started about 2006 or so.  Llew Silverhand and I were working together and he asked me if I'd heard of cowboy shooting.  I didn't even know such a thing existed at the time.  We sort of pieced together enough stuff and went to the old Skip J range in Anderson, SC.  We actually shared a rifle and had three pistols between us for the first year.  At the shoot we met Hammer and Hired Killer... and of course got addicted.
 

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

Don't know that I really had a mentor.  Hammer helped me a good bit a first.  And I've shot a lot of matches with Cowboy Junky.  Fact is though, I started in duelist, went double duelist, and then gunfighter.  There just weren't any guys locally shooting double duelist or gunfighter.  Dunn Gamblin' was probably the first gunfighter I ever talked to about shooting.

How much do you practice, how many rounds a month do you send down range?

Practice?  What's this "practice" thing?  I try to shoot two or three matches a month when the footbal season isn't going on.  Other than that, zero practice.  I shoot IDPA occasionally but that probably hurts more than it helps.

Have you won any state, regional, national or world championships?

I've won gunfighter at SC state quite a few times.  Won SE Regional gunfighter once.  I've placed in gunfighter over the years in SC, GA, NC, TN, and FL.
 

Tell us about your most memorable match:

Shooting, probably a monthly at the Greenville Gunfighters.  First time I got under 20 seconds on more than one stage.  Just feels like a real accomplishment.  But I've had the match DQs and stage DQs and all that like everyone else.  But honestly, the best matches as a match director (Belton Bushwhackers) are when you look around and everyone is smiling and griping all at the same time.  Those I remember fondly.

What is your favorite aspect of CAS?

My friends... best people I know are cowboy shooters.  Sitting around with Bo Dacious, Ranger Law, Llew Silverhand, Kage, Reaper, Ricochet Wilson and those guys... smoking a cigar and solving the world's problems.

Is there a story behind your alias, and what is that story?

Well... my middle name is actually Stewart.  And as some of you know, I'm a fairly avid magician/mentalist, so the Slippery part came natural.
 

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

I travel a good bit with Bo Dacious and in the past I traveled a lot with Llew Silverhand.  Hoping to drag Llew back out in 2020!

Where is your favorite place to shoot? (range or match past or present)

Well, I love my range at the Belton Gun Club of course... Belton Bushwhackers.  But Wartrace in Tennessee is a great range... and so is Fast Eddie's place at South River in Georgia.  

What category do you shoot?

Gunfighter....   (Imperial Gunfighter for those in the know)

Have you tried other categories? What categories have you shot and how did that go?

Started in Duelist, then went Double Duelist, then Gunfighter.  I've never competed with two hands on a gun.  I will shoot Frontiersman once in a while... but quite simply, nothing is more fun than Gunfighter.

What is you posse job of choice?

I actually enjoy working as TO or Posse Marshall...

What is the time of your fastest clean stage?

18.39

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

If you're the TO, watch the gun, not the targets.  If two spotters agree, move on.  JM Brown taught my RO II class.  I've tried to live by this ever since.  It's not a debate and there is no bass boat at stake.  Everyone gets the same fair treatment... including those waiting to shoot.

What advice can you give to some of the shooters reading this?

All the obvious stuff... buy a good rifle, talk to everyone about equipment.  But here's my thing.  You want to have fun?  You want to get something out cowboy shooting?  Show up early.  Talk to everyone.  WORK.  Stay late.  Talk to everyone.  I mean this sincerely... your LIFE will get better.
 

What keeps you playing this game?

My friends... and every time I actually beat Bo Dacious... which is getting harder and harder to do.

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

Lots of hobbies.  I'm a semi-pro magician and mentalist, 2019 was my 18th year of Atlanta Falcons season tickets, pretty avid photographer, my wife and I love animals (parrots, cats, dog), and I ride my Goldwing just about everywhere I go.