Buck Cahill (Little Buck)

  I’ve only known Ken Batterman or Buck Cahill (SASS 23545) aka Little Buck for eight years. I met Buck through Cowboy Action Shooting in April of 2000 at the Ripon Rifle & Pistol Club. The Liberty Prairie Regulators had just been formed.

Buck and I were on the same posse. He was one of many who tried to help this green horn, as he had started the year before and knew a lot more about cowboy action shooting than I did.

  After a couple of shooting matches at Ripon, Buck was looking for some one to travel with him to matches a little further down the road. I don’t remember exactly how we hooked up but we found ourselves traveling to Oconomowoc, and the big match of the year in Holmen to what is known as the Mississippi Fandango in October. A match that pretty much showed us we were not as good as we had hoped we where.

In subsequent years we ended up shooting with the Liberty Prairie Regulators, the Oconomowoc Cattleman’s Association the Western Wisconsin Wild Bunch, Rock River Regulators and several state and regional matches. We ended up traveling over the years to Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wyoming.

Buck and I had become good friends. We talked strategy, guns and searched for the perfect cowboy cartridge.

  Although Buck was competitive and worked hard at this sport he was really known for his outfits. He was the Mr. Blackwell of cowboy fashion. You could have marched him right on to a Hollywood movie set or back in time to the 1880s and he would have fit right in.

He wore chaps a good deal of the time. They look great but a hassle to put on. Towards the end even Buck found them very hard to deal with. I heard him talking to his chaps as he struggled with his challenge. I don’t recall exactly the words but they were serious, however, as Buck would do, he worked through it. He was not a quitter. He was cowboy a heart.

  Buck had a cowboy closet, a cowboy work room, a cowboy recreation room; license plates with his alias on them and many cowboy hats. The last hat arrived the day after his death. Pearl had bought this hat for Buck for Christmas. However, as with custom hats, they take time. Some of you may ask why one would order a custom hat for some one who was so ill. Well his friends knew why, Buck was going to shoot this year. He planned on it.

Buck had a sense of humor but you had to pay attention because his one liners could come at you quickly. They were often presented as subtle understatements. Buck rarely raised his voice and never did any grandstanding, but he could make you laugh. He was a gentleman.

  In June of 2005, Buck, Pearl, my wife Ginger Snap and I traveled to Cody Wyoming for the State Championship. As many of you know Cody is a cowboy town and a great place to visit. We stayed at the Irma Hotel, which was originally built by Buffalo Bill Cody. It is located right down town and good place to stay. Needless to say we had a great time except for the fact that Buck started to get some headaches and he wasn’t shooting as well as he was capable. He didn’t complain and for the most part he had a good time. Little did we know that Buck was about to be presented with his final challenge.

  I must confess that towards the end of last season I was approached by a few folks concerned about safety. This was not news to any of friends, we had already posted various posse members near Buck or at critical points to help him along the way and maintain our safety margins. However, at the very end Buck realized the issues at hand and took himself out of the match. That was hard for him, but I think even harder for all his friends as they knew what was to come. Buck was good man and concerned for others.

  What did I learn from Buck? I learned that he loved his wife Judie, his children Beth and Brett, their spouses Paul and Gina and especially his grandchildren Joel, James and Pearl. He loved all of his family, immediate and extended. He loved his friends, some of them of very long standing and his more recent friends, the cowboys.

  Buck will be missed by us all. Keep the fires going and we’ll see you down the trail partner…

Ambush

With Ambush at Pigeon Forge 2003

With C.W. Jones 2003

Ripon 2005

With Pearl 2004