Deadeye US gunslinger hits town | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Cowboy action shooting is spreading to new global frontiers - like molasses in June - with the help of larger than life characters like Texan deadeye Don "Tex" Ormond.

Mr Ormond has travelled from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico to sling his six shooter for the first time on Kiwi soil as part of the New Zealand Cowboy Action Shooting Nationals being staged by the Wairarapa Pistol and Shooting Sports Club at the Gladstone County Range over the weekend.

The gregarious Texas-born newsman is also the editor and publisher of the monthly newspaper the Cowboy Chronicle, which circulates to roughly 80,000 fans of the fantasy sport worldwide.

"I have to be careful I'm not lynched for my flaming editorials - I'm not the least bit reticent about what I think and what my readers ought to be thinking," he said.

Cowboy action shooting began in southern California in the 1980s and has since got a firm foothold in Australia and New Zealand and is currently making inroads to Europe.

As the old cowboy saying goes, there's many theories about arguin' with women and none of them work.

Nevertheless, Mr Ormond said the womenfolk are attracted to cowboy action shooting - at least initially - for the dress up factor and with the ladies and young buckaroos welcome it's become a family affair.

"So instead of guys sitting around shooting and drinking beer it's become a better game because with the family around you don't get ragged on to mow the lawn."

The sport is also a great leveller with everyone from brain surgeons to gas pump attendants taking part; "out on the range everyone's just a cowboy," Mr Ormond said.