* 2 Shoots 1 paper 1 metal

Around a rendezvous campfire near Mokane, Missouri, several men sat discussing the day’s match scores.  It was the fall of 1983 and another fine year of rendezvousing was coming to an end.  An end of the year’s shooting brought the usual musings about who among them had best demonstrated the mountain man’s marksmanship.  It was natural that each man should believe his abilities superior to those of his comrades/companions.  But a lengthy discussion around a campfire did little to satisfy each competitor’s desire to hold the champion’s title.  They needed a better way.

What if they simply recorded the scores from each rendezvous a man attended?  Could they average those scores and name a champion?  All agreed they could and would.  Thus the Mid-Missouri Offhand Association was formed.

Original members were mountain men at heart and they were careful of “rule making” and “voting elections”.  They believed that individual shooting clubs should continue holding rendezvous in the way they felt proper.  They needed no ‘president’, no ‘secretary’.  They did need a spokesman.  They did need a scorekeeper.  Big John McCray was chosen to carry the concerns of individuals back to the larger group for resolution.  Don Taylor accepted the responsibility of scorekeeper.  Big John continues to fulfill the role of spokesperson.  Richard and Mary Dale took over as scorekeeper is 1986 and still do so today.  With this somewhat formal organization came statewide growth and a need to change the group’s name to Missouri Offhand Association.