Southern cowboys at home on the shooting range

Central Otago Pistol Club president John Holley, of Roxburgh, known as "Big Bad John." Photo / Pam Jones

They call him Big Bad John.

But his was a calm, kind soul as he guided competitors around the South Island Cowboy Action Shooting Competitions at the weekend, when fast shooters took on cowboy personas on a Central Otago range.

John Holley is the president of the Central Otago Pistol Club, which hosted the South Island event at its Galloway club grounds, near Alexandra.

Dressed in denim shirt and cowboy hat, he blended in with the other shooters, who also dressed cowboy-style and were known by their cowboy "aliases".

Mr Holley said he did not know the real names of some of the competitors despite knowing them for years, so well known were their nicknames.

Competitors included "Buckshot Bill" and "Lightning Jack", "Hillbilly Hunter" and "Double T".

Some aliases were based in fact — "Stray Volts" happened to be an electrician, and "The Witch Doctor" owned a Health 2000 shop.

Other couples had complementary names — one husband and wife team were known as "The Reverend" and "Holy Smoke", and another husband called himself "Chaos" and his wife was "Patience".

It was "a lot of fun", and last weekend's event featured camaraderie and a supportive atmosphere, Mr Holley said.

A retired teacher, Mr Holley has been shooting all his life, starting with his father as a child and going on to various roles such as a firearms safety instructor with Mountain Safety Council New Zealand and a range officer for pistol clubs and deerstalkers clubs and New Zealand's National Rifle Association.

The president of the Central Otago Pistol Club for the past 20 years, he said it was "safety first" at club and regional events, and scrutineers monitored last weekend's competitions.

About 45 people took part, shooting pistols, rifles and shotguns.

Speed and accuracy won prizes, competitors on Friday and Saturday needing to hit a series of targets in the right order and receiving time penalties for missing. Speed and long range events were held on Thursday, and a shootout-style "man on man" event yesterday.

Everyone was "rounded up" for a banquet on Saturday night, with another collection of outfits including "madams and working girls" and "cowboy duds", Mr Holley said.