Ripsaw:
My recent absence is largely attributable to a shooting/re-enacting excursion to Nebraska for the annual National Muster of the Grand Army of the Frontier on the Columbus Day weekend. I was gone almost two weeks, and of course busy getting ready before that ...... and busier gettin' caught up on stuff since I got back .....
The Grand Army of the Frontier combines "frontier action shooting" - i.e. cowboy action - with Victorian-era military re-enactment. Although folks with regular CAS guns and/or attire are welcome to compete in "Scout" Class, a steadily growing number of us compete dressed in period appropriate uniform and shooting in "Battle Rifle" categories - i.e. using an appropriate regular issue (albeit down-loaded) military rifle or carbine - e.g. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield .... or, in my case, the British Empire contemporary .577/.450 Martini-Henry rifle. Also, in keeping with the military flavor, only one handgun (ideally one appropriate to the rifle and uniform) is normally used, and no shotgun ..... Generally, participants wear Field uniform for the actual shooting and Dress uniform for the banquet .... (mine are
Sergeant, Queens Own Rifles of Canada, circa 1885, in the left middle picture below, and
Major, 5th Royal Scots of Canada, same general time period, in the right middle photo) ....
Getting back to your posting .... Yes, our cowboy action club have done things like the "post" shoot" you mention (which, as you may be aware, derives from a similar event at black powder shoots). One variant we use is to suspend a 3 or 4 foot length of post
horizontally .... and the shooting teams have to cut it apart so both halves drop clear - which can be a real challenge since the splintery ends tend to bind up on each other .....
And our "hanged man" prop is really just a variation on the black powder "string cut" type of event. (The secret to success in such shooting, by the way, is to keep in mind that the target is "small"
only in the horizontal plane so you really just need to concentrate on control of lateral movement of your muzzle when shooting .....
As for the "look" of our stage fronts, although we are aiming for a "raw frontier settlement" appearance (which will likely produce something akin to a "ghost town" effect, ultimately - mainly because we intend to avoid ongoing painting and similar maintenance ....
....) we do keep trying to upgrade them. For example, our "jail front" (where the photo in my above post was taken a couple of years ago) got replaced this year with a better one .... which also happens to be a wee bit more appropriate for us folks up here on the north side of the "Medicine Line" -