Zane Chunn rides, shoots and wins. And he’s only 12

story by Roy Hill

He’s only 12 years old, but he’s already a defending World Champion. Fort Smith native Zane Chunn’s sport of choice is Cowboy Mounted Shooting.

It’s like a combination of barrel racing and action pistol shooting — competitors race their horses through a specified course and pop balloons with .45 Long Colt black powder blanks fired from old-West style pistols and lever-action rifles. They also wear different kinds of period costumes depending on the classification in which they are competing.

Competitors are scored on their speed, accuracy, and riding the correct pattern through the course of 10 balloons.

Zane’s mother, Brenda Ollie Chunn, introduced him to the fast-paced game three years ago, but his history with horses goes back even farther.

“My mom found out about it,” Zane said. “A person who does her hair told her about it, and she looked it up on the Internet.”

“We wanted him to have riding lessons,” said Zane’s father, Chuck Chunn. “He had his first lesson when he was only four years old. He rode English style for about five years before doing Cowboy Mounted shooting.”

Zane says his English-style riding helps him when he competes dressed as a Union colonel in the Cavalry division of Cowboy Mounted shooting. The period-correct McClellan cavalry saddles are similar to the English style saddles. But when he switches to a western style saddle and competes as a cowboy, the ride is smoother.

“Cowboy is a little easier,” Zane said. “The saddle is easier to ride, and the horses aren’t as funky.”

Because of Zane’s passion for and success in the sport, the whole Chunn family has taken up the game.

“I’d never been on a horse until I tried cowboy mounted shooting two and a half years ago,” Brenda said. “I’m a level two competitor, just main matches, but I usually don’t shoot at the events, because I’m too busy loading guns and running the video camera.”

Chuck Chunn started cowboy mounted shooting in 2008, and competes with his son, but not yet at the same level. He competes at the men’s level four, and enters only the main matches.

Zane’s pursuit of Cowboy Mounted shooting keeps the Chunn family traveling.

“Last year, we spent about 70 days on the road,” said Chuck Chunn.

The Chunns have traveled from Las Vegas to Boise, Idaho, to Jacksonville, Fla., with several stops in between over the last year. Brenda credits assistance from Zane’s school for the family’s ability to keep up with such a full travel schedule.

“We’re really proud that Zane is a 4.0 (GPA) student at the Immaculate Conception school.” Brenda said. “They are awesome. They work with us on his travel. On trips, Zane gets complimented on his manners, and he’s learned that from Immaculate Conception.”

Locally, Zane competes at Clarksville, and practices with a mounted shooting group called the Boston Mountain Gunslingers, at various privately-owned riding arenas. Zane approaches even the biggest of competitions in a very calm, cool manner, remarkable for the level he competes at, but even more remarkable for him being only 12 years old.

“Right before I ride, I’m probably talking to someone,” Zane said. “I don’t think about the pressure too much. If I think about it, I usually over do it. It doesn’t really matter. It’s just a competition for fun.”

Zane’s fun-filled approach has netted him many titles and belt buckles, and the respect and grudging admiration of the many older competitors he beats at the matches.

“It’s hilarious to watch when they find out Zane beat them,” Brenda said. “They hate it, but they also love it. Zane has the same smile if he loses or wins. You can never know by just looking at him how he did.”

Zane’s winning started out in the Wrangler Division, in which junior competitors do everything but actually fire the blanks at the balloons.

“Wranglers ride, but they just point the guns at the balloons,” Chuck said. “ Zane won the Eastern US Championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at age nine. At the World Championship in 2007, he got a penalty on the last run, or he would have won that too.”

Zane won the Eastern U.S. Championship, the Western U.S. Championship and the World Championship in the Wrangler division in 2008. In December 2008, he shot his first match with  the black powder blanks.

“He won the Tennessee State men’s level one division in his first match at age 11,” Chuck said.

Besides being cool in the saddle, Zane is also tough.

“He went to Globe, Ariz., in the Colt Eliminator division,” Chuck said. “He won the cavalry division and set a world record. He might have set another world record, but he broke his wrist.”

The broken wrist didn’t slow Zane down much.

“It wasn’t my shooting hand. I rode the next week in a cast,” Zane explained.

Zane’s shooting irons of choice are Colt 1873 pistols and a Cimarron 1873 Trapper lever-action rifle, all in the required caliber of .45 Long Colt. Zane has always preferred Colts, but his parents started off with a different brand.

“We started with Rugers,” Chuck said. “But if you try to cock the Ruger, and the hammer slips out from under your thumb, the cylinder revolves to the next chamber. You can load only five rounds and you have to leave one chamber empty for safety. If you slip the hammer on a Ruger, you get to an empty chamber when you get to the fifth balloon. Colts don’t go to the next cylinder if you slip the hammer.”

All it took was one slipped hammer in Chuck’s first match, and the whole family switched to Colts.

Zane has picked up a sponsor, Kaye’s Texas Custom holsters of Yoakum, Texas. Zane’s pair of Colts ride in a double gun rig set up for mounted shooting.

Zane’s most recent win was in Arizona, where he won the first place at the 2010 Southwest Regional Championship.

Link here to see a video of Zane Chunn in action.