VALENTINE, Neb. - Who’s the fastest gun in the Plains? It might sound like something straight out of the Old West, but this weekend in Valentine, the showdown was real. 

“It’s whoever hits the target three times the fastest,” Competitor Deborah Hadley said.

Just like a showdown at high noon, Cowboy Fast Draw took center stage this weekend in Valentine. Competitors from across the nation gathered for the Kansas and Nebraska State Championships, as well as the Great Plains Territorial Championship.

“Today we’re shooting 21 feet at a 24-inch target,” Hadley said.

Meet Kansas Belle from Phillipsburg, Kansas—real name Deborah Hadley.

“You get to pick which fun character you’d like to be,” Hadley said.

Competitors not only go by an alias, but often dress the part.

“I always wanted to be in the Antebellum South in the big mansions,” Hadley said.

Unlike your favorite western, competitors shoot wax bullets.

“When the light comes on, we both react. It’s a random light. We don’t know when it’s coming on. That’s kind of the addiction of the sport. You’re waiting for that light to come on and react,” Competitor Brad Hemmah said.

Hemmah held the world record for fast draw in 1993; in 2002, he founded The Cowboy Fast Draw Association.

“I started this to see what we could do shooting with 1800-style guns and 1800-style holsters to see what we could do in modern times emulating the gunfighter era,” Hemmah said.

Instead of dueling against a foe, the Kansas Belle says your competitors are like family.

“I have friends now from California to Florida—people I would have never met, but we get together at these shoots and have a great time,” Hadley said.

Friends bonded by the thrill of the draw.