The Annie Oakley Sure Shots is a woman's program hosted and designed by women.

It's goal is to...

• Provide a safe, encouraging and comfortable shooting environment for women of all skill levels from novice to expert.

• Promote firearms safety and education.

• Open the door to a wide variety of experiences allowing women to progress into other shooting disciplines for personal satisfaction and/or competition.

• Address concerns facing new shooters such as; self-defense, firearms purchases, care and cleaning of your firearm and other questions, in an open environment.

• Facilitate a place where women can mentor each other, have fun and compare experiences with others who share a common interest in the shooting sports.

• Offer a recreational activity in which the whole family can enjoy.

The Annie Oakley Sure Shots are proud to be endorsed by the Annie Oakley Foundation. The mission of the Annie Oakley Foundation is to provide accurate information on the life and career of Annie Oakley, to disseminate educational materials, and to create and maintain the Annie Oakley Educational, Cultural and Sports Activity Center. Contributions can be made to the Annie Oakley Foundation, P.O. Box 127, Greenville, Ohio, 45331. Your contribution is tax deductible.

Annie Oakley

Born on August 13, 1860, on a farm in Darke County, Ohio, Phoebe Ann Moses (she later gave the family name as "Mozee") early developed an amazing proficiency with firearms.  As a child she hunted game with such success that, according to legend, by selling it in Cincinnati, Ohio, she was able to pay off the mortgage on the family farm.  When she was 15 she won a shooting match in Cincinnati with Frank E. Butler, a vaudeville marksman.  They were married in 1876, and until 1885 they played vaudeville circuits and circuses as "Butler and Oakley" (she apparently took her professional name from a Cincinnati suburb).  In April 1885, Annie Oakley, now under her husband's management, joined "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show.  Billed as "Miss Annie Oakley. the Peerless Lady Wing-Shot," she was one of the show's star attractions for 16 years. except for a brief period in 1887, when she was with the rival Pawnee Bill's Frontier Exhibition.

Oakley never failed to delight her audiences, and her feats of marksmanship were truly incredible.  At 30 paces she could split a playing card held edge-on; she hit dimes tossed into the air; she shot cigarettes from her husband's lips; and a playing card being thrown into the air, she riddled it before it touched the ground (thus giving rise to the custom of referring to punched complimentary tickets as "Annie Oakleys").   She was a great success on the Wild West Show's European trips.  In 1887 she was presented to Queen Victoria, and later in Berlin, she preformed her cigarette trick with, at his insistence, Crown Prince Wilhelm (later Kaiser Wilhelm II) holding the cigarette.  A train wreck in 1901 left her partially paralyzed for a time, but she recovered and returned to the stage to amaze audiences for many more years. She died on November 3, 1926, in Greensville, Ohio.

Advice and artwork is courtesy of the Annie Oakley Foundation.