John Crowder

Club Owner/Director

John Crowder is the Club Director and one of the driving forces behind Capitol Area Practical Shooters (CAPS). Known affectionately—and quite accurately—as the Original Range Donkey, John is the guy who has spent countless hours hauling steel, building stages, repairing props, maintaining equipment, solving problems, and doing whatever it takes to make sure the next match happens.

Long before competitors arrive and well after the last shot is fired, John is often behind the scenes making CAPS work. His commitment to practical shooting goes far beyond running matches. He believes a great shooting club is built on community, competition, sportsmanship, and the willingness of members to roll up their sleeves and contribute.

John and his wife, Julianna Crowder, have spent much of their lives building communities around the shooting sports. Julianna is the founder of A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League, and together they have experienced firsthand how welcoming ranges, strong volunteers, quality matches, and supportive shooting communities can introduce people to the sport and keep them involved for years.

At CAPS, John has been instrumental in developing the club into a home for multiple shooting disciplines and shooters of all experience levels. Whether he is coordinating a match, improving the range, helping a new competitor, supporting a Match Director, or figuring out how to fix something with whatever happens to be in the truck, John brings a practical, get-it-done attitude to the club.

The title Original Range Donkey isn't just a nickname—it represents the philosophy John brings to CAPS:

Do the work. Support the shooters. Take care of the range. Leave it better than you found it.

For John, CAPS isn't simply a place to shoot. It's a community built by the people who show up, pitch in, compete hard, laugh often, and keep coming back.

Herb Wasson

Club Director

Every successful club needs someone who knows the sport, understands people, and can help keep the chaos pointed in roughly the right direction.

At CAPS, that person is Herb Wasson.

Herb serves as Co-Club Director of Capitol Area Practical Shooters and brings years of experience as a competitive shooter to the leadership team. He understands shooting sports from the competitor’s side of the firing line and knows that a great match requires much more than good stages—it takes safety, sportsmanship, organization, volunteers, and a community willing to work together.

When Herb isn’t at the range, he can usually be found in another place that requires patience, leadership, and the ability to manage a wide variety of personalities: Leander High School, where he is a teacher.

It turns out that teaching teenagers and working with competitive shooters require some surprisingly similar skills.

Give clear instructions.
Pay attention.
Follow the rules.
Be safe.
And occasionally remind everyone to clean up after themselves.

As a longtime competitive shooter, Herb brings valuable experience and perspective to CAPS. Whether he is helping with club operations, supporting a Match Director, working with competitors, or lending a hand wherever it is needed, Herb helps keep the club moving forward.

He is also an important part of the leadership team behind CAPS’ commitment to community, competition, and sportsmanship—creating an environment where experienced competitors can challenge themselves while new shooters feel welcome enough to come back for their second match.

Herb earned the Range Donkey name “Professor Donkey” for obvious reasons. A longtime teacher of cybersecurity, engineering, and robotics, Herb has a natural habit of turning range problems into teachable moments. If something needs troubleshooting, explaining, redesigning, or improving, Professor Donkey is usually ready with a solution—and possibly a diagram.

Sandra Woodruf

Action Shooting Match Director

Bill & Carmen Sharar

Check In & Practiscore

Wade Burton

Range Crew & Comic Relief