AAR Bonfield, IL June 18 & 19, 2011

[Wurstmacher]

This Appleseed found us moved to a different venue on the grounds of the Illinois State Rifle Association Range near Bonfield, IL.  We set up on one of the pistol ranges.  Thank you to the range for accommodating  us again. 

We had 14 shooters on Saturday and 16 shooters on Sunday.  The rain held off both days and the temperatures proved to be lower than the forecast predicted.

Thank you to Stonn and AR for your instruction both days.  AR is not quite 13 yet, but she wants to help out and put on an Orange hat and RSO'd all day on Saturday, as we were short on instructors.  She demonstrated the positions, and the NPOA demonstration on Saturday is not something that we will soon forget.    She even got in on the history and picked up the David Lambson story from where the soldiers ran off .

George63 and 2 clicks low showed up on Sunday and provided welcome assistance.

No rifleman scores this weekend.  Michael came close with a 201, but two days of Appleseeding and the heat prevented him from coming any closer.  There were several shooters that were shooting good groups on squares, but when put under time constraints and transitions, they could just not put together enough consistency to achieve a patch. 

I was glad to see Michael #2 begin to have some success after he changed out the iron sights for a scope on his AR.  It was great to see the smile on his face when he handed me some binoculars so that I could see 3 out of 5 shots in the black on one of his squares, as others were shooting AQT's.  John brought his son and two son-in-laws from Indiana.  I hope you all learned something and had lots of fun.

John R. was not able to bring his son this time, so he brought his daughter on Sunday.  First time with a rifle, she had fun, and got to spend Father's Day with her dad.

Scott said the light bulb went on, when he discovered NPOA. 

Another father and daughter team, Tom and Jamie, persevered through the two days.  I hope to see you both back, with other family and friends in tow.

Dutch, you were shooting great groups.  I wish you could have stayed longer on Sunday.  Perhaps we will see you again next month. 

Get your equipment working Larry, and we'll give it another shot.  Your positions looked solid and your groups were getting smaller.  Hope to see you again.

Persevere Carl.  Jack said that he enjoyed shooting next to you.  And AR said you were real nice. 

Please feel free to share your experiences and pictures.

[BigMike]

I was pretty happy with the 201...  From my first Appleseed at Waterman two weeks ago, where my top score was 181, it represents a good bit of improvement, and gives me another opportunity to persevere and get back out to do it again.  With my personal life being a little crazy these days, it's nice to take a weekend for me, to do what I enjoy around people who share that enjoyment.

I'd just like to thank all of the instructors for coming out.  It was good to see Stonn and George63 again, after Waterman, and good to meet Wurstmacher, AR and 2clickslow this weekend.  And meeting all the other folks, Tom and Jamie who stayed after packing all their stuff up to see if I'd make the 210 in another 2 rounds of AQT's, Carl and Larry... 

[Stonn]

Photos of the weekend:

1. Saturday's history.
2. Shooting squares, half the line.
3. Other half of the line.
4. AQTs on Sunday.
5. Showing the how the sitting/kneeling is the most individual out of all the positions.
6. Jamie working on her standing position.
7. Michael during slow fire prone.