Rochester, MN -- Dec. 1-2, 2012

[gmw]

Apparently an IIT can start an AAR, so here goes!

An Appleseed was conducted at Southern Minnesota Sportsman's Club (SMSC) near Rochester, MN on December 1st and 2nd, 2012.  Being December in Minnesota, we were hoping for a "Winterseed".  Alas, the weather was in the 40s-50s, so there was no snow to be found, but exercise of marksmanship and heritage was achieved--and we did find a couple new riflemen!

The "instruction team" consisted of:
Shoot Boss - Kosciusko
SBIT - Cully
IITs - FreedomV, 36g, gmw, with Woody35, Laura T., & newly-minted IIT Carl
AppleCore - Marta

On Saturday morning we got a late start, as much of the line straggled in after the start time of 08:30.  As such, only one AQT was completed the first day, as there's a lot of material to cover.  All in all, there were 12 shooters on the line.  Everyone had .22LR rifles, mostly 10/22s with an SR22 and a couple Marlins thrown in for good measure.  Several attendees were new shooters, including Marine-to-be Mitchell, who did a great job of absorbing all the info we threw at him.  Susan held her own shooting aside her husband and sons, and received some tips woman-to-woman from Blue-Hat Marta in the morning, and IIT Laura who stopped by in the afternoon.  IIT Woody35, despite still recovering from a surgery, delivered the history of the 1st strike over lunch--now that's dedication!  FreedomV brought some turkey soup to warm everyone up, and someone (Cully?) brought barbecue beef and buns for sandwiches.  In the afternoon, rifleman Kurt, whose wife Hiromi and son Takeru were also on the line, requalified on the only AQT of the day.  When the sun went down shortly after 16:00, we packed up and covered the 2nd and 3rd strikes in the warm clubhouse.  Fortunately the predicted rain held off until later in the evening.

On Sunday a heavy fog set in, with visibility less than 50 yards.  In spite of the cold and mist, 14 shooters filled the line!  After a recap of the safety rules, range commands, and how to make a rifle safe, we began with a squares target and got into shooting AQTs.  Rifleman Carl took up the Orange Hat, and got a taste of being Line Boss in the afternoon.  Cully brought some beef stew for lunch, and someone brought fried chicken!  In the afternoon the sun peeked out for about 15 minutes and burned off all the fog, but then the wind picked up.  Dave was one of the Sunday-only shooters, but his High Power expertise showed as he turned out a 233 score.  Takeru got a crash course in seated and standing shooting since he had to work Saturday afternoon, but was a quick study and toward the end of the afternoon shot two qualifying scores.  Hiromi was shooting well and came close in the morning, but her rifle started turning out misfires.  There were at least two other folks with scores in the 170-180 range.  Chris and Andy, keep at it, you'll be at 210 before you know it!  At 15:30 we packed it up due to the fading daylight and Cully and Kosciusko covered the history of the Dangerous Old Men in the clubhouse.

I'd like to commend the young shooters on the line both days for their patience and willingness to learn despite the long days, and particularly for their adherence to the safety rules.  And of course, congratulations to the new riflemen!

Sorry for missing some folks and anecdotes in my mentions, but thanks to everyone for attending and being such a nice group of folks!  I hope to see you again at a future Appleseed.

Extra special thanks to Kosciusko for faithfully executing his duties as SB while nursing a cold and having to work on Saturday after the shoot!

[gmw]

I almost forgot.  Pardon the phone-quality images.

From Saturday:
1) Kosciusko tallying up the results of the first Redcoat target.
2) Another angle.
3) Shooters on the right side of the line.
4) FreedomV demonstrating on Carl how to card sights.
5) Cully explaining the AQT.
6) Shooters on the left side of the line.
7) Youth shooters showing off their "young patriot" patches.

From Sunday:
The foggy morning.
9) Carl takes the 7th step.

[FreedomV]

Great December weekend at the range! Thank you to all who came to sharpen their perishable marksmanship skills. Bring a friend or two back to the next Appleseed!
Thank you to Carl for Stepping up to instruct and promote Appleseed.
Remember the 7th step and tell others about the program.

[Grover]

Thanks everyone for all the work you do to put these shoots together! Son is quite pleased he was able to earn his patch.  I was able to figure out what the issue was with Hiro's rifle, and have it sorted now.  She is determined to shoot Rifleman at the next one! 

[36g]

All things considered this was a nice Minnesota weekend for this time of year. Thanks to all who participated and congratyulations to our newest Riflemen. As stated earlier there were several promising scores posted and with a little practice those will be Riflemen soon.

[AFTERMATH]

Way to hold the line in Rochester! 


Congratulations Dave and Takeru!
Hiromi, you were doing great at the last shoot - I'm certain, had providence prevailed you would have made it this weekend.
Alas, you get another lesson in persistence.  You'll find it even more rewarding in the end!


I wish I could have made it!


We'll see you next year, SoMN!

[Kosciusko]

gmw and 36g - Thanks for the pics.  I am now convinced there is no angle from which I take a good picture.  This fact being established once and for all, I can now  cast the last vestiges of  vanity aside and pursue The Mission single mindedly.

Thanks to all who came out to shoot.

Thanks to the instructors who carried me over the humps and put up with my coughing fits.  Bronchitis is such an impediment to delivering good instruction.  You guys stepped up every time, but then, you always do.


Congratulations to Carl, aka AllMovingParts,   Minnesotas' newest orange hat
watch out for that 7th step, it's a tall one

congratulations to our requalifying shooters, Carl, Kevin, Kurt, Dave

since each of you came back for more, and brought friends/family, I'm assuming you might all be interested in orange hats as well

Kosciusko

[Grover]

Definately interested.

[wormulus]

I am a little late but I just found this thread.. I wanted to thank all the instructors for taking the time out of their busy lives to share their knowledge and experiences with the rest of us. This was my first Appleseed but will not be last.. I am now on the HUNT for the elusive Rifleman's patch.

Chris