Winona, MN - April 18-19

[vmt193]

Thor is probably still whipped from traveling so I'll get this started and he can fill in later.

Minnesota's 1st Patriot's Day Shoot went just about as well as we could hope for. As Mogget predicted, we had pretty much 3 of the 4 seasons well represented. Saturday brought the bright sunshine and temps in the 80s that produced red necks and raccoon eyes on most, and by Sunday we had wind, rain, and temps in the high 30s to low 40s. But hey, no snow!!!

As usual it was a gathering of a great group of people. Appleseeders are the best of the best. We had the Taylor crew holding down one end of the line, russellmn with his .223 backed up by AR conversion crowd on the other, and everyone else in between.

I don't have my paperwork with me here at work or I'd give you the stats on the progress of our Redcoat  shooting over the course of the weekend, but rest assured that with coaching from the IITs, (Aftermath, SkyWarrior, and Whisker) the Lobsterbacks were running scared by Sunday afternoon.

By noon Sat. I was seeing some pretty fine shooting. The end of the day found two Rifleman stepping forward to receive their patches from Thor. BradT with his .22lr AR-15 and and Mogget firing her 10/22 LTR had stepped up to the line and showed that you really can hit those stage 4 targets with iron sights.

It was great to see Autumn, who had her no-nonsense, absolutely serious, don't-bother-me-I'm-concentrating shooting face on most of the time, break into a huge grin whenever she'd put up a nice group. Shooting two AQTs side by side, she'd come thru with some pretty nice shooting on all the stages, she just never got them all on the same sheet at the same time. There's a rifleman in there just bustin' to get out.

And how about Anne? I can't remember how many time her cackling chuckle had me smiling and shaking my head as I walked down the line. Especially when she'd fool Greg on the Ball & Dummy and get him to flinch! Anne, you should make Rifleman at your next Appleseed.

By late Sunday afternoon, the temps were dropping, the wind was picking up, and the rain was persisting as stubbornly as the Appleseeders. We still had 10 shooters on the line ignoring the discomfort of the conditions and doggedly attacking those AQTs. Mogget stepped back from the line and took it upon herself to become Joe's shooting coach and support staff for the remainder of the afternoon. Even though he never quite made it to that Rifleman standard, he knows why and he's going to work on that breathing. On the final AQT of the day, russellmn who had been so close all weekend, finally put it all together with a 214.

Mogget agreed to take that 7th step and accepted her new (used) IIT orange hat from Thor. That hat was actually my 1st IIT hat. I don't know if it's still a tradition in the service or not, but when getting a promotion it was always an honor to hand down the appropriate stripes or insignia to a friend.

Russell's work schedule has him holding off on the IIT route for now but he, Jody, and Mandy have all promised to help search out new Appleseed locations for the future.

It was honor to spend the weekend with all of you!!!

vmt

[dragonfly]

Congratulations to all new Riflemen and to all who braved the weather you know MN WI weather if you don't like it wait a minute and it will change. I know with the great Appleseed instructors everyone saw there scores improve and with practice and persistence you to will be Riflemen soon. Congratulations to Mogget on taking on that orange hat its a great feeling; posterity pass it on. To all of you Appleseeder's let your friends and family know what a great time you all had and bring them along to your next Appleseed. See you on the trail.
dragonfly

[russellmn]

Thanks again VMT and all the instructors!  Anne and I had a fantastic time!  On the way home we were thinking of all the people we knew who would have fun at one of these!  We'll be back, and I'm gonna do it with iron sights next time!   

[SavageShootr]

Great job out vmt on another fabulous Appleseed at that beautiful range in Winona, MN.

CONGRATULATIONS to the New Riflemen out there in MN!

Mogget, welcome to the ranks of IIT. 

Thanks for the report. I thought about all of you out there.

~SS

[Old Glory!]

Checking up on the neighbors......VMT, you write well.  I can picture it, totally, having been to the range last fall. 

[AFTERMATH]

Vmt, I don't know how I can add to your AAR.
It's right on...I'm going to have to take my time to come up with something....Hmmm......

[Old Glory!]

Vmt, I don't know how I can add to your AAR.
It's right on...I'm going to have to take my time to come up with something....Hmmm......

How about, did you participate in the Nationwide Volley for Liberty?  Summary?

[AFTERMATH]

Well, of course we did.(OG, you're not in bed yet-usually it's only the califonians and myself online this late at night)

As far as the Nationwide Volley goes.  It went quite well.  Thor read off the names, and I called the line: AIM...FIRE...
It was a little ragged at first, but as we made our way through the list, it became as close to perfect volley as possible, with a line full of .22's
(Only one center-fire on Sat., two on Sun. I guess we're really feeling that ammo crunch)

Interesting note:  As each volley became more disciplined, suddenly a sound began to ring-out, up from the line after every volley.  It was the
                         audible click of sears, resetting in unison.  Bang..click......bang..click......bang..click.  Thor thought it was pretty neat too.
                         
It was very exciting to think, that while we're doing this, so are about 2000+ others accross the Nation.  A 26,000 rifle-salute. In honor, of those who paid the ultimate price that day.  I was honored to give the FIRE command, and Thor called out the names with the passion they deserved.  I believe it touched the hearts of the shooters as well.  I don't believe one Redcoat made it home to his tea and crumpets that day.

Next year: 20,000

ATK is going to have to step up production for that weekend alone!


Aftermath


P.S. We may have pictures of the volley....I believe I say some camera flashes.  So, if you've got 'em, please post them.

P.S.S.  We also had the pleasure of a free-lance reporter stopping by, for a little while; with his camera mounted on either a RPK or Draygonov style thumb-hole stock.  So, I'm looking foward to having a positive review in some magazine or paper, soon!


(I'll have more as my mind settles....)

[Old Glory!]

Thanks for the Volley report.  I'll add it to the Nationwide Volley Report in progress at:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=6768.msg62281#msg62281

A reporter? Cool!    Keep us posted on that.

[vmt193]

I've got pictures, but my card reader here at work isn't playing nice right now. I'm trying to get a few from some of the shooters.

vmt

[Mogget]

Ah, yes.  I wondering about the provenance of that orange hat.  I was (and am) cognizant of the significance of its pedigreed past.  You may rest assured that at the proper time I will hand it on.  At the moment, it is sitting comfortably in a space cleared for it on the bookshelf in my living room.  (Due to the color, I no longer have to turn the lights on when I'm in the room!)

So...what a weekend.  I wasn't so much sore on Monday as tired.  I normally avoid caffeine but by 7:00 AM Monday I had slammed a full 20 oz of Mountain Dew just to get life started. 

Most fun?  The Dangerous Old Men, I think.

Most memorable?  Either the crack of the volleys as they echoed across the Minnesota ridgelines or the sight of the Taylor family on the right side, all lined up with muzzles downrange.  Those kids were cute as bugs, each proudly holding a rifle just as they likewise hold our future in their little hands. 

Most disappointing?  That #$@%^ star drill, of course.

Thanks to Thor and VMT for all the work.  Great job, gentlemen, and very professional.  Special thanks to Aftermath, Sky Warrior, and Whisker for their instruction and supervision of the line.  Things were never out of control the entire weekend, and with lots of new shooters around that's quite a job.  I just wish I were going to have them around to block my sights with their Appleseed business cards when I start practicing again tomorrow afternoon.  And I heard the beeping sound of that d[oggone] timer they were using in my dreams Sunday night. 

Also a big shout out to Kevin and the Winona Sportsman's Club.  We had "hot A rations on the objective" both days, and a fire in the lodge on Sunday.  Once we dried out during lunch we were far better prepared to soak up more mud and water during the afternoon.  As I have browsed these extraordinarily fun AAR threads, it would appear that Sunday was not only Patriot's Day, but wet bum day over much of the country, as well.

Last of all, thanks to my fellow Patriots.  It was great getting to know you all!

Mogs

[LaughingShooter]

I attempted to post earlier but a snafu occured, So!  I have my very own AAR (with some of my own personal shooting history) posted on my blog - http://annescogitations.blogspot.com.  VMT - I'm emailing you more photos for you to use as you choose.

Thank you to everyone for a fantastic weekend!  I loved every single minute of it! 

--LaughingShooter (Anne) 

[Mogget]

Laughing Shooter,

Put your story with the rest of the stories told by the women of Appleseed:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=4577.0

They're really quite interesting.

Mogs

[LaughingShooter]

will do - thanks!

[Thor]

The previous posts have done a good job of summing up the weekend.  I'd like to personally thank vmt193, Aftermath, Whisker, and SkyWarrior for their hard work and dedication in making this shoot a success. 

Also a big thank you to Kevin and Duane of Winona Sportsmens Club for keeping us fed at lunch time and warm on Sunday.  We did our Safety Brief and review of Six Steps and Positions in the clubhouse on Sunday morning in front of the fireplace, as well as Dangerous Old Men at lunch.  Warm and dry makes for a much better listening environment than cold and wet... in my opinion anyway.

The reporter who stopped by was a freelance journalist.  He took some photos and notes as well as some of our promo material.  He promised to contact me by e-mail with whatever he writes so we can use it for our future promotions.

Congratulations to the new Riflemen and to everyone else who showed great improvement.  I was very impressed by the attentiveness and positive attitudes of everyone in attendance.  This weekend has given me a lot of optimism for the future of Appleseed in my home state of MN.

One additional thank you to Mogget for stepping up and supporting the program as an IIT.  She clearly put in the time and effort in preparation for this shoot and will be a great addition to the MN crew.


Thor     

[colycat]

VMT, you make me proud

Coly

[vmt193]

Thank you, Coly! We're just hoping to maintain the quality standards begun last year by you and Iowa-Mark. If we don't try hard to put on a nice shoot, people might start to give up on us and just go shoot in WI somewhere.

vmt

[AFTERMATH]

I was going to write something, good here:..........But my mind has gone

[Old Glory!]

MN has a great team going.  The seed was planted and is growing.  Schedule more Appleseeds; it brings out the best people.  You've already doubled your Appleseeds from last year and it's only April.  If you can double, you can surely triple.  I known a few WI seeders who have been known to go MN.

[AFTERMATH]

I known a few WI seeders who have been known to go MN.

It sure is a great way to escape from that sultry Wisconsin summer.