Kingsport, TN AAR - Oct 7-8, 2023

[upacreek]

We had a great shoot!!! 15 shooters came out to the awesome Cherokee Rod and Gun Club range in Kingsport, TN.  Most were Appleseed veterans, all were eager to spend the weekend shooting and hearing history.  We started off with our First Strike, then moved on to the Hits Count target and morning instruction.  This shoot was made even better by the tremendous camaraderie the shooters had for each other.  It was split between a church group and a Girl & a Gun group (with husbands).  Most were familiar with the 3 Strikes.  Maximum Effort and Special K did a great job keeping their attention with their details and obvious love of our history.  The shooters' previous Appleseed experience and attitudes made it easy to fly through the instruction and fit two AQTs in on Saturday.  We had two new rifleman by the end of the day.  Congratulations Annis and Marcus! Abram was our youngest shooter of the day at 10 years old.  His size demanded he shoot off a bag all day.  The rifle may not have fit well, but he made it shoot straight.  He scored a 201 on his first AQT!  His sister, Phedre, wasn't far behind.  Our resident rifleman, the pastor, was quite patient working with an iron-sighted, ever-jamming rifle.  After he gets the kinks worked out of his rifle, I'm sure he'll grab another rifleman score.   Everyone showed a lot of improvement throughout the day.

On the instructor side of things, we were able to welcome a Chicago transplant and veteran Appleseed instructor, Chewie, to his new home range and our brand new instructor in training, The Accountant, to our crew.  During the course of the very first day, we added NotASpy (he signs that with a  )

Sunday morning was a bit quieter.  The church group was at their pastor-appreciation Sunday service.  The Girl & a Gun went without their new riflewoman, Annis, too.  We were down to 6 shooters.  The range doesn't allow shooting until noon.  I think I speak for everyone when I thank Sheila for the recommendation to move our instruction into the warmer clubhouse!!!  Great idea!  We got to thaw out a bit and began the day with some moving Dangerous Old Men, Women, and Children stories told by all the red hat instructors. The shooters became instructors and each took a turn walking through at least one part of the review of Saturday's instruction.  We added in the known distance block of instruction during an early lunch and we were back on the range with our rifles by 12:01.  The Accountant did a great job as line boss.  NotASpy was able to clear his Hits Count target - yay!!! After verifying our sights, the shooters shot an AQT and gained another rifleman.  Way to go Robby!  We moved on to the ball and dummy drill and then back to some AQT's.  NotASpy took over as line boss for the last AQT.  He did a fantastic job.

Did I mention this range is awesome?  I'd say that just for flush toilets (which they have), but this place has a nice clubhouse AND a long-distance range too.  We were able to test out what we learned during the KD block.  It was too bad we were down to only 2 shooters because it was a lot of fun.  Sheila and Kirsten kicked butt!!!  Kirsten and I walked out to take pictures and go over Special K's IMC lessons.  They adjusted their scopes and nailed their targets!  Both shooters had a 6MOA group or less for both strings of fire.  Sheila had all the good ideas on Sunday.  We'd taken down the 25 yard range between the long-distance shooting.  She suggested we verify their sights were back at the 25 yard mark by murdering an abandoned pumpkin.  It was a great and fun way to end an October shoot.  I can't wait to come back.




That's a good shot of a great group of shooters


Tina shows how to shoot prone


Katie will have to model standing for us at our next event - looking good!


Special K did a great job teaching IMC both days.


The Accountant models standing with Cleveland


We were lucky enough to spend Saturday with these 4 young shooters.


Mother and son quality time.  We love seeing families out here together.


Chewie got down in the dirt with shooters all day on Saturday


Annis scored a 239 as a modified shooter.  Way to go!!!


Annis, all the other shooters, and the instructors made my first shoot as shoot boss just as perfect as I could have hoped for.  Annis scoring rifleman on our first AQT was the icing on the cake and I needed the hug - I hope she didn't mind.


Marcus aka NotASpy scored Rifleman - awesome!


NotASpy takes an orange hat - welcome to the Appleseed family!!!


Maximum Effort gives a moving Dangerous Old Man story to kick off Sunday


The Accountant teaches how to get into the hasty sling


Kirsten instructs donning the loop sling


NotASpy teaches NPOA and the prone position


The Accountant gives the safety briefing while we're still nice and warm in the clubhouse


Sunday morning cleared out a few shooters due to a church commitment.  The line is a bit shorter.


Marcus aka NotASpy cleared his Hits Count target Sunday morning


Robby qualified as a Rifleman!!!


It was a little chilly compared to earlier in the week - it dropped from the mid-80's to lower 40's


The Accountant line bosses like a boss


Kirsten nailed her target at 100 yds, seeing and adjusting shooting out so far like we talked about during lunch.


Poor guy didn't stand a chance.  He showed up during the night. Rest in Pieces, Jack.  We'll probably see your offspring growing in the summer.

[Roswell]

This looks like an awesome event!!! Great pics too! Good job everyone! And welcome to the family NotASpy! 

[Cleveland]

What a great weekend, reconnecting with friends from Trail Life and Girl and a Gun. Thanks to everyone that made this a great weekend. I look forward to watching the program grow in Kingsport.

Huzzah