Both mornings started with rain and temps in the fifties. Saturday nine shooters and one spectator gathered along with Vic (loves2hunt59) as shoot boss and three IITs (one OH-0, one OH-1 one OH-2 and KarenMc (our resident Blue Hat). Five of the nine were returning Appleseeders and four were new to the program. The rain had stopped by 10-10:30 and a light breeze soon had things dried up. The mornings work proceeded nicely and the shooters made good progress. After lunch and history they were back at it and several were pursuing the AQT qualifying score pretty hard. A couple of interested people joined us for a while to see what we do at Appleseed and seem to be good prospects for our November A/S here. Sunday started the same as Saturday with rain but the pleasant breeze didn't, it was a stiff cold wind out of the northwest, but the group persevered and lots of improvement was seen (the RED COATS) since the first one. A fast paced morning made the cold and wet of little concern to the focused Shooters and busy instructors. A welcome break for lunch and more history was followed by a special visitor who brought out his .50 bmg target rifle for the class to try out. The instruction from the Instructors proved out as the targets at the 200 yard line were well addressed by all shooters (pictures to follow), and then it was back to the line and AQTs. A previous rifleman proved his skill again and was offered and accepted a Orange Hat, Welcome to the ranks Todd. The day ended with several shooters very close to the 210 score and should be there at their next Appleseed.
A good day at the range, new skills, new goals, new friends .
It never ceases to amaze me. You just never know what or who is going to show up at the next AS. This weekend when the guy with the Armalite .50 cal showed up with 20 rounds of ammo and offered a shot to each and every one there, needless to say, I was blown away! Don and Karen have a great facility there at Catalpa Creek Range and Campground and they are great hosts. Don is also an 'orange hat' and Karen is a 'blue hat'. The weekend also saw a new 'Orange Hat'. And as always, Vic, our SC here in Iowa, was as informative as ever and great to work with. I especially liked his explanations of IMC. I think it finally fell into place for me. Thanks again, Don and Karen and Vic. Rodge
:--- ahhhh any day at the range is great.....but when you add like minded patriots and the fellowship of an APPLESEED ! It can't be beat! And then they bring out a .50....well I was wrong about not being beat! That was a Day!