So,, Talkeetna 2018 is in the books, and it was a pretty good shoot.
The students ran the full scale of "very accomplished" thru "never shot a rifle". Lots of smiling faces though. The fact that every shooter voted to run over on time Saturday, to the tune of 1.5 hours, tells a lot.
I'm not going to lie, Talkeetna is my favorite venue firstly due to the acoustics. The bluff used as a back-stop seams custom built for the "volley fire" of the AS COF. Secondly, the mix of individuals we get at Talkeetna is probably the most eclectic we experience.
Once the opening admin drill was completed and the instruction began the instructor corps worked their butts off under a "pretty hot for Alaska" sun. Our new sequence of Red Coats with no historical context followed immediately by the First Strike seams to really be a great motivator to our students, and all eyes were glued to the lessons on Saturday.
Saturday was motivational as well to the Instructors, watching an 80+ year young walk-on former Marine 0311 shoot his AR15M2 for the first time in 10+ years. I caught him using an OLD survival type cigarette lighter to blacken his front sight, and pointed it out to the Instructors nearby, That defines "old school". It was a moment to reflect, and it was way cool.
The way late AQT showed marked improvement in most shooters and inspired everyone to look forward to Sunday.
Sunday brought us a very teachable group, shy one 80+ year young shooter. The temperature had moderated, and we pressed on with pride. We reviewed Saturdays' lessons, added a very few concepts, added a few "Dangerous Old Men / Dames", and generally "did what we do". With one exception we saw marked improvement. Some folks just don't want to listen, and it showed. The pleasant news is that everyone else showed 60-110 point improvement, with 3 shooting consistently 190-205. Great progress.
The one shooter who struggled the very most was the first to email me and thank us for a wonderful weekend/clinic.
We added one Rifleman to the Alaska roster:
Welcome Mike S. Alaska Rifleman #137 with multiple quals. Rimfire BOLT action.
And I got 3 youth shooters to "pinky-swear" they would tell 2 friends about Appleseed before they got their Luther Blanchard patches. That is the future. No participation trophies here.
So, Talkeetna 2018 is done, massive road construction and late salmon runs aside,, pretty cool.
--FourFans
Thanks to TAKA222 for the pics. The lady is a huge player in Appleseed Alaska.
--FF