Another great Friday/Saturday event at Sturgis. Thank you to all the shooters for spending the weekend with us, and persisting through an unusually-cold Patriot's Day weekend. Mother Nature tried to beat us down a bit, windy and below-average temperatures with clouds/drizzle on Saturday, but our shooters were undeterred!
Saturday included all of the building blocks with additional time-management drills for the shooters for stages 2 and 3 of the AQT. The shooters displayed excellent teachable attitudes, and the instruction was absorbed like sponges.
Sunday was still windy, but at least sunny. We minted two new Riflemen (Liz and Heather), and had several re-quals (Newell and Danny, along with Red Hats Fidget and TL).
Honorable mention to Brett, who shot a 208, but would have been a 213 except for an extra hole in his stage 2 target. :'( Brett had a few more 200+ scores, but couldn't break 210. We hope to see you again to get you that patch!
Shelly was a brand new shooter, who came with a most-teachable attitude. Her first group after the Saturday Red Coat was 6 MOA! She then cleaned the Red Coat on Sunday morning!! Some work on re-loads/time management, and I see a patch in your near future.
Kelly put up some scores in the 180s - a little more practice and persistence, and you'll have that patch!
Danny and Newell both requalified. Previously-distinguished Newell put up some hefty numbers trying to earn that elusive 250 patch. Danny, a little more work on NPOA and you should be up there, too!
Kim fought a pitched battle with the cold, but persevered through the entire weekend.
Heather was a new shooter and absolutely stormed her way to a 221 and patch on Sunday, cracking 230 on a subsequent AQT!
Lauren showed great improvement all weekend, and I expect to see her earning her patch very soon.
Many thanks to my fantastic crew of instructors. You guys seriously made my job easy - TL, Mr Zeke, number6, MI-Copperhead and Pookie.
And now, some pics....
Raising the flag Saturday Friday morning
(https://i.imgur.com/xNwYAy1.jpg)
TL teaching IMC
(https://i.imgur.com/OYzkdvG.jpg)
TL teaching prone/loop sling
(https://i.imgur.com/9VEuoI7.jpg)
Pookie teaching 6 Steps
(https://i.imgur.com/2pW6Fbx.jpg)
30-cal recoil during the Memorial Volley - Mr Zeke on his Garand, MI-Copperhead on his M1A. Look closely and you can see both brass cases mid-flight over the M1A.
(https://i.imgur.com/OlWfAQz.jpg)
New Shooter Heather getting her patch
(https://i.imgur.com/XIw4gpF.jpg)
Danny re-qualified to earn the Patriot's Day patch
(https://i.imgur.com/FQiTbhz.jpg)
MI-Copperhead teaching seated/kneeling
(https://i.imgur.com/zu7uU18.jpg)
Instructor Crew
L to R - Mr Zeke (Mike), MI-Copperhead (Earl), ITB (Bill), number6 (John), TL (Jessica), Pookie (Will)
(https://i.imgur.com/J5bYrd6.jpg)
TL telling a story
(https://i.imgur.com/UIwnelo.jpg)
number6 teaching 6 Steps
(https://i.imgur.com/E4ilPt3.jpg)
Liz and Heather with their purple patches - Liz read the tribute to Madame Yotnottin. @itsansks
(https://i.imgur.com/NpQVKYP.jpg)
Fidget re-qualified for her Patriot's Day patch
(https://i.imgur.com/WIfXSEQ.jpg)
TL re-qualified, showing her PD patch and cleaned Red Coat
(https://i.imgur.com/wlzt7HT.jpg)
What an AMAZING Friday & Saturday. What a great way to spend a weekend, and with super talented, dedicated people. Thank you so much to Newel & Kelly for inviting us and to our simply wonderful staff! We will be back with our (many) kiddos in tow next time. After hearing about our experience, they are chomping at the bit to come out and learn from some of the best instructors we have ever encountered. We so thoroughly enjoyed Appleseed!
Another great event at the St. Joseph County Sportmens Club is in the books. We had a great group of teachable shooters to work with. It was personally very satisfying to help Heather with her IMC after she switched rifles Saturday morning and then have her shoot 221 on her first AQT.
A loose analogy is instructing your child in the fundamentals of baseball and then watching them knock it over the fence their first time at the plate.
Huzzahs to Newell for all he does in supplying / maintaining the equipment, getting participants, as well as making sure the instructors are looked after. It makes the Sturgis event one of the premier events on the calendar.
What can I say about our instructing crew except that they brought their "A" game in instruction and history, I love being and working with these people. Special thanks to Fidget who even though she was there to shoot jumped in on Saturday to help the youngsters on the left side of the line with their SHF and six steps.
Despite the weather I enjoyed myself immensely and look forward to returning in July to instruct.
Another great Appleseed weekend!
While each one has excellent history, you just can't compare to a Patriot's Day weekend. Especially with the chill wind we had, it didn't take much to imagine what those farmers felt like shivering in the cold, middle of the night, waiting for the unknown.
In spite of the weather the shooters persevered, and showed great determination soaking up the instruction. That last AQT really showed the effort they put in.
Thanks to Newel for hosting/setting us up to succeed. It was my first time in Sturgis, and I'm looking forward to being back.
Looks like it was a memorable shoot! Great pics.
QuoteHonorable mention to Brett, who shot a 208, but would have been a 213 except for an extra hole in his stage 2 target. :'( Brett had a few more 200+ scores, but couldn't break 210. We hope to see you again to get you that patch!
Brett, the same thing happened to me. Don't let it discourage you - a Rifleman persists!
Sounds like an awesome shoot! I must say, as I was scrolling down, I saw the M1+M14 pic and my kneejerk reaction was "OH HECK YEAH THEY'RE GOING FOR THE 4KM TARGET"
...........But alas, it was only simultaneous recoil. :boohoo:
I must say.. personally I think it's really cool that this event was organized for Friday & Saturday. Kudos to whoever organized that.
Shelly!! BRAND NEW SHOOTER! Brought the most important thing on the checklist - a teachable attitude! THAT'S WHAT'S UP!
Great job Heather! Another first timer! And you CRUSHED it! That's awesome! HUZZAH!!
Brett. My man. That's unfortunate about the 208. But hey. Riflemen persist! Keep at it.
Newell. You can do it! Let's grow the 250 club! Take every shot by the numbers. Dry fire dry fire dry fire. Build unconscious proficiency so you can focus on those in-the-moment problems.
And TL - wow - dynamite comes in small packages!!!
Super duper heartwarming AAR. Two brand new shooters on the line! Love it!
What a great looking crew!! Way to go!! Looks like an awesome event! ^:)^