What happens when you back a firing line up to a Missouri creek in early spring?
MUD!
Oh, I won't pretend it was anywhere near the mudfest enjoyed by other Appleseeders over the years, but we had our share. 8" of standing water 5' behind the firing line, and the track behind the tarps and shooting mats was ankle deep by Sunday afternoon.
I don't have the counts on the line, I'll let Greg post the numbers, but it was a small event. It was well attended by orange hats looking to move up in the program, including yours truly :) Saturday's weather was beautiful, despite the mud. Since we were expecting rain, everyone enjoyed the blue skies... at least until we realized that nobody brought sunscreen, and everyone was turning pink. Sunday dawned cold, wet, and gray. Attendance dropped off... we had several fail to return, due to weather and other reasons. Rain tapered off by 1pm, and the AQT's came fast and furious!
Between the mud and all the equipment failures we had on the line, it was a challenge to keep things on track. A challenge which Greg, MO's 2nd shoot boss, met head on. Great job Greg, in a difficult situation.
Equipment failures... we proved once again that Appleseed will demonstrate the weak points in your gear. We ran out of loaner LTR's on Saturday, as well as loaning out several slings. We had a scope that was adjusted 20+ clicks, without moving the POI. Those first groups of the day were all over the place due to equipment that just wasn't up to the challenge. As we helped sort out these problems, group sizes started dropping, and progress started being made.
There is a large Concealed Carry group in Missouri. The group was well represented, with 5 members on the line, and at least that many members under orange hats! There is an after action report at http://www.missouricarry.com, with several happy attendees sharing their experience. I hope to see many more MissouriCarry folks on the line (and perhaps a few more under orange hats, as well!)
Ben1775 told the 1st strike. A very detailed account of the morning's events. He did an excellent job... did I mention detailed? About 45 minutes worth of detail, as I remember it, and without notes! Great job Ben! If it weren't for that darned turkey...
The Editor gave an abbreviated version of the 2nd strike. Cutting the time down, without leaving out the pertinent facts. I don't know if he'd done 2nd strike before, but he handled it like an old pro.
Speaking of 'old pro's'... The Guy handled the 3rd strike. Anyone on these forums who hasn't had the opportunity to listen to The Guy do history, you're really missing out.
All and all, a small, but successful Appleseed. Many attendees were scribbling down dates when we went over the remainder of the Missouri 2009 schedule, and I fully expect to see many of these fine folks return... with a carload of friends and family!
We handed out 2 Rifleman patches, one to The Editor, on what he calculated as the 1000th day since he started trying to obtain one... Congrats Editor, that's one way to demonstrate persistence! The other went to a first time Appleseeder, Mikal Dulee (sp?), of Missouri Carry. Mike managed to squeeze out a Rifleman's score on the final AQT.
We also awarded 2 red hats... one to Ben1775 who demonstrated his knowledge of History in great detail (did I already mention that?), and one to The Editor, who has been waiting on a Rifleman score to get his hat for some time. Congrats to both of you.
Whew! So much for my first shoot as boss...
We had 12 shooters on Saturday and 7 came back in the cold rain on Sunday morning.
With 8 instructors, we had the line covered pretty well, and the shooters got lots of one-on-one.
The equipment failures slowed us down quite a bit, and taxed our loaner rifle availability quite a bit, but once we got everyone squared away things ran smoothly. The shooters were persistent and stayed until 6pm on Saturday, so we got in an AQT in spite of early delays. The weather was beautiful but we would pay for it the next day.
Sunday we lost a few shooters due to weather and illness, but the remainder persevered and shot a redcoat and AQT in a downpour. Everyone was soaked and the shooters couldn't feel their hands and were shaking so much you could watch the barrels move, on top of the steam coming off rifles and shooters alike. We decided to tactically withdraw to the house for some more IMC instruction, let people warm up and dry out and get a warm drink. Then we took an early lunch and Guy did history as only Guy can. Finally the sky stopped falling, and the timing worked out well. We got in some ball and dummy and then pounded out AQTs, with a couple fun shoots in between.
Finally on the last round, The Editor finally shot his score and was instantly promoted to RH. O0 Congrats to him. Ben was also awarded his hat which was well deserved. After the final redcoat, we had two shooters that wanted just one more chance, so of course we encouraged them. When the points were tallied, Mike had a 220 and a new patch. Congrats to him, shooting Rifleman at his first Appleseed, albeit at the last minute!
A special thanks to all the shooters who came back on Sunday despite the weather, and the instructors who kept their spirits up the entire time. Appleseed couldn't work without all of you. Also thanks to the landowner Stu, who was very impressed with Appleseed and I think we will have us back. We appreciate his hospitality and generosity.
Feels great to have Appleseeds going again in MO after a long winter. Now on to Cameron next week!
Greg
What a great shoot! I could complain about the rain but Saturday was such a glorious day that it more than made up for the wet start on Sunday.
I didn't realize how much rust I had accumulated over the winter but it wasn't long and everything came back.
Thanks to all who came out and persisted through less than ideal weather.
Can't wait until this weekend.
Ben
P.S. On a side issue, I had to adjust my new hat to a larger size than my old one. Not sure if it's smaller or my heads bigger. 8) ::)
Howdy,
I'm the mikaldulee from Missouricarry. I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for the help and encouragement. My poor little mossberg crapped out Sunday morning and Erik loaaned me his...Well by the end of the day I was wet, cold, muddy and a Rifleman. That patch meant more to me than you can imagine.
Thanks again. It was a great time.
Mike
Welcome to the site Mike. Hope you stay awhile and pick up a bucket. That offer for the orange hat is still open.
Greg
Quote from: mikaldulee on April 01, 2009, 07:03:10 PM
Howdy,
I'm the mikaldulee from Missouricarry. I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for the help and encouragement. My poor little mossberg crapped out Sunday morning and Erik loaaned me his...Well by the end of the day I was wet, cold, muddy and a Rifleman. That patch meant more to me than you can imagine.
Thanks again. It was a great time.
Mike
;D Glad to see you over here! Look forward to seeing you again on the Appleseed trail. O0