Our third ever shoot at the Josephine County Sportsman Association was a great success! 10 patriots braved the forecasted rain and wind for Saturday. We had 3 sets of fathers and sons, and a pair of brothers on the line, so everyone had someone to encourage them along the way. All the students quickly learned how to use their slings, or how to use borrowed gear from an instructor. Despite almost everyone being new to Appleseed, the firehose of information was absorbed and applied well. Lunch brought the stories of the 3 strikes of the match, then back into shooting through rolling rain showers. By the end of the day, we had no new rifleman, but Jaime managed to clear a redcoat. He knew very well what he was about!
Sunday was a first for me- we actually grew by one student! A member of the range staff wandered by on Saturday night during my closing remarks, and saw me with a Garand discussing the CMP. He wanted to learn more, so he brought a rifle on Sunday and came to learn.
After a thorough review of everything from Saturday, with some new details about Known Distance and long range shooting, we set to work back on the AQTs. Before long, we had 3 new riflemen! Vik, Jaime and Robert all managed to score well enough to take home a patch. Several more shooters were within spitting distance, a bit of dry practice and they'll be ready for the next shoot.
We also managed to retire an Orange hat in style, and present a Red hat to Rifles.n.Reeds. She had been inactive for a period, but has worked incredibly hard to re-certify as a full Instructor and we're very lucky to have her with us. The students all gleefully helped ventilate her old Orange hat, as a break from the AQT grind.
Thanks to all the students and instructors who made this weekend possible. I hope to see you back on my line again soon!
-Matt
Not only did we get to retire an orange hat (congrats!!) I got to promote a Red Hat. Congrats to just.a.guy on your promotion to Shoot Boss!!
It was a wonderful event at a great range!