The 2023 Appleseed shoot at The Izaak Walton League, Dragoon Chapter in Ankeny, Iowa is now in the history books. And what a great shoot it was!
We had a persevering group of 6 shooters that came out on Saturday with a less than desirable weather forecast. 70 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms was what we were facing. We got dumped on throughout the day on Saturday, but spirits were high as we worked through the bolcks of instruction. Thanks to the covered firing line, the shooters kept relatively dry, but never complained when we went downrange to check targets. We had 5 shooters return on Saturday for a double-dose of Central Iowa humidity as the sun was out the entire day and gave us all quite a steam bath. Special thanks to the Izaak Walton League for letting us commandeer part of their facility to host this event; it is a great place to host an Appleseed. And, a special thanks to Joe for all he does to maintain our relationship with that range and for his efforts to promote this event.
All of the shooters had never been to an Appleseed before, and were certainly drinking from the instructional firehose. Thanks for sticking with it all weekend, we encourage each of you to continue to practice the skills that were taught - as mentioned, it gets easier as you continue to build that muscle memory and the 6 steps become second nature!
Each of you made good progress throughout the weekend! While we didn't have anybody qualify for rifleman, I am certain with diligent practice between now and your next Appleseed, you will see tremendous progress! Remember, a Rifleman persists!!!
Thanks to Jim, William, Henry, Justin, Asa, and Matthew for spending time with us! We hope to see you again at a future event!
Thanks to our instructors: Mike (Twin Eagles), Mark (IOWA-mark), & Joe (Drfury) for all you did this weekend, it was much appreciated!!!
Finally, congratulations to Mark, who re-certified this weekend as a Red Hat after a lot of hard work climbing back up the ranks!! I think that makes him a double red-hat? ;D
Have a great Independence Day everybody, and remember what made it all possible!!! :F
Some photos from our shoot!
Joe Teaching 6 Steps:
(https://i.imgur.com/wA96WCd.jpg)
Coming back from Checking Targets in the Rain:
(https://i.imgur.com/KUBKVWT.jpg)
Mark teaching prone steady hold factors:
(https://i.imgur.com/rbvaNiA.jpg)
Strike 1:
(https://i.imgur.com/OFBYjYd.jpg)
Prep Period:
(https://i.imgur.com/2XSKg89.jpg)
Strike 2:
(https://i.imgur.com/tAGfjU9.jpg)
Watching the Line:
(https://i.imgur.com/BxHeD4i.jpg)
Iowa-Mark getting his Red Hat:
(https://i.imgur.com/EBfKeQX.jpg)