What an EXCELLENT way to kick off the 2024 season at the world-famous Goin' Firearms & Shooting range in Muenster, TX ^:)^
First - sure it's 40 degrees out TODAY. It's February, after all. But clear skies with temperatures in the 70s and 80s all weekend long? Yes please!
Sixteen people dared to brave the unseasonably mild weather to attend this event - many for the first time. This turned into an informal Trail Life & fathers event; half the line was under 18. After a thorough safety briefing we immediately moved on to the hits count target. We then went through a complete understanding of the steady hold factors, the six steps to firing the shot and natural point of aim and of course, the Three Strikes of the Match. Shooters were able to get in an AQT on the first day, and were excited to come back for more.
Since this was an informal Trail Life event, many of the participants camped overnight. The instructors were honored to accept the very generous offer to join them for dinner, which was - and we can't stress this enough - excellent. Even better than the food though, was the camaraderie and general good times and talks. But yeah - Trail Life doesn't mess around when it comes to campfire dinners.
Day 2 returned us to the line and after another hits count target, it was time to do the "Appleseed in 10(ish) minutes." Then it was on to AQTs and drills for much of the day. The entire crew did SURPRISINGLY well on that standing position. Seriously, guys - way to go! O0 There was a good discussion of the KD topics over lunch, and we hope to see you at a KD event soon.
At some point we decided that the best "drill" that could be done was something a little fun to get everyone out of their own heads, so we put everyone in teams and put up one hits count target per team. Each team member selected a silhouette (or the shingle) that they would be responsible for, and the winning team members each received an official Project Appleseed Temporary Tattoo. Paul Goin, the range owner, also jumped into the fun by declaring that he would donate a dummy 50-cal cartridge to the participant with the highest AQT score of the weekend. That score ended up being a 202, way to go! One other participant was newer to Project Appleseed and rifles in general, but CLEARED the final hits count target :bow: Finally, we ended the day by presenting each of the youth with their very own personalized Road to Rifleman certificate, and the William Diamond patch. Lots of smiles were had throughout the weekend, and a good time was had by all.
OH! There was that ONE other little detail - seems ScottInTX decided that orange wasn't really his color, so we decided that we would retire that orange hat in style and give him his red hat. Great job, sir!!!
More pics
Before and after
Congratulations Scott!!!
In Liberty,
Gus
Sounds like a great event -- Congrats Scott!!