Another great weekend at the Illinois State Rifle Association Range, and Patriots Day to boot :F
After tornado watches Friday night (which interrupted the Shootboss's hotel food network binge) Saturday morning was brisk, as we prepared for our shooters. 9 shooters joined us as Big Mike set the tone for the day with the First Strike.
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Our first Hits Count showed us a good amount of skill (5 first time Appleseeders) and teachable attitudes. Kent, Keith, and John each cleared the Red Coat earning an Illinois AS wooden nickel.
We leapt into the marksmanship with the enthusiasm of Deacon Haynes. Windrunner, Big Mike, and WarriorPoet did a great job getting us set for our first squares. Illinois shooters continue to impress as we had great groups forming quickly.
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Windrunner gave the second strike as we refueled with lunch, and prepared ourselves for the afternoon.
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Points of instruction continued, and our shooters continued to produce results, our first AQT showed some great scores, with John, Kent, and Keith all requalifying.
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We practiced our sitting position to polish up for day 2, and wrapped up the shooting with another hits count.
I have to shout out Parker (age 11), who did amazing learning how to safely handle a rifle and was shooting great by the end of the day. Shame on the Shootboss who can't find the picture of Parker being awarded the William Diamond patch. And thanks to Peper5150 for all the time spend with Parker.
We were joined by 2 more shooters for Sunday, as we prepared for our second day, and Patriots Day 251 years later. I will say, I had moments throughout the day, including some 7th stepping with a Range RSO, where I looked at my watch and went "wow, exactly 251 years ago (this) was happening.
Our first Hits Count on Sunday showed that the lessons from Saturday stuck, with 5 clearing it, and more wooden nickels being handed out.
Ball and Dummy showed that not only did we have some great shooters, we had some great coaches. Maybe someone with a name that starts with "K" will take an orange hat?
The first AQT of the day showed great improvement, 2 additional requals for Kent and Keith, and 2 Distinguished Scores. John with a 248 and Windrunner with a 244. (https://i.imgur.com/LWrEjnf.jpeg)
On the next one Kent earned a distinguished patch with a 245, and Windrunner posted an impressive 249. Kent and others learned the importance of counting (its 3-3-4) on this target, having dropped a 5 each. But we fixed that problem the next time as Bonnie requaled, and Jakub shot a 232.
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After lunch we split into teams for Parkers Revenge. Congrats to team 1 with a 58!(https://i.imgur.com/niG99DF.jpeg)
As we were closing in on time for our memorial volley, we slipped in a rapid fire AQT. Jakub and Keith posted rifleman scores, John posted an additional Distinguished score (247). You guys rock.
As we approached 3pm central, we learned about Prince Estebrook, and his contributions to the liberty we enjoy today. A shared target for our volley eliminated the central star as we honored our fallen.
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We polled our energy levels and opted for a Hits Count, which verified our improvement.
I want to thank everyone who attended for a great weekend; Big Mike, Windrunner, Potato_Hole, Peper5150, and Windrunner for their time on the line; and the Range for their support. You all made this a great weekend. :F
More pics!
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Amazing instruction and good to be on the line again after a decade, especially on Patriot's Day. Such a great instruction crew, keeping everyone safe, informed, and happy to help. This was a good group of students that were focused on learning and getting after it. Nice to see some new shooters really make such amazing progress. I worked a bit with Jakub on Sunday and could tell he really had some potential there. Great to see him not only qualify, but do so handily twice!
Congrats to all of those that earned their Rifleman patch, especially to John and Windrunner for those Distinguishes patches, really showing how to polish out those last steps.
Great work by all, and some fun events to break up the day. Can't wait to come back, though now it looks like that will be September instead of June. Scheduling and kids...
Kent