Happy Patriots Day! This was a weekend of celebration. 18 shooters and 5 volunteers ranging in age from 7 to not quite Whittemore's age came out. We spent our first day at Cherokee Rod & Gun's new pistol range. It is gorgeous!!! Brian came as a shooter, but is also a board member at the range - many thanks to him and Devereux for arranging the event and between the 2 - keeping us sugared up on donuts and well hydrated with all the coffee and water. They take very good care of us.
The weekend flew by. All the shooters listened very well to both history and instruction. The Hits Count in the morning showed us that most already had a good grasp on shooting without slings. With such a full line of shooters, it was a pleasant surprise how quickly they soaked up each block of instruction. By the end of the first day all the groups showed significant improvement - with 10 out of 18 hitting the shingle!!! We were also able to get an AQT in - and 4 shooters showed us they knew very well what they are about. Congratulations to Matt (215), Aaron (217 and 14 years old!), Chris (218 - not 14, but a rightfully proud father of one), and Conner (213, 17yo using his dad's tube fed rifle!) WOW!
The history is always my favorite - Devereux, wileycoyote, and I helped explained the importance of what happened 251 years ago! We knew that some wouldn't be returning for Sunday, so Devereux shared the story of Prince Estabrook before we all left for the night. I hope we never forget that we are all descended from such great men as Prince.
Sunday was a much, much smaller group - down to just 7 shooters. :bow: :bow: :bow: Brian was the hero of the day. The temp dropped about 40 degrees and even this Northerner was a bit cold. He cranked out the ranges 2 propane heaters - one I'm convinced is just a jet engine. We spent the morning telling a couple DOM/W stories, reviewing what we covered on Saturday (thank you Isaac and Jacob for being our victims models), and Devereux and I also taught about shooting out just a bit further at our known distance events. We were on the mats and shooting by noon. Everyone shot good groups with the Hits Count in the morning despite moving to a longer range and the temp dropping 40 degrees from the day before. They didn't manage to get the shingle, but everyone shot all three shots at least at the 200 yd silhouette or better.
By the end of the day we'd shot 2 more AQT's and shot at 100 yds - adjusting our rifles back before our Memorial Volley (thanks Artie). Our youngest 2 shooters of the day, Isaac and Jonathan scored Rifleman scores of 213 and 215, respectively. Since one shot off a rest and the other stayed in prone, they were awarded Road to Rifleman certificates. Both have the fundamentals down! Once they grow to fit their rifles I have no doubt they will get the patches. Their dads and brother are all just a shot or 2 away from also getting their patches.
At 4PM EDT we took a break and joined Appleseeders across our great nation with a very moving Memorial Volley. It brought tears to our eyes as we thanked each shooter and volunteer for attending.
Many thanks to the volunteers and shooters for helping break down the shoot and returning the range to normal. April events are always special, but to be with others sharing our heritage on April 19th while exercising our right to bear arms is extra special.
Finally, a special shout out to Artie and Sueb - both are very new to Appleseed - it's Artie's first shoot as an AppleCore volunteer and Sueb's 4th event. We could not have had such a well run event without both of them. They were the difference between an okay shoot and what I'd say was an AWESOME shoot.
Thanks shooters and volunteers - I hope to see you all at another shoot real soon.
Pictures will follow shortly - feel free to post your own.
Man - just a few pictures and I know Devereux took a few too. Enjoy -
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What a group! 18 Shooters, a couple of dads, and 5 volunteers - all Patriots
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Saturday morning Sueb was a fantastic line boss. Artie is watching carefully - although all 8 of these guys shown had researched us ahead of time and had practiced a bit beforehand. It was a very safe shoot. - Thanks!
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Jacob shooting in prone
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Matt in prone
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More prone
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And more prone - it's a long line of shooters - nothing better
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Sueb carding the sights
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Devereux carding the sights
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Devereux teaches IMC - hard to believe we'll all be freezing the next day. It was HOT on Saturday
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Sunday morning review - wileycoyote guided us through all the shooting positions with Isaac and Jacob as models - thanks guys. Isaac shows us how to shoot in prone
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Jacob showed us 5 different sitting and kneeling positions
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Jacob shows off youthful and flexible joints.
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Isaac finishes things off by showing us the standing position
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Artie got a chance to shoot on Sunday. He did really well - just one shot shy of a Rifleman score.
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Jonathan & Isaac team up for the Ball & Dummy Exercise
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Jacob and Devereux team up for the Ball & Dummy Exercise
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Strud & Matt team up for the Ball & Dummy Exercise
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Time to switch places - I love this exercise
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Shooting out to 100 yards is a privilege we take full advantage of at the Cherokee Rod & Gun Club. EVERYONE shot a 4 MOA group or better. What a great confidence boost.
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Artie standing
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Devereux read the names for the Memorial Volley and we were fortunate enough to have a guest shooter and a guest observer - both members of the range.