Well, Lovilia July 2026 is in the books, and what a shoot it was!
For starters, there were some complications with sorting out getting scheduled for a shoot at this range. Some discrepancies with the landowner where this private range is located led to delays in getting on the calendar.
But with the perseverance of Rich, the range president, we got the shoot posted 11 days prior to the event. With some rapid-fire promotion by instructors and range president, we ended up with 9 shooters on day one!!
The weather was pretty brutal all weekend with temps in the 90's and heat indices 100+. But, a huge shoutout to the shooters on the line who showed incredible stamina and a desire to work hard. Way to go: Chris, Clayton, Don, Ethan, Leland, Josh, Noah, Rich, Seth and Tabitha!! You were an amazing group!!
I think everybody enjoyed the history, the instruction, the shooting, the camaraderie, and maybe even the off-the-wall Jackalope story during the KD primer. ;)
We lost a few of our shooters due to other commitments on Sunday, but had one of our Orange hats (Seth) join us on Sunday. By the end of the afternoon, we still had a few at the end that got to try their hand at some shots on the 100 yd AQT standing target that we posted at 100 yds. They were getting hits on that 4 MOA target and seeing the reality that what we instruct and they practice at 25M does indeed translate to longer distances!
We did not make any new Riflemen this weekend, but those yet to get their patch all made great progress and some even knocking on the door in the high 190's! Persevere my friends, you will get there!!
Of the group, we had three shooters that had never attended an Appleseed and they latched onto the instruction and all worked to incorporate it diligently.
Over the weekend, we had five of our Riflemen requalify (including one instructor and the shoot boss):
Chris L. - 212
Seth - 232 (getting very close to distinguished with a scope)
Clayton - ??? (I missed getting the score written down - but will confirm with his Dad)
Shannon - 238 (almost a distinguished requal with a scope)
Chris C. - 223
Special shout-out to the instructors that were at the shoot: Ashlyn, Bryce, Ronnie, Shannon and Scott - nice job, you performed your duties flawlessly!!
Finally, my 12-year-old daughter Tabitha, really latched onto the message of Appleseed and talked to me on Saturday night about getting involved. She took a Blue Hat on Sunday! She is so excited to be part of Appleseed in Applecore and will be a great asset on the Iowa team!
We are looking forward to getting another shoot on the books in September at Lovilia! I am excited to see what happens next time after our shooters get a chance to do some practice!
I have a bunch of photos to post, will get those up very shortly!
Kind regards,
Chris Charles