Oh, Coshocton. What would you be without a variety of weather? If you don't like it today, wait until you see what tomorrow will bring. It might be more of the same or something totally different.
From a high near 90 (with some humidity) on Saturday, to a Sunday afternoon where jackets were comfortable and mud became the norm. Oh, and did I mention that we closed out Saturday afternoon with a Thunderstorm warning from the Sheriff's office? If we'd waited another 5 minutes before closing down, someone might have drowned in the downpour!
The opening event for the year at Coshocton welcomed 11 shooters, all eager to drink from the fire hose of information that we were ready to share with them. We opened the day with a safety presentation, focusing on the four safety rules and the six steps to making a rifle safe. The opening Redcoat showed that the weekend could certainly be productive, as only Aramis was up to the task of clearing the entire target.
We immediately got into the task of building Riflemen, which was equated as similar to constructing the Empire State Building. Good foundational principles would ensure that our team looked more like a strong and sound structure, rather than having the appearance of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It really starts with the foundation, including the Steady Hold Factors, the Six Steps to Firing a Shot and Natural Point of Aim.
Starting with the prone position, everyone focused on the high number of steps that are needed prior to "Squeeeeezing" the trigger.
By the end of the day, we had worked on the prone, seated and standing positions and even completed an AQT. We rounded out the day with the second Redcoat, where three sharpshooters were able clear the target. This fine team even had more than half take out Morgan's Shingle.
Sunday morning dawned much cooler, a relief to all. We opened with a review of our safety procedures, shot a sighter to ensure everything was working correctly, then the morning Redcoat. No one lost anything from the night before, as we had another fine showing with three clearing the target again.
We broke right into the AQT grind with a couple of requals. By the end of the day, five of our shooters had shown that they knew what they were about, taking home Rifleman patches. These were earned by Tom (6 times), Aramis (4 times), Mike S (2 times), Mark (1 time) and a new Rifleman joined the ranks (Mike W)
A couple of highlights for the weekend were having Tom earn his distinguished patch with an exact 240, and Gabby, shooting from bags since her rifle was nearly as long as she is tall (at 10-years old), bringing a score of 226. Although she couldn't be awarded the Rifleman patch, she did receive the seldom seen and highly coveted "Appleseed Pin". In addition, she cleared the Redcoat both Sunday morning and evening.
What an event this was. We even had an opportunity for a little instructor trigger time...
Many thanks go out to NavyShooter, Schottzy, DblSchott, skifire, and Ember for helping to make this event such a success. Also, thanks to Camo cowboy for coming out of retirement to join us on Sunday.
Lastly, a hearty thanks to the Coshocton Gun Club for making your range available to us. Without the support of local ranges, the mission of Appleseed would be much more difficult to accomplish.
Hope to see everyone down the trail.
TexasT,
Glad to see that you returned to the "place where it all started for you", Coshocton Gun Club. And, this has to be the best SB AAR posting I have ever seen. So many pics makes this a special AAR. And, so many youth shooters, huzzah! Great job to all and additional thanks to the Coshocton Gun Club for hosting us.
Corvette
You are well remembered and highly regarded by all that I talked to at Coshocton. As to the AAR, when you "Learn from the Best", you can "Ignore the Rest".
Thanks,
Texas T
Looks like a great shoot! TexasT what is it with you and holding events in the mud?....reminds of a shoot at Orwell.
CDH
This definitely was a great time. Thank you to TexasT for coming all the way to Coshocton to run this event and for all of the great photos from over the weekend. Also thanks to all the instructors that were there to help to help for this event too. Can't wait till our paths cross again here in August at the Club.