Ankeny, Iowa AAR - April 12-13, 2025

[Burnett]

Saturday, April 12th, twelve shooters showed up to learn some history and do some shooting and spend some quality time around like-minded people. Of the shooters, four were first timers, eight had been to at least one event, and we had a thirteenth attendee that was a non-shooting, observing parent. Four were youth shooters, two of which had been to shoots and the other two had not.

On Saturday, we had an unexpected walk-on instructor so there were six VERY experienced instructors and then there was me.

To begin, the day was pretty clear, the temperature was a tad cool, but not bad, and there was a reasonable breeze.

We had a table, some paperwork, some T-Shirts, a welcome speech, some history, some instruction, some rifles, some more instruction and we shot the opening Hits Count target. Maybe the breeze picked up a little. Maybe.

That opening Hits Count target? Well..., that left a bit to be desired. And since that's a big part of why we were there, we got right to work. Might have been the air movement in the general area.

We drove on with all of the instruction and the shooters really paid attention. We worked up to the first squares and that was really pretty good. The second square was pretty good too. Then we had lunch while we listened to more history and "enjoyed" the fact that it was getting more breezy.

There were more squares, there was more instruction, some more history, possibly the breeze had become a wind.

Stage 3 of the AQT. That was OK, for the first one. Seated and kneeling instruction. Transition instruction. Wind.

Stage 2. Decent results. WIND. Like flipping shooting mats kind of wind, a couple of rifles tumbling. A few target stands getting knocked over. Put old car tires on the bases to hold the targets up. Shooters learned about standing position. In the wind.

Stage 1 was alright. I don't remember if I've mentioned the wind up to this point, but it was getting to be not a small bit ridiculous. No Rifleman this time around.

We shot the closing Redcoat, and remember that morning one that left a bit to be desired? The afternoon one showed marked improvement. The SBiT candidate was pleased. Me, I was the SBiT candidate. I was pleased.

So Sunday. The weather was nice all day long with not much wind. In fact, a couple of people commented that a LITTLE more breeze would be nice.

One of the youts decided not to return so we had eleven shooters and at the far left end of the line there were a couple of spots made available to cadre to shoot, and we did have some of them shooting. We also added ANOTHER very experienced instructor, so we were almost lousy with instructors. Eleven shooters and eight instructors made for a great ratio.

Started out with reviews of safety and Steady Hold Factors. We had shooters volunteer to model and had them answer A LOT of questions. The SBiT candidate lead the group (to include the cadre) through a dance to help remember the 6 Steps to a Safe Rifle. Think half Macarena, half Haka, half swivel hips, and EVERYONE laughing and seeming having a good time. Sure, it was about reinforcing the Safe Rifle, but it was mostly about fun, so that was a success. Unfortunately, we didn't have anyone made a video of it. Maybe next time.

At this point, I would like to thank Faith. She was one of our youth shooters and the one who's dad came to watch. I had not met Faith, but she seemed like she might be willing to have some fun so I had her come up and do the Steady Hold Factors for standing. She spent the whole time giggling and blushing, and of course I was teasing her, but she got through it and actually enjoyed herself. Faith also shot very well over the weekend. I hope we can get her into the program as an IIT. And her father as well. I'm not sure why he didn't shoot, but he did say that they are interested in attending more events. I hope they do.

Time to get rifles and shoot a Redcoat! This one had better results than the afternoon one from Saturday. Me thinks good things.
At this point one of the youth shooter impressed me quite a bit. He approached me and asked if I would have a specific instructor help him out for the day. Good on ya, Jack. 

Next up was the Rifleman's Challenge target that is apparently now associated with Appleseed. Idea was a bit of practice on a pretty small target before actually shooting an "official" Appleseed target. The shooters shot some drills on squares, and eventually, we got around to shooting AQTs.

There were one and a half AQTs before lunch where shooters heard probably the single best Known Distance presentation in the history of Project Appleseed. OK, not really.

Then it was back to finish that particular AQT. About then we did the Parker's Revenge exercise, and I think the shooters had quite a bit of fun with that. If I remember correctly, scores were 24, 28, 30, & 32.

A Rapid Fire AQT and another normal one or two and it was time for the Memorial Volley. That went as hoped for.

Then we had a presentation. The instructor that was there only on Sunday, TwinEagles, had been our state coordinator and very active in the state. Mike has been one of the primary drivers of Appleseed in Iowa for YEARS so the rest of the cadre present gave him a thank you card to express our appreciation for not only for what he has done for Iowa Appleseed, but more importantly, what he has done for each of us. Thanks again Mike.

We did the presentation of the youth patches and as an extra, I have some extra flags and let them each choose a flag.

I also handed out event number pins to the other instructors. TwinEagles and Ixoye are at 87 and 89 events respectively. That's A LOT of Appleseed.

AND... a couple more AQTs. Six in total for the weekend. Unfortunately, no new Riflemen but some close scores. There were two qualifications and two instructor re-qualifications.

There may or may not have been another presentation.

When the results of the final Redcoat were tabulated, I was very happy with the results. They were MUCH improved from Saturday morning. From the first to the second and to the third and to the forth, there was noticeable improvement each step of the way.

Then it was time for me to give the Sunday benediction, which was the part of the SBiT process that I was most nervous about, but I think it went well.

And that brought the weekend to a close. I am happy with how it went. I REALLY enjoyed our group of attendees and cadre. I was honored to finish up my trip to Shoot Boss with the people that were there.

P.S. I completely forgot to get a group picture.

[Burnett]

Some prone shooting.



Getting ready for a seated stage.



Shannon giving us an "action" shot with the knife hand.

[ProudPapa14]

Sounds like an awesome event.  Congratulations to all! 

 

[Burnett]

It WAS an awesome event. Did I mention the wind? I think it was the windiest shoot I've been to. If not, a close second.

[Burnett]

Joseph shooting in the seated.