AAR Grand Island, Heartland Public Shooting Park. Oct 23/24

[zombiehunter]

Another awesome weekend!  Once again, Heartland Public Shooting Park was a great host - another big thanks to Dave, a club Range Safety Officer, for taking care of all the logistics with the club to make this shoot happen and for setting up the target stands Friday afternoon before we got there.  We had only nine shooters preregistered, but had an additional eight show up Saturday AM.  The group was great, and I saw everyone improving, persisting, and getting closer and closer to that Rifleman patch.  Here are a handful of pics from the weekend:


Another covered firing line.  Excellent!


Come in close, grab a seat, and I'll tell you the story of April 19, 1775.


Here's a pic of the right side of the firing line during Stage 2.


And here's the left end of the line.


We call this the chicken wing.


Appleseed's a great weekend for father/son bonding.


Teaching NPOA.


Gibbs459 presented the president of the range with a Certificate of Recognition as a thank you for holding three Appleseeds this year.


Much like Hezakiah Wyman on April 19th, this young patriot celebrated his 9th birthday Appleseed style!

I'm looking forward to seeing quite a few of this weekend's Appleseeders at the Lincoln, NE November 20/21 Appleseed - I was promised they'd bring at least one of their friends or family with them.  

Oh, just in case you were wondering, this is how Husker Appleseeders roll:

[Mfeit3]

I would like to thank all of the instructors and participants for making Caden and my first AS an absolute blast  .  First, I don't know who bought the cupcakes, but it was a really nice touch and made Caden feel pretty special for his birthday, and I'd like to thank you.  Next, the training was more intense and more physically and mentally exhausting than expected, which frankly was AWESOME (although I'm still tired and a bit sore). 

I was also surprised by the "no politics less than 200 years old" rule, but I really really appreciate that aspect of AS as well (thumbs up to Zombie for strictly enforcing it). All Americans could benefit from marksmanship training.  Many other shooting organizations have either explicit or implied exclusionary policies that I am uncomfortable with.  Appleseed seems to welcome all Americans to the program. Caden and I both enjoyed the history and I feel that the April 19th story provided a nice framework for both the marksmanship and heritage lessons.

Caden's top AQT was a 74, but I don't think that number tells the whole tale of his improvement.  He had virtually no experience (outside of a couple plinking sessions) shooting his rifle.  His first AQT was 28, and as the weekend progressed most of his shots found the paper and his groups where getting tighter and more concentrated on the correct targets.  I would personally consider that amazing improvement and am a proud father.

My top AQT was 180 which also feels pretty good.  I am not a real experienced shooter, was shooting a bolt action and am limited to the sitting and standing positions due to the titanium rods in my back. So, a 180 seems like a good base to work from and think Rifleman may be with in my reach at some point.

I just can't say enough good things about you folks, and hope to meet up with you again.  I'll leave you with quote from my son "That was the best birthday present ever and one of the best weekends of my life!"

[zombiehunter]

Glad you and Caden had a fun time!  It was great to meet both of you and I look forward to seeing you two at a future Appleseed.  If winter kicks in before the November 20/21 shoot in Lincoln, NE and you end up thinking it's too chilly for Caden to have a good time (I've learned kids enjoy loading mags with numb, frozen fingers even less than adults do), watch the schedule for February and March where we are planning shoots (they're not posted yet) in Hastings, NE at Four Rivers Sportsman's Club in their heated indoor range!