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AAR - Bellevue, MI May 26-27, 2012

Started by ITB, May 27, 2012, 09:38:36 PM

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ITB

May 27, 2012, 09:38:36 PM
Another weekend spent with some great Americans!  Mother Nature had some fun with us - dousing us with heavy rain on Saturday, and cooking us on Sunday.  Nobody complained and everyone came with positive, teachable attitudes.  Thanks to my great group of instructors - Steel Thunder, Graywolf, 3Dog and Diamond Sharpshooter.  We also picked up three new Blue Hats - Pitmaster, Rascal21 and Pinkey.  Thanks for stepping up!  Congrats once again to Steel Thunder for earning his Red Hat.  Congrats to Bob for shooting a 210 on the last AQT,; you probably enjoyed your "baptism" by all of the instructors.

On with some pics:









Graywolf doing IMC on Sunday


Shooting steel at 100 yards with 22 rimfires:


The shooters with their "victim"


A new Red Hat:


The old hat given a proper "retirement"




Father and son shooting an AQT


Crew pic:


"I will either set my country free, or shed my last drop of blood to make her so." -  Dr. Joseph Warren

" ITB glides through the highways of the Midwest like a Velvet Fog, unfettered by mortal speed limits, leaving only the knowledge of American Heritage and Marksmanship (and a faint whiff of ghost pepper sauce) in his wake." - Oz

CF KD requal - Muenster, TX  11/25/23

D.S.S.

#1
May 27, 2012, 10:09:58 PM
The weather, either the rain or the heat/humidity, couldn't hold us down.  Absolutely FUN weekend.  Thanks to all who made it the success that it was.  To my fellow IIT, 3.dogs, great job on your DOM!!  I foresee you progressing as quickly as you choose.

I can't wait to see you all again soon.

DSS
"Somehow, it is OK for little Johnny to shoot and kill in a gory bloody mess aliens and humans alike, but it is absolutely evil to actually shoot at a paper target at a range."  --Marco Vorobiev

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.  If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.  --Thomas Jefferson

Aim small...miss small! --The Patriot (movie)

Rascal21

#2
May 28, 2012, 02:38:43 PM
Too many photos to post, Here are a few!









The rest of the photos are here:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.465078573507661&type=1

Graywolf

#3
May 28, 2012, 02:51:39 PM
What a great weekend!  We had a great bunch of shooters and instructors.  Many thanks to Burbs for all the work he put in as S.B.!  Steelthunder's P.O.I.s on Saturday were awesome and his D.O.M on Sunday was very thought provoking.  3.Dogs and D.S.S. did a fantastic job on their D.O.M.s too. Well done!  In spite of the rain on Saturday and the heat on Sunday it was clear the shooters had a great time and we even got to "baptize" a new rifleman!  Well done, Bob!  Congrats also to Steelthunder on getting his Red Hat.  Congrats to Pinkey and Rascal on their Blue Hats as well.
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." - Thomas Jefferson

"There ain't no easy horses.  Learn to ride."  S.K.B.

SteelThunder

#4
May 28, 2012, 03:33:09 PM Last Edit: May 28, 2012, 09:30:24 PM by SteelThunder
Pix will be posted after I dig my camera out of my shoot box...

Another superb weekend.  Heavy rain, a chill and sweltering heat...if only it had snowed we would have had all 4 seasons in a weekend!

However, our shooters persisted.  Saturday brought a great group with multiple families out.  HUZZAH for the future!  Dom, Alex and Miki showed amazing poise and safety.  Alex even got off the bags and into position.  Stacey, her boys and Eric were a great addition to Saturday...they listened, incorporated the instruction and improved.  Sorry, boys, but I think Mom outshot you!  Our out-of-staters Bruce (IN) and Jeff (IL) kept rocking it all weekend and made great progress.  Jeff, you were really starting to make that old Romanian trainer sing and Bruce...let's whack away at it again at Niles!

Of course, I really loved watching father and son, Dan and Bob.  They teased and encouraged each other all weekend and we had a full court press on to get Bob over the hump on Sunday afternoon.  He kept calm, focused and nonplussed...and made it with a 210 on the last AQT of Sunday.  I've never enjoyed dousing someone with several gallons of ice cold water more!

Our Michigan cadre is second to none also.  Great organization by burbs, our IITs Graywolf, 3Dogs and Diamond Sharpshooter were on....their....game and 3 (coun em 3) blue hats with Rascal, Pinky and pitmaster!  Once again, I enjoyed Graywolfs stories and his instruction on Sunday was spot on.  DOMs from 3Dogs and Diamond as well.

Did I mention that I enjoyed the weekend?

























NRA Patron Member, SAF Life Member
NRA Certified Rifle Instructor, RSO
Warlord of the West

Ultima vox civis
"Learning occurs only after repetitive, demoralizing failures." - Pat Rogers
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil; God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart." - Tecumseh
"Never attribute to treachery, that which can adequately be explained by incompetence" - Bonaparte, Hanlon, et al

Pitmaster

#5
May 28, 2012, 07:06:14 PM
I may be  :DH:, but I agree with all of the comments about a great weekend. My  :sb:is below! ;D

After attending my first Appleseed (Watervliet) and other boring details prior, I registered for the Bellevue Appleseed. My club (Bend of the River Conservation Club) is hosting an AS in Niles, MI. I am bringing 5 other shooters who are even more inexperienced with rifles than I am. I decided to keep the others from worrying about the youngest member who is 8 years old (grandniece) so I should at least be a little ahead of the learning curve of the others.

I have read Paul Revere's Ride and found it quite interesting, but after hearing the 3 strikes and stories at my first AS, inspiring has been added. I have become even more inspired since Bend of the River Conservation Club supported efforts to host an Appleseed. I accepted the honor of wearing a blue hat offered by intheburbs.

While at the Watervliet Appleseed I realized it was possible that I am a direct descendant of a patriot who fought in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1774 and increased my pride as an American and supporter of Project Appleseed.

Friday morning before I left for Bellevue I posted a note that I was off to Appleseed with a link. A paternal cousin who has conducted a thorough genealogical research of our family traced our lineage back to Francis Cook(e) who came to America on the Mayflower. He responded within a hour "Do you recall you have a Great-Great-.....Grandfather Noah Cook who was a Revolutionary War Vet?" That was exciting to learn on my way to Bellevue.

Saturday was great with the rain, the people, the strikes, the stories, and the training. I slowly began to put some pieces together and shot a 96 on the last AQT of the day. I did not score or keep the AQTs from Watervliet. Although I doubt I did better. This will help track improvement and along with reading the target I should be able to reach my goal of becoming a rifleman by the April 19, 2013 Appleseed.

Overnight I began to think about what Appleseed means to me. Thinking kept bringing back the same quote from the movie As Good As It Gets where Jack Nicholson tells Helen Hunt "You make me want to be a better man" That was confirmed upon arrival Sunday morning when intheburbs started off talking about what Appleseed means to him and used virtually the same quote. The Sunday heat took its toll on me, even though I was prepared with protein, water, ice, watermelon, and cooling rags. I made it through the morning with effort and determination and was glad for the lunch break. After lunch, the heat became worse and I stuck it out some and shot my last AQT of the day with a score of 121. At that point I decided to take a break and went to get another bag of ice and cool off. The AC drive helped and some cold water helped enough over the next couple of hours to drive home safely.

The highlights and inspiration of my experience in no particular order are:

1.   Watching a family of four becoming inspired enough to buy a rifleman opportunity card, regretting not coming for both days, and spending time together.
2.    Watching Bob shooting a bolt action rifle left handed and being just short of a rifleman score because of time. Bob's shooting was on target but using the bolt left-handed was hard to overcome but he kept trying and eventually earned a Rifleman patch with another rifle.
3.   One of my favorite things is watching kids at Appleseed. Their energy and effortless learning is wonderful to watch. There was one young gal who was 9 and another in her teens, but I can't drag their names out of my brain right now.
4.   Watching Kris get his Red Hat and shooting his FN-FAL

I'm sure I'm forgetting some comments I wanted to make, but this will have to do.

To quote an actor I do not like and who made it his catchphrase

"I'll Be Back"
Pitmaster

Captain Noah Cook a Revolutionary War Veteran was my great, great, great,...great grandfather. Noah Cook enlisted in the militia on April 21, 1775 at age 18 upon learning of the Battles of Lexington and Concord that morning. His company left on that day for Concord arriving April 24, 1775.*

*History of Northampton, Massachusetts: from its settlement ..., Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 25, Page 359


"The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home." Antonin Scalia

�The test of a democracy is not whether the people vote, but whether the people rule.� G.K. Chesterton

NRA Endowment Member

lowrider12

#6
May 28, 2012, 09:48:39 PM
I am just so grateful for all the instructors..  To go pretty much all weekend without even shootin' that much, and stand in the sun while on safety and educational duties!
And all the extra miles that the instructors went to!  To bring/set-up/take down all those canopies..  To loan out swivels and slings..  extension pads & medical tape to raise up that cheek weld...  extra tarps...  rifle loan offers when they saw me struggling with my bolt action..  And thanks to whoever brought that 5 gallon cooler of water, I would have passed out from the heat without it!
And the stories and history, and the passion exhibited by all instructors during these stories and during the training...
"Thank you" doesn't seem like a strong enough statement!  Thank You!
^:)^  :bow:
Jeff (romanian trainer guy)
PS - upon arriving home, I found my (new Ruger 10/22) missing trigger drift pin on the floor by my workbench ::)

SteelThunder

#7
May 28, 2012, 10:51:45 PM
Jeff -- You are most certainly welcome back anytime here in Illinois' prettier but slightly poorer cousin state.  Definitely check out some of the Illinois/Wisconsin shoots, but we've got room on the line for you over here (Niles, MI in July, Watervliet, MI in Sept)
NRA Patron Member, SAF Life Member
NRA Certified Rifle Instructor, RSO
Warlord of the West

Ultima vox civis
"Learning occurs only after repetitive, demoralizing failures." - Pat Rogers
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil; God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart." - Tecumseh
"Never attribute to treachery, that which can adequately be explained by incompetence" - Bonaparte, Hanlon, et al

ITB

#8
May 29, 2012, 12:36:27 AM
Quote from: lowrider12 on May 28, 2012, 09:48:39 PM
I am just so grateful for all the instructors..  To go pretty much all weekend without even shootin' that much, and stand in the sun while on safety and educational duties!
And all the extra miles that the instructors went to!  To bring/set-up/take down all those canopies..  To loan out swivels and slings..  extension pads & medical tape to raise up that cheek weld...  extra tarps...  rifle loan offers when they saw me struggling with my bolt action..  And thanks to whoever brought that 5 gallon cooler of water, I would have passed out from the heat without it!
And the stories and history, and the passion exhibited by all instructors during these stories and during the training...
"Thank you" doesn't seem like a strong enough statement!  Thank You!
^:)^  :bow:
Jeff (romanian trainer guy)
PS - upon arriving home, I found my (new Ruger 10/22) missing trigger drift pin on the floor by my workbench ::)

Jeff - thanks for the kind words.  Yes it's a lot of work, but we love it, we're trying to save the sinking ship, and comments like yours give us the energy to do 20 more Appleseeds.  Besides, blowing holes in Steel's orange hat with a 30-cal rifle was all the shooting I needed to do.   >:D

Looking forward to seeing you again on the AS trail!
"I will either set my country free, or shed my last drop of blood to make her so." -  Dr. Joseph Warren

" ITB glides through the highways of the Midwest like a Velvet Fog, unfettered by mortal speed limits, leaving only the knowledge of American Heritage and Marksmanship (and a faint whiff of ghost pepper sauce) in his wake." - Oz

CF KD requal - Muenster, TX  11/25/23

MI-copperhead

#9
May 29, 2012, 08:46:57 AM
Looks like another good event ! I'm sorry I was unable to attend this shoot. I could have used the mat time and extra instruction as I'm still short of shooting a qualifying score with irons, but have not figured out what I'm lacking.  I hope to make the July event and have at least one new shooter with me.
Morgan's Rifleman 250 yard cold bore, 10/29/2022, Tusco Rifle Club, New Philadelphia OH KD/Rifle M1A w optics/Prone
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what course others may choose, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death ! " Patrick Henry
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty, than to those attending too small a degree of it. "
Thomas Jefferson
"Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." Capt. John Parker
" I have'nt a man who 's afraid to go." Capt Isaac Davis
"I would say that the majority of Americans have no real sense of the value and the uniqueness of being a U.S. citizen.  Once they realize what they have, they are less likely to stand by while some politician attempts to whittle down their rights."  Troy a.k.a. solarguy

3.Dogs

#10
May 29, 2012, 03:16:52 PM
A wonderful weekend.  Rain on Saturday, hot on Sunday.   I just have to love Michigan you never know what the weather will be. 

A good time to be had.  All the young shooters zipping down range to check targets brings a smile to my face.  Seeing the look of disbelief on one shooter who was all over the place at first but after covering the six steps to firing a shot tightened up his group.   He looked like we pulled a magic trick on him.  Watching Bob cycle the bolt on his rifle.  Left handed shooter with a right handed gun.  Such smooth action,  I thought for certain he would have thrown off his shots,  but checking his targets.  WOW!!!  :cool2:.  I must say that was some impressive skill. 

Jeff come back anytime.  Definitely check out the shoots close to home,  but if you want to plan a small vacation back to Michigan would be more than happy to see you back on the line.

DSS you did an awesome DOM.

I would also like to say Thank You to everyone.   When I went up to do my DOM I was fine, as soon as I stood in front of everyone the thought "I haven't talked in front of a group since high school" shot through my brain.  Instant butterflies.    To see people smiling and paying attention was a real boost.  Thank You.
"Maybe we should call Burbs." - SteelThunder
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