AAR: Watervliet, MI Winterseed, January 28-19, 2014

[SteelThunder]

This is how we do Winterseed in Michigan...



...and this is how we do it too. 



Yes you're seeing it right.  All 3 of our shooters scored Rifleman on a blustery 16 deg day with with a foot of snow on the ground and more coming in the afternoon...earning themselves the coveted Winterseed patch.

Our 3 Rifleman are all multi-time AS-ers with a Rifleman patch behind them (in sunny, warm weather).  They tested themselves and their equipment in the harsh northern climes and came out victorious.  (Tom scored and 210 and was baptized with the snow from the North Bridge).  Mostly fueled by chocolate chip cookies from Denise, our resident baking goddess.  In addition, our IIT Diamond Sharp Shooter and SB Steelthunder had a chance to go at it and proved that they can still ring the Rifleman bell.







Given the experience level on the field today, we ran the soon to be patented STEHSLDCOF (SteelThunder Experimental High Speed Low Drag Course of FIre) and by 11 am were cranking out AQTs.  We had several innovative skill building exercises in the morning and spent the afternoon shooting AQTs and honing our KD knowledge through an in-depth KD module. 

Tomorrow we'll head over to the KD range to extend those skills through some 100 yard .22 AQTs and bring out the centerifies to stretch their legs.  We'll also have additional skill exercises on honing our NPOA expertise.



In addition. we tried a new take on history called "3 Strikes in 15 Mintues"(actually it took 14 min and 19 sec) and followed it up with an in depth discussion of the heros and unknowns of April 19th...what made them tick and why they are no different than us today.

Lots of fun today.

[Mr_O]

Great job gentlemen!  Great job Kris!

[Zazzles]

You guys all did great!!!! Much tougher than I to brave shooting in these cold (oh so cold) conditions!!
May I say that I still got sunburnt even though it's in the teens out!

[SteelThunder]

Well, we had even more fun today.  Temps got all the way up into the low 20's but the wind beat it...gusts at 35-40 MPH.  To the point that our equipment was blowing down range.

That didn't stop 2 more repeat ASers from showing up for a total of 5 shooters.  Paul and Leon braved the cold and Paul got his Winterseed patch...and Leon is **THIS** close. 

We continued to experiment with instruction to learn more about ourselves and our equipment.  We quickly reviewed all 3 positions but then had the students diagnose incorrect stances of some devious instructors.  We learned more about how to keep your NPOA under heavy recoil and adverse conditions.  We tried a "IMC 20 MOA up-20 MOA right" drill to test what our REAL clicks to MOA conversions were of our scopes...and found out what they say they are sometimes isn't what the really are.  We also started pounding out AQTs by 11 am.

After some interesting history, including "The Wedding Portrait that Never Was", the "Winter Campaign of 1776" and "The Origins of the Militia Structure in Colonial America", we reviewed KD and then went over to the 200 yd range and tested the drops of our .22s and shot an AQT using scaled targets at 25/50/75/100.  Needing come ups is a revealing drill!

Here's some pix.

[Pitmaster]

You guys all did great!!!! Much tougher than I to brave shooting in these cold (oh so cold) conditions!!
May I say that I still got sunburnt even though it's in the teens out!

Zazzles, you are now my hero.

[tomahawk]

Thank you to Steel Thunder, Oz, Zazzles, and Diamond Sharp Shooter for giving up most of your weekend so that shooters like me can get expert instruction. You instructors ROCK! Thank you for sharing your passion.

The weather was perfect for a Winterseed. It is a rare treat to see the sunshine in the winter months in SW Michigan. We got to see it at times on both days. The snow looked incredible. The weather was cold, but it did not feel as cold as I was expecting it to.

This was my first Winterseed and my 5th Appleseed. I have participated in a lot of enjoyable activities in the snow in my lifetime. This ranks right up there with the best of them. In my opinion, it is the equivalent of a baseball fan going to spring training with their favorite team. I have never had so much fun laying in a snowbank.

It was an incredible weekend of learning. I shot a rifleman score twice this weekend. 212 and 226. I really enjoyed the fast pace, and experimental techniques. As usual the Australian style AQT was a challenge for me.

[tomahawk]

I am jealous of the 2 people that were wearing snow camo this weekend.

Diamond Sharp Shooter, it was a pleasure to meet you.

[D.S.S.]

Congrats to all who earned the much coveted Winterseed Rifleman patch.  If you didn't quite make it don't give up...one of the main qualities of a Rifleman is PERSISTENCE.  I loved working at a venue I had never been to before and meeting shooters that I might not have met otherwise.  You all rock!  Steel, Oz & Zazzles it was great working with you.  Here are some pic's I took...

[Oz]

What a fantastic weekend!  When you begin Saturday morning pulling your equipment to the line on a sled, you know it's a Winterseed!  The cold, snow and wind made for challenging conditions but there were times both days when the sun came out and everything was so beautiful you couldn't keep from smiling (even if nobody could see it under your face mask).

Our shooters proved to themselves that with proper preparation they can stay outdoors all day in winter conditions and perform with skill and persistence.  My hat is off to you (literally, in one of the pics below...wind gust!)  Kevin, Tom, Bob, Leon, Paul:  it was a privilege to spend the weekend with you and watch you take care of each other and overcome winter challenges.  Appleseeders are awesome folks--I wish I knew how we attract such great people.  Steel Thunder, DSS, and Zazzles--you rock. 

And now that I've finally figured out how to use one of the photo-storing sites, I can post pix (although I'm not certain why the landscape pix show up larger than the portrait pix)!





Did we mention how innovative our shooters are?


I like this pic in general but especially that the drink is visibly turning to ice.





Demonstration of "trajectory" in progress:

[Superheat]

You guys rock!     I wish I was cool enough to live on the west side.   

[grunt soldier]

looks like a awesome shoot!!  congrats to all who braved the weather and persevered!!

[ruger rat]

I have never seen two grown men so happy to be able to play in the snow with their rifles for an entire weekend.  Even happier that they are one up on Zazzles now.     Still can't believe you all braved that cold.  I am so proud of you!  And by the way, Appleseeders on the west side of MI are way cool!  Even cold....maybe even freezing for a while. Thanks for all the great pics!  See ya when it is LOTS warmer!

[Oz]

Thanks for sharing Tom with us for the weekend, Denise!  And thank you for the awesome cookies and the special walnuts! 

Zazzles' trigger hand would have stayed warmer if she hadn't kept taking her gloves off to reach into your bag o' cookies!   

I have never seen two grown men so happy to be able to play in the snow with their rifles for an entire weekend.  Even happier that they are one up on Zazzles now.     Still can't believe you all braved that cold.  I am so proud of you!  And by the way, Appleseeders on the west side of MI are way cool!  Even cold....maybe even freezing for a while. Thanks for all the great pics!  See ya when it is LOTS warmer!

[Turtle]

what did you find to be the best combination for your hands gloves. ect.  what kind?? im investigating what I should buy for cold weather gear. 

[Oz]

what did you find to be the best combination for your hands gloves. ect.  what kind?? im investigating what I should buy for cold weather gear.

All my life my hands and feet have been cold from October to May even with the best gloves and boots I can afford--big down parka, "100 below" boots--put me outside for 30 minutes and I'm getting numb.  You can imagine I was a little worried about my first Winterseed!

For me, those chemical warmers are absolute lifesavers.  For shooting, I'm OK down to 15 degrees or so even wearing fingertipless mechanic's gloves so long as there's a chemical hand warmer tucked inside on the back of my hand.  My fingertips get cold when prepping mags and otherwise touching metal but warm up on breaks.  If I'm not shooting I wear gloves with full fingers but they're just a light stretchy glove--kind of a neoprene, almost like a paddling glove, not big insulated gloves, but absolutely with a chemical warmer packet inside on the back of my hand.  I had never in my life used those chemical warmers until my first Winterseed, now I carry a box of 'em with me...foot, hand, and body warmers, and I change the hand and foot warmers at lunch time so they don't peter out before the end of the day.

I saw other folks (whose bodies apparently do produce reasonable internal heat) using gloves, including glove/liner systems, but could not provide specifics.

[SteelThunder]

what did you find to be the best combination for your hands gloves. ect.  what kind?? im investigating what I should buy for cold weather gear.

As Oz said, life is too short to buy cheap cold weather gear.  Buy the best you can afford.  If on a budget, stick with the standards...wool.  Skip anything cotton as it doesn't insulate well normally and when damp (sweat, water, snow) is useless.

I'm a fan of layers...for my feet, body, limbs and hands.  For hands, I wear a pair of Under Armor liner gloves and depending on how cold it is either Columbia insulated ski gloves (with the silvery reflective layer inside) or 2 layer Polaris snowmobile gloves.  And the chemical packs...back of hand or somewhere your fingers can reach them.  Ideally you'd wear mittens...something to keep the fingers together for warmth...there are probably pretty good ones out there that are well insulated but can quickly be taken off and/or flipped down to shoot.

All of the above applies for headgear and coats too.  And boots?  My Winterseed standard is now a pair of HUGE Sorel expedition pac boots with the thick felt liners.  They look ridiculous, are difficult to walk in but if you aren't moving, will keep your feet warm...even without the chemical packs.

[tomahawk]

I was wearing wool socks, rubber boots with 2000 grams of insulation. Cargo style pants, with insulated ski bibs, knee pads. Under Armor Cold Gear Top, thick wool sweater, insulated Parka style coat. Ski mask, and heavy insulated gloves. When I was shooting or preparing magazines I removed the gloves. I had to keep the ski mask opening pulled down below my mouth to keep my glasses from fogging up. I used no hand or foot warmers myself. I had plenty of extra gloves and hats along in case I needed more layers. I put my shooting mat on a trap, but the tarp was very slippery on top of the snow. Later on I was just laying the shooting mat right on the snow, and found that it worked much better in my opinion. The shooting mat was gripping the snow very well. My hands did get cold at times while going gloveless, but I put the gloves back on and hands in coat pockets, that caused them to warm back up. The knee pads seemed to help keep my ski bibs dry.