Laramie WY winterseed Feb 2-3 19

[colonial shooter]

Day one:
A wonderful morning in Wyoming today, about a dozen patriots arrived to spend a blustery day with temps in the mid 20's (a virtual heat wave, compared to the folks back east), and winds expected to gust over 40mph. With snow on the ground the range was set up, and the day began. More to follow.

[M1bzrk]

Another great Winterseed - it would have been really nasty if the snow squall with 40+ winds had persisted - even with iron sights & most were using scopes.  Got to hand out 6 Winterseed patches which pleased me greatly.  And 2 Distinguished patches: Rex shot a 246 and Hanley a 241 at his first Appleseed!  Garrett and Jacob were knocking at the 240 door.  John shot a 215 with his beautiful Mannlicher CZ bolty.... Dan sighted in his new AR with National Match irons.  I figured he had a keeper when I saw the first 3 round cloverleaf!  Drew did not break 200, but if we had an award for "most improved", he would have gotten it.  Persist and you'll do it next time, Drew.
Thank you, Laramie Rifle Range for hosting us - especially Rex, Jacob and Joe for all you have done & MOST especially Sandy for supplying us with hot coffee & cocoa.
Thanks to all who came, shooters and Instructors, from as far as Denver, Sheridan and Casper.
Thanks to colonial shooter and rasputin for making their presence known
Thanks to Rick for all his hard work.  Sleepy is WYOMING'S NEWEST SHOOTBOSS!
More fun to be had here in April & August.  Signup early....

[sleepy]

The challenge in southern Wyoming isn't the snow or the cold (we deal with it); it's the wind.  The wind buffets target backers and shooters, making hits a real challenge.

Our interstate highways spend more time closed than open in the winter, due to tractor-trailer rollovers. Winds over 60MPH are all too common.

During one of the rare breaks in the wind, Rex (a Laramie Rifle Range board member and Appleseed IIT, a very accomplished shooter) asked loudly "why aren't we shooting right now?".

Road closures permitting, Laramie's Winterseed is a great opportunity  for the most dedicated shooters to show what they're made of, and the 2019 Winterseed was no exception. Our dedicated shooters were:

-Drew; and accomplished pistol shooter who travelled 160mi to work on his rifle skills.

-thaxtoniv;  a brand-new IIT0 who travelled 140mi to earn his Winterseed patch…with a bolt-action rifle.

-Garrett; a young Laramie man of age 14 who seriously knows what he is about.

-Hanley; a local grad student, and officer in the campus precision rifle club.

As we trickled into the range, the temps were in the high teens and the sun was out. Setup was fast, as three range board members were present which made logistics easy. We were down in a bay near the clubhouse.

Thaxtoniv called in; his truck wouldn't start. He ended up being unable to show on Saturday.

Pewpewpew brought a friend, Jenna, to observe the shoot.

Colonial shooter was present, inspecting the premises and shoot staff with a gimlet eye. At his side was Precious, his trusty canine companion, assisting in the olfactory component of the inspection.

M1bzrk got classes going briskly. We were using a new POI format borrowed from Buzz in Utah, which interspersed shooting and classes more closely than we had. With a little more personalization, it should work out fine for us, too.

Joe, another range board member and chief safety officer, took time from work to visit with us for a bit before going back to the
clubhouse to prepare warm beverages.

Classes went quickly and smoothly, thanks to the high experience levels of our shooters. MrAufbau was doing a great job with both teaching and modeling positions.

As all of our shooters were either experienced or shoot staff, we spent relatively little time zeroing and on basics. One real benefit to this was plenty of shooting time for instructors, too.

Lunch was held in the clubhouse, warm & dry with plenty of hot beverage choices. Pretty soon it was nap time, as Sleepy gave his first (and ooops! second) strikes.

Before we knew it, we were back outside firing AQTs and had our first patch winner, Garrett.

Pewpewpew, as line boss, did a great job of keeping things on-schedule.

The sun was warming things up, and pretty soon the snowmelt was turning things muddy. Our second patch winner was Regular Guy, an IIT and range board member who has previously been awarded the Winterseed patch. A perpetual motion machine, Regular Guy was a blur the entire weekend, juggling coaching, modeling, babysitting, teaching, line-bossing, and slowing down for a moment to sling up and shoot a 238.

A lousy 238…what a slouch!

Collen, the range president and highly ranked competitive rifleman, popped in and out a few times on both Saturday and Sunday as he went about his duties.

The third patch went Hanley, our precision rifle shooter, who qualified on his third AQT ever using a borrowed rifle. He later shot distinguished, too, at 241(again, on a borrowed rifle).

Rasputin dropped in, accompanied by his wife, Tessa (a good shooter at previous Winterseeds, and wonderful cook), and his parents. Rasputin has been largely on the sidelines these past few years, due to law school. It was really nice to see them all.

We even did a four-minute AQT.

At this point we were getting a little wet (due to snowmelt) and cold. Wind was fierce, and the sun getting low in the sky. We policed brass, packed our gear, and called it a day.

In the evening, a good number of instructors and shooters met up for dinner at the Library, a local student watering hole.

Sunday morning was beautiful; relatively warmer (in the 30s) with calm winds and sunshine. The overnight was warm, and even though the bays were well graveled, the trucks were in a pond of melt-water; the sun was melting the valley into a big snow-bowl, and setup was like an amphibious warfare exercise.

Sandy, who refers to herself as a "fair-weather shooter", came in to set up warm beverages for the day, and visit a bit.

It was good to see thaxtoniv; God was his co-pilot this morning, making sure his truck made it up to Laramie.

And it was sad to see pewpewpew and Jenna having to leave. There was a storm front coming in that he had to beat before road closures, with 300-plus miles to travel. Saturday, he'd hardly had a chance to zero, much less qualify.

Sunday morning was review and more AQTs. MrAufbau ran the line while Regular Guy and M1bzrk modeled and taught.

The wind started "picking up" (LOL as in picking up targets, rifles, mats, hats, etc, and sending all downrange)and severely impacted the rest of the AQT. It even picked up my target (which I'm pretty sure was a 245 or so LOL!) before I had a chance to get it scored.

The shooters were very responsive to four-minute AQTs, so we actually got in eighteen AQTs this weekend. A few shooters made ammo runs into town Saturday night.

Rex, who had been coaching the line all day Saturday, took a moment to shoot an AQT and come away with a Winterseed patch and a Distinguished patch having fired 245, before resuming his coaching duties.

MrAufbau again took over the line, having been teaching and modeling, as well as working the line previously.

Coming in over the Snowy Range, fast from the west, was a huge sleet storm with very strong winds. All of a sudden, the world was white again, and yours truly had no feeling in his hands…time for lunch!

At lunch, M1bzrk taught an inspirational third strike, plus the unusual treat of the story of Samuel Thompson, of Brunswick, Maine. Regular Guy and MrAufbau told us about Hezikiah Wyman and Samuel Whittimore, respectively, with loads of detail and enthusiasm. Sandy led a fun, informal discussion on youth today.

Coming back out, most of the new sleet had melted, but the winds stayed strong for the rest of the shoot. It felt raw, and made it hard to get stable when firing.

Drew was learning very quickly, but between equipment issues and the wind, never quite made a rifleman score. A rifleman perseveres, and I'm certain Drew will be back for Patriot's day to pick up his patch.

After a few more 4 minute AQTs and a little history, we called it a day by consensus. Some more history, a redcoat, and a benediction, and it was time to remove rifles and police brass.

Thanks to Laramie Rifle Range. An incredible and versatile range, with something for everyone from archery ranges, to a rimfire trail to promote exercise, to a 1275yd steels platform canyon range, Laramie Rifle Range is an incredible labor of love. The treasures just mentioned mean nothing next to the warm support given to the Appleseed program by the board.

By most standards, the shoot was a success. We had experienced shooters who improved their skills. M1bzrk's load on the return home was lightened by six Winterseed and two Distinguished patches (and a green hat that mysteriously ended up in my truck…hope he doesn't miss it). We had one shooter agree to accept an orange hat. We had IITs and Instructors making professional progress. We had fun in the sun (and sleet, snowmelt, and wind, LOL!). We persevered. And we learned.

[Mark Davis]

Nice write up Rick, makes me wish I could have been there enjoying all the fresh air.

[Mr. Aufbau]

Another awesome event at Laramie Rifle Range. Thankful for the opportunity to spend another weekend with you guys. Photos attached below, and a YouTube link showing the balmy weather we enjoy in Larry can be clicked here: https://youtu.be/0NXAaZa0HMg

[colonial shooter]

Thanks for the pics and video, Dan. Shows how fast weather can change here in the west. Rick, great write up!  Congratulations. Glad to see everyone came away safely!

[Lucky Lori]

Sure looks cold to me, but then again i live in Florida. Good to see Berk and sleepy. Did sleepy get a green hat promotion i missed ?  Lucky  Lori