Leesburg, FL AAR November 29-30, 2025

[Pirategirl]

Well we had another AWESOME shoot at Ares Training Facility in Leesburg, Fl.  10 brave souls braved the beautiful weather to prove they know VERY WELL what they are about.  We had many new shooters, and some first time shooters on the line using borrowed rifles, and STILL showed us they are contenders for a Rifleman score.  Seth was unable to attend on Sunday, but Man! that guy was awesome.  Even with some mobility issues, he still managed to shoot all day and proved there was no quit in him!  Huzzah!  JP was one of our youngest shooters.  At just 13, he was able to turn in a weekend high of 162!  Speaking of 13 year olds, we had Ian and Gavin also turn in scores of a 115 and a 180!  SOOO impressive guys! Daniel with a 118 and Jake with a 129 proved that they will be back!  Big Mike!  Even being on a borrowed rifle, and not able to SEE very well. still turned in a 164 at his first event!  Unreal how cool that is. On the other end of the spectrum, our older shooters were NOT to be outdone!  Ron and Ed BOTH turned in rifleman scores at their very first Appleseed!  OUTSTANDING!!!  Poor Alex.  He has been chasing a patch for a while now.  Well...HE MADE IT!!!  Not only did he shoot score, he did it 3 times!  Lincoln was our youngest shooter.  At only 11 years old, he made my day by being so sweet, calm, cool and collected as we all worked with him to have the best time possible on a rifle that was made for a person much bigger than him!  Once he gets a rifle to fit him, he will be unstoppable!!!  What a joy he was!
However, I think we all agreed the HIGHLIGHT of the weekend was Nick (FL Nick) received his red hat!  We had a blast blowing holes in that hat!  Congratulations Nick on being the newest red hat in Florida!
All in all, a super fun weekend with some of the best Trail Life kids in Florida.  Kuddos to all the leaders and parents on such a fine group of young men.

[Old Ron]

Very happy to discover Project Appleseed and this event! PirateGirl and the team members that ran this event were OUTSTANDING. They were very patient with all shooters (including with my physical limitations) and full of knowledge that they could effectively transfer.  I've only owned a rifle for a couple of years, shooting all benchrest with a bipod and rear bag, and I was really surprised to see my improvement thru the weekend under this great training. I've just ordered a few things from the store, including the Paul Revere book which the history lessons in the event have me primed for.

I hope things work out for you to put on a pistol event in our area.
Thanks again to the team and all the class members - it was good fun!   

[Pirategirl]

Huzzah Ron!!  So happy to meet you, and can't wait to see you again on the firing line!  Congratulations on your FIRST patch!

[Patriot1776]

Sounds like another great event.  Outstanding job Nick.  Congratulations!

[TheMenace]

Congratulations to all on what sounds like a great event.
Special kudos to Nick on earning your Redhat. Your persistence is exemplary. HUZZAH!

[JustKim]

WOW!  Sounds like another great event!  Congrats to all the shooters and Congrats to Nick!

[Old Ron]

A bit of followup:  Went to the range today with a 9-mm compact pistol. Shooting my typical groups when I decided to try the trigger "follow-thru" I learned last weekend.  Made a huge improvement in accuracy and group size!  Thanks!

[Pirategirl]

That's great Ron!!!  Soo glad we helped ya!