AAR Bonfield IL June 6-7 2026 25M Rifle

[Bundt Pan]

We had a great weekend at the Illinois State Rifle Association Range. The ISRA continues to be great supporters of the program, and this was a packed weekend at their range.
We had 7 shooters on the line, with 2 attending for the first time. It was great to see returning faces from our Patriots Day event as well.

We started out the day with a first strike, and several reminders that hydration would be important. Our empty 5 gal igloo by 3:30 showed that we did our best to combat the heat, but we were still all feeling the heat by the time we wrapped up. Our initial Hits Count showed a good baseline, with 6 of 8 showing skills of 100yds or more, and 1 hit of the shingle. We started POI, and squares started to show that our shooters were paying attention and groups tightened up significantly. WarriorPoet continued our history with the Second Strike, and after some IMC we were ready to post up the AQT.

Instruction continued through the shooting positions and SHFs and our AQT showed that a good nights rest and some serious hydration should lead to growing scores Sunday morning.
We wrapped up the day with some thoughts on fighting apathy, being involved, and the importance of making hard decisions and being a part of the solution. Parker also showed how much he absorbed from the Strikes by giving great answers to our 4 questions. He and Brett were awarded young patriots patches, and Jessie earned an Illinois AS wooden nickel for clearing his PM Hits Count. Everyone showed great improvement on the Red Coat as all 8 had an effective range of 100yds or more, and 3 hit the shingle.

Sundays welcomed us with heat and humidity and a full igloo. We were all still feeling the heat, and we kept an eye on pacing to make sure we all stayed in as good shape as possible. 2 shooters hit the morning shingle, and our skills hung around. A few sighter squares confirmed a few zeros, and a few adjustments. We also confirmed that Parker had been doing a Riflemans Dance all of Saturday, and once sighted in started making nice groups. Our first AQT showed improvement, and the other 2 AQTs of the day had several shooters knocking on the door of a riflemans score.

Potato_Hole and WarriorPoet gave us some hydration breaks with Dangerous Old Men, and a KD presentation showed us all how our skills at 25 translated out to the riflemans Quarter mile. We also promoted our Rimfire KD in a few weeks. Our first attempt at Parkers Revenge was hit with some significant crosspollination (I stopped counting at 45 hits on one target), but a second try awarded some fabulous prizes to team 2.
While we didn't mint any new riflemen, we did have two more shooters clear the PM red coat, congrats Mike and Brett. We also awarded Parker on of the historic flags, as after his first event in April his room has become decorated with Appleseed items   

Intermittent thunder and lightning, plus some tired shooters led us to wrap up a little earlier then planned but we had a great time, and I cant wait to see these shooters on the line again.

Thanks to WarriorPoet and Potato_Hole for their help running the event, Jessie for making the trek from NC to bring Brett, and Mike and John for bringing Parker and Charlie out. And special thanks to Mrs. BundtPan for letting me spend the weekend after our wedding at the gun range, for enduring the heat with us, and for taking pictures.

Keep up the dry fire and I know we will be minting some new rifleman soon!
Pics coming soon.

[Bundt Pan]