AAR: SKSC Dorr MI 25M rifle Clinic June 6-7, 2026

[MI-copperhead]

We had a great turnout of citizens looking to reconnect to their heritage of marksmanship this first weekend of June at the South Kent Sportsmans Club in Dorr MI. There were 8 first time Appleseed attendees in our near sellout crowd of 14. After the Safety briefing and Line command briefing we set about to find out where our shooters were at with the Hits Count Red Coat. Scotch, Deadshot, and Aspen ( all returning Appleseeders) served notice that they had brought their "A" game by clearing their targets and earning a Bicentenial  Quarter from MI-copperhead.
Our instruction team of Pookie, Fidget and Zorak then set about presenting the Appleseed Points of Instruction. The day seemed to be flying by but many of our new shooters groups were showing significant shrinkage toward the magic 4 MOA group. IMC was presented and a couple of rounds of sight adjustments were made before we broke for lunch and Pookie's presentation of first strike. IIT Fusion joined our teem shortly before this and his presence was most welcome as it allowed the rest of the team opportunities to get out of the sun and have restroom breaks.
Our instructor team worked through the final PoI's and we got an AQT in with just enough time let to get Saturday's Red Coat shot. First time attendee Nevada showed she was getting hold of the instruction as she cleared the red coat as did returning Rifleman Njörd, earning a bicentennial quarter.
Results of the AQT would have to wait till Sunday morning adding to the suspense but I believe our shooters were as drained as the Instructors and the Shoot Boss from the heat of the day.
With the new day's arrival we reviewed the safety briefing and then Zorak gave his first time presentation of Second Strike and did an outstanding job.
Sunday's first Red coat gave us another rifleman in Colt who cleared his target for the first time for a bicentennial quarter. We also had 7 students hit the Morgan's Shingle
Copperhead then did the presentation of Rifleman patches to Saturday's skilled five. Riflemen re-qualifing Saturday were Colt with 216, Deadshot with 221, Scotch with 233 (using a bolt action) and Njörd with a 244 to earn a coveted Distinguished Rifleman patch. Our first new Rifleman of the weekend, or more correctly Riflewoman, was Aspen breaking through with a 222 score !
Our team then went to work with a quick review of the PoI's and a check of point of aim to point of impact along with IMC review.The second AQT was shot and Njörd backed up Saturday's score with a 241 and Scotch, switching to a semi-auto, posting a 229.
Aspen showed the qualities of the true Appleseed spirit, by foregoing this AQT to help coach her sister Nevada and getting her score to a 192. Way to go, Aspen, you have the makings of a Instructor in Training.
The third AQT gave some of our participants their high scores for the day with Misty posting a 199 and Matt D. a 194. Deadshot got close to distinguished with a 237 followed by Scotch with a 230 and Njörd with a 229.
Essiah showed she had been working on the fundamentals by going from a previous high of 171 to a 212 to become our newest Riflewoman of the weekend !
After taking lunch in the Club house and listening to the KD presentation we worked on carding the sights and squares of death before completing AQT number Four.
Scores showed quite a bit of slippage, probably from the heat and exertion, although Aspen backed up her rifleman score with a 216. Misty showed she was gaining ground by posting a 192 and first time appleseeder Grant, at age 11, kept making steady improvement to 126.
The Shoot Boss  decided to have a Parker's Revenge fun shoot, breaking the shooters into 3 teams of 4 each. Each team had an advanced Rifleman shooting from standing, a new Rifleman shooting from seated, and two team members shooting from prone. It was great watching them plan their strategy and work together. Team Parker came out victorious over Team Wyman and Team Whittimore by getting the most hits on officers, and winning valuable Project appleseed stickers. Regardless of who won it was great to see the team work and comradaree.
The day's final AQT proved that everyone was pretty well spent so the final Red coat was posted and shot. Seven shooters hit the 400, 8 hit the Shingle and 4 cleared it.
The Shoot Boss pronounced the Benediction with the story of Amie Cutter and "one more thing" and the day was complete.
To Addison, Grant, Matt D., Richard , Misty, Carrie, Nevada, and Scott, you all showed great improvement over the weekend, keep working on those fundamentals and you will soon get there.
It was a great pleasure to get to meet each one of our attendees, I hope I will have the honor of your presence at another Appleseed.
Huge shout out to my team of Fidget, Pookie, Zorak, Fusion, jennwilber73 and Kevin ! This could not have been done  without you.
Last but not least, many thanks to South Kent Sportsman Club for great facilities and hosting Project Appleseed marksmanship clinics.

[Zorak]

Despite the brutal heat and coming into the event with some serious fatigue, I had as much fun with you all as I've ever had at any shooting event ever. Thanks much to a wonderful group of students and instructors!

Pictures I took this weekend:

[Njörd]

I had a wonderful weekend with all of you once again! Im so happy to see that you got your green hat Copperhead, great work! This weekend showed a ton of improvement among all the participants. It's always fun to hear the roar of cheers and applause when the AQT scores call out new riflemen. Although I was only able to manage a 244 this year, ill be back with a perfect score in the future, mark my words. See you next year!

[Scotch]

Special thanks to the Dorr crew for a great weekend of shooting, instruction and history! I was privileged to witness my sons score personal best scores of 244 (Njord-Alistair) and 237 (Dead Shot-Logan) due to the great teaching and practice that they put in to their respective rifles. I have known MI-Copperhead since he was an IIT and am so glad that he has done the "one more thing" to become the leader of Michigan's Appleseed program; he is truly a Patriot of the first order and one that I would follow into battle if call upon! Zorak was a very pleasant surprise with is teaching and command of the firing line (great job and it will be no surprise when he has his red hat), while Pokie and Fidget continue to grow and provide solid instruction and inspiring history telling. The scores above are telling as to the teaching of Project Appleseed as many seasoned and novice shooters improved to score personal best's (including myself with 11 prior shoots under my aging belt). Great job to all the shooters with great attitudes and growing skills. It was my pleasure to celebrate a Team Parker win in the competition and give all the credit to our "less experienced shooters" who scored way more hits than their "advanced Rifelman" in the group. My Appleseed sticker has a prominent place on my gun safe to remind me of your accomplishments! It is not an exaggeration to say that Project Appleseed has changed how I look at marksmanship shooting and the profound sacrifice of our Founding Fathers. God bless this organization and the USA on this 250th anniversary of our independence.

Scotch out!

[Pookie]

My hats off to the shooters, it was a bit on the warm side but everyone stayed engaged and in high spirits. I had a great time myself. See you in August !

[Deadshot]

At this years Apple Seed I was able to shoot my new personal record of 237. It was a challenging and rewarding experience, and I learned a lot that I plan to carry forward and build on.
I'd like to give a big congratulations to Njord for an outstanding score of 244 and earning the Distinguished Rifleman patch—that's an incredible accomplishment and well deserved. Also, congrats to Scotch for hitting a new PR of 233. It was great shooting alongside all of you and pushing each other to improve.
A sincere thank you to MI-Copperhead and all of the instructors for your continued dedication, patience, and commitment to teaching marksmanship. The effort you put into helping shooters of all skill levels grow really shows, and it's what makes these events so meaningful. I always walk away better than I came in, and I genuinely appreciate the time and knowledge you all share.
Looking forward to the next one.

[MI-copperhead]

Fidget and Zorak presenting the prone steady hold factors on Saturday

[MI-copperhead]

Zorak presenting Second Strike

[MI-copperhead]

The six shooters that cleared their Red Coat targets

[MI-copperhead]

Our 3 high scorers, all from the same family.
Deadshot 237 (L) Scotch 233 (M)
Njörd 244 (R)