Milwaukee, WI AAR - September 19-20, 2026

[Red Momma Bear]

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome. This was our challenge on my first solo Shoot Boss at a 25m event. Heavy rainfall on the night before our Saturday Seed at Oconomowoc Sportsman's Club meant standing water on the range. We questioned whether to cancel, move to a rimfire only range or wait for the water pump to make the event manageable. There was no gas available for the pump so Ironmike headed towards home to get a gas can and gas. Along the route he saw the gas can on the side of the road that I told him about on our way in that morning. IT WAS FULL OF GAS! Prayers being answered! Ironmike set up the pump and we started our instruction and storytelling in the clubhouse. The pump quickly did its job and by midday we headed out to the range for our first Hits Count target. Putting our instruction to good use, our shooters made increasingly small groups and we were able to get in an AQT before the day ended. We had one Requal with a score of 221-nice job Eric! Our second Hits Count target showed vast improvement. We sent our soggy crew home to dry off and prepare for the next day.
More rain overnight...a lot more! Ironmike and I arrived at the range Sunday morning to see Lake OSC! The amount of flooding was staggering! Ironmike set the pump to work with little hope of being able to move the water out in time to shoot before dark. Back in the clubhouse we reviewed instruction, told DOM stories, practiced and dry-fired. We checked our NPOA with a demo-rifle equipped with a laser. We "Busted the Instructor" for his mistakes in Steady Hold Factors. We had lunch. We prayed. By 1:30 in the afternoon we ventured out to the range and shot our Hits Count and three AQT's. Congratulations to Matthew in earning his Rifleman patch, under some of the wettest range conditions I have seen, with a score of 212! The attitude of our students was nothing short of amazing! We all joked that we need a new patch: something of the sort of a "Swim Seed" possibly!
One of our students was born in France and came across the pond to further his studies as a young adult. Archie became an American citizen.   He expressed his appreciation for the wet conditions as they made him realize what our forefathers experienced as they fought for freedom, for us. We celebrated Archie's love for this country by awarding him with his own copy of fellow Frenchman Revere-Paul Revere's Ride.
I am deeply grateful to my cadre of instructors -Red Wing, Leadlined and especially Ironmike for helping me "stay the course". I am proud and humbled by our students who showed us what being a Rifleman is all about-even if they haven't earned that coveted patch yet. And, we are all eternally grateful to our founding fathers for ensuring us the opportunity to enjoy the freedoms we were able to demonstrate. 

[Red Momma Bear]

Sunday Lake OSC!

[Red Momma Bear]

Adaptive shooters!

[Google]

I had to look at those 'flood' pictures a couple of times.  This event is the definition of Persistence! 

[Red Momma Bear]

 

[Red Momma Bear]