Bates City, MO June 13-14, 2009

[Greg in MO]

What a great shoot...  We had 62 Americans show up on Saturday, which may make this the largest Appleseed in MO so far (I can't remember how many we had at Osage last October, but it was close).  All but 10 or so came back on Sunday, despite forecasts of being rained on all morning.  It was still a mud pit, but I can live with that.  Sunday it sprinkled, so I put my rain gear on and of course it stopped.  Therefore, I left my rain gear on all morning to keep the rain away from the shooters.  It worked!  The sun came out by noon and it was a fantastic day for shooting.

What a great group of folks we had.  All of them came with a learning attitude and did exactly what we asked of them.  I had a great group of instructors to work with.  Special thanks to Alex who drove down from Iowa to help us out.  It was a pleasure to work with him all weekend. 

Saturday was the usual drill.  Everything went well and there were no major issues.  Lunch took longer than expected, as the ladies providing food had a hard time dealing with all of us.  So we only did 1st Strike at lunch, and then did 2nd strike on Saturday afternoon before the last Redcoat.  Saturday gave us one Rifleman, with several knocking on the door.

Sunday also went well, we even added 2 of our lady instructors to our ranks. Lots of AQTs and some fun stuff thrown into the mix to keep things interesting.  We did Dangerous Old Men and 3rd Strike at lunch on Sunday.  More AQTs and keep hammering.  Lots of fine tuning by the instructors.  The shooters were hot, tired and sore by Sunday afternoon, but everyone was still smiling.  We made 5 more Riflemen on Sunday.  Two of our new Riflemen stepped up and took the Orange Hat.  Good job guys!

On a personal note, my wife Robin was able to attend her first Appleseed.  She shot a 206 Sunday morning, but was getting tired and couldn't pull all the stages together.  I think she enjoyed it though, because now she wants to go to Osage Beach next week.   

I want to thank all of my fellow instructors who did an outstanding job on the line.  I also want to thank Pioneer Gun club for letting us use their fantastic facilities.  I hope you let us come back soon!  And of course I want to thank all of the attendees who took the time to show up and make a difference.  Not only did you have a great attitude all weekend, many of you stayed after and helped us tear down the line.  That really meant a lot to us tired instructors.

I look forward to seeing all of you on the Appleseed line in the near future.  You have the tools now, the rest is up to you.

Greg

[Tacticool]

This was my first Appleseed as an IIT, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  All the shooters were great and there was a variety of rifles (10/22, Garand, Springfield 1903, SKS, several tricked out ARs, and many others), which was cool.  I hope I was able to give some helpful tips, and help the shooters get a little closer to obtaining the coveted rifleman patch and possibly an orange hat.  A friend of mine managed to get his rifleman patch and took an orange hat, so that made the weekend all the more enjoyable.

The facilities at Pioneer Gun Club were awesome.  It was the first Appleseed I have been to with complete bathroom facilities (showers, toilets, sinks).  The showers were very refreshing after standing all day in the heat and camping all night.  So a big thanks to them for letting us shoot there.

I'd also like to thank all the other instructors, for helping out us new guys and showing us the ropes.

[ErikAnderson]

On a personal note, my wife Robin was able to attend her first Appleseed.  She shot a 206 Sunday morning, but was getting tired and couldn't pull all the stages together.  I think she enjoyed it though, because now she wants to go to Osage Beach next week.   

This is the best news in the AAR! Excellent job Robin!  You guys have fun at the beach!

[cmidkiff]

...now she wants to go to Osage Beach next week...

Why is that 'want's to go' rather than 'is going'?  Hmmmmm?

Thank her again for the cookies   (Greg's wife makes the best cookies, brownies, and pies I've ever eaten.  How he stays thin is a mystery to me!)

Great write-up.  Instructors... well done. 

[Greg in MO]

Why is that 'want's to go' rather than 'is going'?  Hmmmmm?

It's a logistical thing.  We're working on it...

Thank her again for the cookies   (Greg's wife makes the best cookies, brownies, and pies I've ever eaten.  How he stays thin is a mystery to me!)

With 4 kids around they eat most of it, fortunately.  I will pass on your kind words about her baking capabilities...  Right now, I think it makes a good selling point for becoming an instructor.

Greg

[ErikAnderson]

Missouri Appleseeders: Well armed. Well trained. Well fed.

[eric10mm]

Thank you all for coming and putting on such a great event for us.  And thank you for putting up with this particular shooter.

I took a lot of pics.  Link to lots of pics from this shoot. 

And out of curiosity, are there a lot of folks who have shot a perfect 250 point AQT?

Eric in KC

[MamaBear]

Thank you all for coming and putting on such a great event for us.  And thank you for putting up with this particular shooter.

I took a lot of pics.  Link to lots of pics from this shoot. 

And out of curiosity, are there a lot of folks who have shot a perfect 250 point AQT?

Eric in KC

Thanks for the comment above the pic you took of me (obviously yelling 'something' with my hoarse voice  ) And yes, the comment is true.  I take no guff from anyone (witty banter, yes  , guff, NO WAY  )
All the pictures were excellent.  Thanks for taking time out from getting pelted with spent .223 brass to take them 

BTW, hope your burns heal soon- you can put plain yogurt over anyplace that is burned (even sunburn) and it will work.  In addition to being a "No guff-taking" IIT, I am also a nurse    Hope to see you again on the trail- oh, and bring the hat 

[ErikAnderson]

I take no guff from anyone

..try being married to this one.  

Thanks for sharing the photos Eric!

[titegroup]

This was my first Appleseed as an IIT and it was interesting seeing things from the other side.  It was an excellent facility and I hope we can have more events there.  Everyone that I worked with on the line was great and it seemed like they were soaking up as much as they could from the firehose.

I managed to get my sister and my nephew to go to this one.  I think they had a really good time.  Both of them want to go to another event.  I'm hoping I can get them to Oxford next month.

[cmidkiff]

Photos:  Carl Robertson of Pioneer Gun Club sent me a copy of some of the photos he took of our shoot.

Sorry, the page is a bit slow (it's overloaded), but it's the easiest way for me to share photographs.  Click on a small picture to get a big one...

http://www.midkiff.us/index.php?p=pioneer

Greg, seems like he spent a good deal of time on Robin's end of the line...

Enjoy!

[MamaBear]

Photos:  Carl Robertson of Pioneer Gun Club sent me a copy of some of the photos he took of our shoot.

Sorry, the page is a bit slow (it's overloaded), but it's the easiest way for me to share photographs.  Click on a small picture to get a big one...

http://www.midkiff.us/index.php?p=pioneer

Greg, seems like he spent a good deal of time on Robin's end of the line...

Enjoy!

Great pics, Chris, thanks for sharing those!