SAGOLA – The Sagola Township Sportsmens Club hosted a Project Appleseed shoot.

Project Appleseed is a national organization that promotes American heritage and rifle marksmanship. Appleseed shoots are held throughout the country and reach thousands of people yearly.

The message of liberty and factual stories from the Revolutionary War are reinforced by the marksmanship training of shooting simulated distance silhouette targets referred to as “redcoats” out to 400 yards.

At the end of two days of training, both classroom and range, shooters will see a noticeable increase in their abilities. Attendees also have a greater appreciation for two of the most important rights: the right to keep and bare arms and the right to vote.

Shooters came from as far away as Illinois and Wisconsin for this event. Nine members of the local 4H shooting club attended looking to hone their marksmanship skills. Each shooter at a Project Appleseed shoot use at least 500 rounds of ammunition. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) provided all .22lr ammunition for the 4H members to attend this event.

At the end of two days of training the shoot turns to a scored and timed event known as the “AQT grind”. (AQT stands for Army Qualification Target, scaled down targets to simulate a “redcoat” out to 400 yards.)

Shooters start out in the standing position and on the start command go into the shooting position (standing, kneeling, seated, prone), load their firearm, and engage multiple targets. Each different position is timed. The qualification is the same used by the United States Army for rifle qualifications.

Over the weekend there were five shooters that qualified as Rifleman. The Rifleman qualification is the equivalent of shooting expert for the Army. To do so a shooter must score a minimum of 210 of a possible 250 points.

In the 40 degree cold and rain, Anthony Erickson of Kingsford scored a 224 in the first rounds of qualifications. The next morning as the snow fell in Sagola, Jay Loman of Skanee passed with a score of 223. David Quandt of Iron Mountain passed with a score of 220. Quandt was the only shooter to pass with a bolt action rifle.

“He was so smooth with that rifle, you could not tell it was not a semi-automatic,” stated an event coordinator. 4H shooting club President Sydney Smith of Iron Mountain passed with a score of 221 earning the Rifleman patch. This was Loman and Smith’s first time at an Appleseed event. Normally it takes attendees three times at the training to pass the qualification for Rifleman.

Eleven-year-old 4H shooter Katherine Erickson made history at the Appleseed shoot. Katherine passed the Rifleman qualification with a score of 213. She now holds the record for the youngest female to pass the qualification in the country.

Project Appleseed has no record of any female younger to ever pass the qualification. There are records of 13 and 14 year old girls to pass the qualification. The youngest shooter ever to pass was a 10-year-old boy from Texas.

An example of the history that is taught is the story of “Morgan’s shingle.” Daniel Morgan led an elite group of rifleman in the Revolutionary war. The qualification to be a member of his unit was to be able to hit a shingle at 250 yards.

The shingle is used because it represented a head shot on a British officer at 250 yards. A soldier had one shot to make this qualification. If he made it, he was in. If he missed, the soldier would go into the ranks of the general Army and stand toe to toe with the British regulars and their 18 inch bayonets.

To be a member of Morgan’s Rifleman was a honor and a coveted position. David Quandt and Tony Erickson were the only two to clear the qualification target to include “Morgan’s shingle” at the end of the event.

Many organizations contributed to make this possible.

The Sagola Township Sportsmens Club provided range, classroom, and kitchen facilities at no charge. Bullseyes to Badguys provided lunch for both days and lodging for the Appleseed instructors from Northwestern Wisconsin.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) provided over 6,500 rounds of ammunition to all 4H members in attendance. A special “thank you” to the instructors from Project Appleseed for taking the time to come to the Upper Peninsula and hold this top quality training.

Project Appleseed will be returning to the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club in 2015 for another weekend of training and heritage. For more information on Project Appleseed please go to their web site at appleseedinfo.org