Emmet County Sportsmen’s Club
What a great trip to Emmet County Sportsmen’s Club last weekend… that is, once we got there.
Our flight left at 5 AM on Wednesday to Chicago, and we landed at 8 AM. So far, so good. Our flight to Traverse City was at 10:30 and we got there by 11:30, got the car, and drove an hour-and-a-half to Harbor Springs.
Sounds good, but about 9:30 this massive black cloud came over the airport and turned a bright sunny day to nighttime and it poured for two hours. It was raining so hard you could not see the next terminal or the runway so they shut down the airport and cancelled our flight.
There were 3:30 and 5:00 flights, but no seats were available so they rebooked us on the 9:00 PM flight to arrive at 11:00 PM. Then we had to get a car and drive an hour and a half to the hotel.
Two options: either try to go standby or rent a car and drive the six hours, so the United customer service lady said go standby since other people on these flights will not make it.
So we did, and we got on the 3:30 PM flight that really left at 7:00 PM. But it was all good. We got to the hotel at 11:00 PM, went to bed, and met the Emmet County Board Members at 7:15 AM the next morning.
A big thumbs up to United for getting us there with our luggage under total chaos.
Now for the clinic. What great folks and a beautiful course with a lot of terrain to work with. This was our first time in, and we had four days of learning how to improve their shooting.
Several students had never had a shooting lesson. They were all self-taught but they all accepted the OSP system. By the end of the day, everyone was shooting great.
Once they realized they didn’t look down the gun and always looked behind the gun, things really started to happen. It took a little longer for some than others, but I tell them to not get frustrated. With all the information given at first, there is a lot to think about. Give us until 1:30/2 PM for it to filter in.
And to their amazement it does and they don’t have to think so much. This is why we harp so hard on everyone to have their gun mount so they don’t have to think about it. You only have 100 percent of focus. If 50 percent is spent on the mount then you are only going to have 50 percent to have on the target.
The target being behind the barrel or across the barrel was something no one had thought about, so that was a whole new concept. It is so fun to watch the expressions on their faces when we get them to hold the across-the-barrel picture in the three-bullet drill for the count of 20, then relax then do it again and again.
The picture pops in so much faster each time so that it becomes more natural. They’re not as concerned about the big blob that comes into the picture. They accept the barrel as part of the picture.
Thanks again to Emmet County Sportsmen’s Club for a fabulous four days and for inviting us into your home.
Oh, and FYI, it was an uneventful trip home on Monday. Yay!
