Occupy Ellijay

[GJM]

My wife and I are here for the Rogers class this week. Landed in North Georgia, turned my phone on, and immediately received a text from YVK as to a small point about his new unobtanium AIWB. Drove over to East Ellijay, and March here looks like Alaska the last week of July -- T shirt weather. With this year's lack of winter, the PF May class may go through a lot of cold water and ice.

First stop was Starbucks, where a patron stood up, walked by us, without realizing his shirt has ridden up halfway exposing his holster. I suggested that he pull his shirt down, which he immediately did. When the couple next to us exited, they looked at us, laughed, and said "this is what we do in North Georgia."

Next activity, go for a hike, and then the Sunday evening Bill Rogers lecture. I am running a M&P 9 FS with RMR, and expect the Rogers Schol drill to provide meaningful comparison data, since I ran a 9 Pro last time through. My wife is shooting a G34.

[Tamara]

Having spent my formative years in that area, I would like to say that the thread title caused me to laugh loud enough to scare the cats. :D

[Al T.]

Guess it's my day for videos... :D

Tam, me too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tqxzWdKKu8

[HeadHunter]

Soon you will be defending the Ellijay Gap from invading hordes of undesirables, aka Blast 5 at the end of the day.

[GooberTim]

A visit to Ellijay proper on weekends these days is more likely to include the sights of BMWs and assorted yuppie SUVs than locals playing a banjer. It seems like half of Atlanta is up there. Now venture a half dozen miles up the road, that's a whole 'nother story!

[GJM]

Off to the Sunday lecture, after nearly ending up in the slammer. The area we chose to hike, as of Jan 2012 now requires a GORP (Georgia Outdoor Resources Pass) and to make matters worse, all dogs need to be leashed. We assumed there must be a carve out for Alaskans with bird dogs, or at least Vizsla bird dogs, since everyone knows you can't tire out a Vizsla on a leash, and a bored Vizsla is not something any sensible person encourages. Our luck to run into a Georgia Fur and Feathers guy, without our Gorp and with our Vizsla, but fortunately he knew Kyle and Adam, two of Bill's instructors, and we just received a warning.

Yelp note, our fav restaraunt, Charlie's, is closed on Sundays, (along with Chik-Fil-A), and there apparently is no beer or wine at dinner places in county on Sunday, until after the upcoming vote.

[GooberTim]

Hit up Jolly Roger for fresh seafood (believe it or not) late in the week. They are open only about 3-4 days a week.

[Tamara]

A visit to Ellijay proper on weekends these days is more likely to include the sights of BMWs and assorted yuppie SUVs than locals playing a banjer. It seems like half of Atlanta is up there.

Twenty years ago that was me. And it was a Porsche 924S, not a Bimmer. :p

(And I note you're posting from May-retta, which is hardly the sticks, depending on which side of the 120 Loop from which you're posting: The part that calls it "The Big Chicken" or the part that calls it "le poulet gran". :D )

[TGS]

Twenty years ago that was me. And it was a Porsche 924S, not a Bimmer. :p


The fact you know they're Bimmers makes me want to buy you a seafood dinner.

[HeadHunter]

apparently is no beer or wine at dinner places in county on Sunday, until after the upcoming vote.

I usually didn't have time for dinner on the town on Sunday so didn't realize this was the case. Went into the Applebee's once and LMAO when she told me that. Twenty years in this state and it still surprises me at times.

[Tamara]

I usually didn't have time for dinner on the town on Sunday so didn't realize this was the case. Went into the Applebee's once and LMAO when she told me that. Twenty years in this state and it still surprises me at times.

I'd say that we've conclusively proven that not letting drunks vote in this country hasn't done any good, so why not let folks get likkered up before they hit the polls? It can't hurt.

Indiana has finally seen the light on the issue as of last year. :cool:

[GJM]

As always, enjoyed Bill's Sunday evening lecture. Since most shooters are loath to listen to more than a minute or two of discussion on the range, Bill is brilliant to to cover an hour of important theory and philosophy on Sunday evening, when he has your full attention without the lure of the Rogers Range distracting you. Once shooting starts, discussion is typically limited to seconds or just a minute or two, which is also brilliant, since we don't go to a shooting course to talk about shooting.

Monday is the day of reckoning for most shooters -- when their perception of their shooting ability collides with the short time frames of the Rogers Range, making for some long faces at the reading of the first day's school test results.

Had an interesting conversation last night with three attendees, also using M&P 9's. When I asked them how their pistols shot in light of the 9mm known accuracy problems, they replied "what known accuracy problems?"

[HeadHunter]

Monday is the day of reckoning for most shooters -- when their perception of their shooting ability collides with the short time frames of the Rogers Range, making for some long faces at the reading of the first day's school test results.

Truly an understatement. Andy told me that one of my responsibilities would be to administer psychological first aid on Monday evening. That was very frequently true. As one police officer put it, "we're the best shooters in our department by far and we come here and find out we suck."

[GJM]

Had a similar discussion with a Police Chief last night. He came to Rogers last year, after taking many high level training courses, and doing well, and did terrible here. Barely made basic, and was freaked out about coming home without a Basic rating, and initially his confidence was shot, and wondered if he should be carrying a handgun. A variation of his story is the most common Rogers reaction to a first time through the program.

Monday, the first morning of class finally arrived! There are very few things that I look forward to, and at the same time am as apprehensive about, as a Rogers class. Many students here are repeat offenders, and my best guess is most returning here, shoot more getting ready for Rogers than they shoot in a typical class. Shooters looked very strong, and before we knew it, it was almost time to take the first day's school test. I ended up with a cramp in my dominant hand, no doubt a function of pre-Rogers training, and had to sit out the last few drills before the test, run warm water over my hand, and take Advil.

Whatever preparation you do never prepares one for the actual Rogers test -- between the self-induced stress and getting refamiliarized enough so one can function at the subconscious level necessary to make the tight time frames. I had a pretty good run going until crashing the final test, test 9, which is generally strong for me. The top shooter ended up with 111, I got 106, and there were shooters at 105 and 104. My wife was disappointed in her 85, but I thought she did great, as it was within three points of her previous course high score, and right out of the box on day one. She ended up having to do a reshoot on the support hand blast, and Bill Rogers leaned over to me and said he wished he shot support hand only as well as her in today's test.

This place is incredible, and I urge you to do whatever necessary to rearrange your schedule and experience the program.

[jthhapkido]

This place is incredible, and I urge you to do whatever necessary to rearrange your schedule and experience the program.

+100

I realize lots of people on this forum have already made it to the Rogers Shooting School---but for the people who haven't, FIND A WAY.

No, it isn't cheap. Yes, it might be a long distance away. True, you have to take an entire week off for it.

Do it anyway. Even if you don't learn ANY new physical technique (which is so unlikely that it is laughable, though I suppose it is possible), the format, targets, pace, requirements, and mental aspects of the class are such that you WILL be a better shooter when you leave.

And it'll make you think seriously about your shooting knowledge.

Find a way.

(Plus, it is just a TON of fun to shoot!)

[HeadHunter]

The top shooter ended up with 111, I got 106, and there were shooters at 105 and 104. My wife was disappointed in her 85, but I thought she did great, as it was within three points of her previous course high score, and right out of the box on day one.

That's excellent work. Congratulations to both you and your wife. Very few female shooters do that well, even by the end of the week.

[Sal Picante]

Hey GJM,

Was nice to meet you at Rogers and it was a real pleasure to shoot with you and Charlie! Hope Astro find the dot one of these days...

My buddy Tony and I had a great time in the class: I posted a lot of my thoughts and some pictures on my blog. (http://www.wiilshoot.com/search?q=Rogers+Trip)

After the class, we rolled up to the Friends of Wounded Warriors Benefit IDPA Match (http://www.wiilshoot.com/2012/03/team-wiilshoot-rocks-wounded-warrior.html) and pretty much put the boot down on the rest of the competition. I emailed Bill saying I put his mantra to good use: I was the fastest, the most accurate and was the best! :D

Hope to see you, Charlie and Astro there sometime in the future!

Cheers,

Les with the .40.