AAR Carmi, IL. July 10-11/ 2010

[Mudcat]

We had another great event at the Carmi Rifle Club this weekend. With 25 shooters on Saturday we braved the near 100% humidity for a great day of Heritage and Marksmanship. With shooters and instructors coming from 4 states to this wonderful hidden gem of a club. The pop ups went up and shooting mats were unrolled, coolers wheeled and carried down to the firing line. Lots of good safe shooters were on the line learning the age old skill of rifle marksmanship.
Everyone improved greatly and showed the persistence to become Riflemen in the very near future. Shooters aged 12-66 and a wide variety of men, women and young adults. All different skill levels too. But all had a deep desire to become a Rifleman or Riflewoman.  3 Riflemen were made and we had several in the 200+ range. All showed what it takes and will soon become a Rifleman with some practice.

My camera took some really fuzzy pics, it got turned off of auto somehow. But here is what we got. Anyone else have any feel free to post them too.

The group photo.



Devon our first Rifleman on Saturday.


The 1430 wall popsicle break. What a great idea and welcome refreshment.


Jerrad getting his 208 target. So close.


Dave or Out a ammo getting his 4th Rifleman patch next Appleseed this guy gets an Orange hat,


Brad getting his patch too.


XDman  giving some instruction.


Joann's shooting aid. She shot all weekend long and did a great safe job. Hey it is all about having fun and sharing a weekend with fellow patriots.




Thanks to all those that came out to shoot with us. I heard a very good rumor from some of the board members of Carmi Rifle Club that we may be back in Carmi before the year is out. I hope so because this is the best club I have ever had the chance to work with. I wish all clubs showed this much enthusiasm and willingness to help to Applessed, it would make all our jobs so much easier. Thanks to William, Dawn (the Boss), Velinda, Mike, Jon(pres)for the Sunday service, Kenny and all the members. THANK YOU!!

[biogranny]

I had my first shoot as an IIT this weekend.  The weather was hot and
humid but I enjoyed it so !  I met some great people who turned out
to be really good shooters( Awesome Colton,12 yrs. old, Teresa, Dawn
Jill and another Dawn)  I also met an amazing woman Joann, who had
had 2 major back surgeries and used a tripod and sit on a stool and
never complained once.
I worked as RSO and Lso and gave Line Commands until I nearly lost
my voice rather quickly. 
Thanks to my fellow Instructors who were patient and taught me so
much yesterday (Yellowhouse Jake, Fuzzymath, Mudcat)
I hope to see you all on the APPLESEED TRAIL.

biogranny

[Gordon]

My camera took some really fuzzy pics,

Fuzzy ones? Cool! where?!? 

[yellowhousejake]

I LOVE Carmi!!!!!!!!! We saw some great shooting, saw some real interest in the message as well. It was hot, but it was tolerable thanks to the rifle club. I saw some great improvement during the weekend, several shooters made great strides as I watched them slowly start piecing together the instructional points and the scores climbed higher and higher. You know they are getting it when the scores go from 130 to 206 in a single day.

By Sunday afternoon Teresa was hitting her NPOA almost every time with one shift per target, I know, I was watching. It looked like an instructor was doing the shooting. She will make rifleman, she has the skills, and she has the undefeatable attitude.

We had some great history, engaged shooters, good food, the sound of Freedom. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend.

YHJ

PS.  Dawn, my Ford made it home, and I passed a Chevy or two on the way 

[moodawn]

Yellowhousejake, I am glad your Ford made it home, wouldn't want a chevy to have to tow you. 

Biogranny, you were great with the line commands and enjoyed spending time with you and your family.  Brad is quite comical. 

To the rest of the team, you guys were great and thanks for all your help.   

[Reveille]

Congratulations to the 3 new rifleman.   Looks like you all had a great time. Did I see sweet corn in there somewhere?  Great job everyone and I hope to see you on the trail sometime.  Reveille.

[Bill 3]

...
PS.  Dawn, my Ford made it home, and I passed a Chevy or two on the way 

You passed someone...   ..  

[AuntieBellum]

Looks like a great shoot in the land of my birth (sshhhhh...don't tell the Indiana crowd I was born in Pekin!)!

Soooooo, when do we get to know more about this VIP?   

[Gordon]

WHAT a GREAT shoot!

Mudcat's right when he refers to the CRC as "this wonderful hidden gem of a club". The range is gorgeous: manicured grass, in better shape than your typical lawn, seriously. But it's mainly the people. Coffee in the morning, hot lunch, popsicles in the afternoon, they even made sure we had fans under the pavillion. Again to quote MC, "I wish all clubs showed this much enthusiasm and willingness to help to Applessed, it would make all our jobs so much easier." Thank you, CRC!

While we only had three new Rifleman scores, remember that almost everyone here was new to Appleseed. YHJ mentioned the very noticable improvement in AQT scores over the course of the weekend. Near the end of Sunday he read off a bunch of scores. I didn't write them down but it was like, "190, 201, 189, 178, 195, ..." I was sincerely impressed with the improvement of the group as a whole.

.. the group as a whole, and a lot of good individuals!

I didn't get to spend a lot of time with everyone, but while it's still fresh on my mind:

• Warm greetings to Jerry, Jared, and Colton -- three generations on the line together. Great seeing you out there! Y'all're comin' back, right? Oh and Jered, remember, "be specific" (you know what I mean).


• A couple of other granddads out there with their kin: Loyd and Rainer (hey Rainer, I got a picure! see below), and Joe and Theresa. Theresa: as YHJ says, we expect to see you with a patch soon! And I'm glad you got a taste of the passion for the heritage which so motivates us.


• Terry: Glad to see you got those SHF's worked out. I never did check on your scores -- how were they?


• Ray, I gotta hand it to you for knowing your own mind and removing that scope in exchange for the iron sights. Now, if you ever get a chance to try aperture sights, do! You'll be amazed at the improvement over notched.


• Dawn & Mike, kudos to you for your persistence and optimism. It was so pleasant being on the line with you both. Mike, as far as I can tell you've got the foundation, so from here on in it's just mental. Dryfire at home, and coach yourself with what I know you know.


• Todd: it was a sincere pleasure talking with you.

Pictures to follow.

Thanks everyone for such an outstanding weekend. Oh and Yella-house? I AM stealin' that benediction idea!

-FM

[Gordon]

Pic's attached.

[Mathias]

Looks like The Carmi shoot went well.   Glad to  see the turnout.  I'll ask the question again, respectfully.  Who was the VIP? 

[EEL]

VIP was a photog from a magazine.  While maybe not Ted Nugent, we just wanted to put our best foot forward.  Sounds like Mudcat handled it all in stride.  Good shots were taken.  Expect we will hear about what magazine and when the story is due out (provided something doesn't pe-empt it) in a couple months or so.  I'm sure you know how that goes.

Stay tuned.  In the meantime, dryfire, dryfire, dryfire 

EEL

[Mathias]

That's good news about the VIP.  Sounds like Appleseed could get some good exposure.  Thanks for the reply. 

[yaya]

  Re: First Appleseed Carmi IL
<< Reply #3 on: Yesterday at 10:22:04 AM >> Quote 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am glad I attended my first appleseed soot this weekend, I had a great time and the instructors were very knowledgable.  I t didnt take long to learn I had some bad habits either.  I would also like to thank the instructors for their patience and for their expertise.  I am looking forward to being the proud reciepent of a rifleman patch, although I know I have a lot of practicing yet to do.  The stories on our history really struck a cord with me also, things that will make you thnk a little about the sacrifices men, women, and children even went through for our freedom!  Mudcat, my old friend I will get a patchand i want you to be the one that hands it to me  .  I hope to see all of you again at a shoot.  Thanks again!!!!
   
                Brad Reynolds  (yaya)

[Mudcat]

Yaya Glad to hear you had such a good time. But I knew you would. You showed good improvement over the weekend and it should be no problem with getting a Rifleman patch. In fact I will go ahead an put your name on one that I have.
The history is what got me involved in Appleseed and I understand when you say it struck a chord with you. It strikes that same chord every time I tell it or hear it.
I am sure we will be together at a shoot soon.

[Hoggr9]

This was my first Appleseed,not my last.
I started the day off saturday shooting my trusty bolt gun.
This was killing me on stages 2 and 3 so i switched for sunday.
Still didn't quite make rifleman this time.Learned alot of new things as well as having a couple bad habits to overcome.Thanks again Mudcat for letting Dawn borrow you rifle.
All the instructors were great,the history was great.
Already looking forward to my next AS.
Alredy working on 7th stepping,Mike

[Komodo]

This was my first Appleseed, and I had a blast.  I learned a lot of skills on how to shoot that I'm going to take back to my home range and practice. I'm pretty new to guns in general, and my aim needs a lot more practice to be consistent.  After Saturday, I learned I'm not nearly conditioned enough for this kind of shooting. I sat out shooting on Sunday, because I figured it was better to make room on the line for folks who were close to rifleman than to have a lot my of fatigued shots going down range.  I took that instruction about making well-aimed shots to heart.  It takes a lot of strength and concentration to be an accurate shooter.  I was impressed at how many people there were really excellent marksmen.

I do some genealogy work, and I know I have several ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Hearing the history segments about those patriots really gave me a different perspective on what it must have been like for my distant relatives. 

The Carmi Rifle Club was a nice facility, and the people were great.  I'm really glad I found out about Appleseed, and I don't think I could have had a better experience for my first time out.  See you all around at more Appleseed events in the future. 

[Hoggr9]

When will the vip be revealed??
And for those of us that know who he was and where to look,when can we expect to see it???
Thanks,Mike

[moodawn]

Well I am kind of disappointed because we were told at the shoot who the vip was and where and when to look for the article.  Now either I am not looking in the right spot or the info we received was not correct.  Anybody care to update on this.  Looking forward to seeing the article.  Thanks Dawn

[techres]

The article is imminent and this thread will be updated in a few days with that info.  Hold Steady.

[moodawn]

Thank you so much for letting us know.