Riflemanseed! (Almost complete) Coeur d Alene, ID 3/9-3/10 2013

[Roland]

Ladies and gentleman,

The shoot boss will be along shortly with a more detailed AAR, and I will post in the next couple days with pictures.

However, I wanted to get a quick post up.

We had 8 shooters on Saturday, and 9 on Sunday.

Out of our 9 shooters, 7 shot rifleman!

Two repeats and five new riflemen. Yes, there is indeed a higher caliber of shooter in Idaho!

That's 80%, folks. Nearly a perfect ratio.

I will post later with my usual stuff and congratulations, just wanted to get the news out ASAP.

Much more to come,

Dirk/Roland

[Earl]

That was one outstanding group of Riflemen and women, they really showed calm mastery of the subject and constant improvement.

I was lost on the first day, in the fog around Post Falls, did arrive before the rifles would be brought to the line, enjoyed sharing the heritage and all that I could about improving the marksmanship. Lucky that they didn't need too much, I am rusty.

Wore out early on second day, but loved seeing the known distance shooting on this fine range.

[Whippet]

Almost 80%! I think we need another order of buckets sent to Idaho. Well done.

[George Hacker]

Photos have been reposted to Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.522632301113761.1073741826.163235577053437

Tag yourself in the photos and share the album on your wall.  Tell your family and friends what an awesome time you had.

(Wish I could have been there.)

ShadowMan

[TruTenacity]

80% = great instruction, thorough assimilation, and superb application.

[peterlandsiedel]

I had the pleasure of attending this Appleseed.

First off let me send a hearty thank you to our instructors Eert, Roland, Earl, and Mr. Clean. This was my second Appleseed, and once again I learned an incredible amount about marksmanship, history, and distance shooting. I credit the amount I learned to these fine instructors. Earl was particularly entertaining and informative. Idaho is lucky to have him in their instructor corps. I also want to personally thank Eert for his thorough explanation of wind and distance estimation. I learned a ton and have lots to practice now.

This was my first Appleseed with a KD portion. I brought along my AR and 450 rounds of precious .223. Sunday afternoon had me and two other shooters punching paper out to 300 yards, and ringing a steel gong at 385. For those of you who haven't attend a full distance shoot, I highly recommend it. The skills you hone at 25 yards really do translate out to 200, 300, and 400 yards. The sight picture is nearly exactly the same on a full sized target at 400 yards, as it is on the 4th stage stage of the AQT. I can now say from experience that training at 25 yards on reduced size targets is an effective and practical means of honing long distance skills.

Once again, I had an absolute blast in Idaho and I look forward to working with all of you again. Thanks

-Peter

[George Hacker]

This was my first Appleseed with a KD portion. I brought along my AR and 450 rounds of precious .223. Sunday afternoon had me and two other shooters punching paper out to 300 yards, and ringing a steel gong at 385. For those of you who haven't attend a full distance shoot, I highly recommend it. The skills you hone at 25 yards really do translate out to 200, 300, and 400 yards. The sight picture is nearly exactly the same on a full sized target at 400 yards, as it is on the 4th stage stage of the AQT. I can now say from experience that training at 25 yards on reduced size targets is an effective and practical means of honing long distance skills.

*** SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT! ***
We have a two-day, KD only Appleseed scheduled for April 27-28 in Vale, Oregon (right on the Idaho border).  Centerfire only - no 25m shooting.  If you are a rifleman or an Appleseed instructor, we would love to have you sign up and join us.  Border raiders from Idaho and Washington are welcome.

Eventbrite registration link:  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5094232988

Sign up now and tell your friends!

ShadowMan

[Roland]

Shadowman, Peter is indeed a rifleman... And he'd also be an Orange hat if we had a hat to give him.

The shoot boss has this thing called work, at a job (A concept which I am lucky enough to still be unfamiliar with), so I'm going to go ahead and post some pictures. I tell ya what, I really miss having Evenstar or Pro Libertate right about now... my limited photography skills pale in comparison. Plus this uploading stuff is a lot of work.

https://picasaweb.google.com/newfgoof/20130310AS_3102013?authkey=Gv1sRgCOaJoLC12bHp7AE

Most of the better photos I took are here, but I'm going to go ahead and insert some into this post, for those of ya'll that don't like clicking links.



Shoot Boss giving morning briefing on Saturday



Mr. Clean giving Redcoat explanation as Shoot Boss eert looks on.



Shooting of aforementioned redcoat, note the steam rising. The steam and sun would denote that it is indeed spring here in North Idaho.



Taking the count



We were privileged enough to have the one-and-only EARL at this shoot. It's always an honor, Earl, and I learn from you every shoot, no matter what side of the line I'm on. Here he is doing Six Steps and NPOA.



OK, so we might have started out with a couple folks that already knew how to shoot.



Mr. Clean and eert on the line., Obviously an important discussion...



Tim and Jeff running Carding the Sights. It's always an honor to work with law enforcement, and know that perhaps the skills that you have passed on might be important some day. I hope to see you both again soon, and perhaps you could use those LE connections to get some more folks out in April and later on? /end shameless plug.



Teaching sitting, and everyone but our hardy instructor corps staying out of the dripping roof...



Walking out to check targets, which grew progressively more difficult as the snow became softer.



The instructor crew for this weekend, minus yours truly, teaching standing. Pardon the light imbalance... sooner or later I'll learn how to take better pictures.



Mason, you're doing everything right some of the time. You're just not doing everything right, at the same time, all the time, which is what it will take to be a Rifleman. You are so close, and I'm sure your next shoot you will break through that barrier. (And no, I'm not just saying that because you're my buddy and I dragged you to the shoot...  )



We actually had decent weather on Day One!



Kerry and Cliff were one of our Husband/Wife teams on the line



Scoring the first AQT of Saturday... Any Rifleman? (I needed a weight to prevent the targets from blowing away. One of my knives was handy)

Yes. Yes there are.



Tim, a first time Appleseeder and experienced LE shooter.

And



Melissa, a second-time Appleseeder, who would repeat this feat many a time throughout the weekend. Also note that she cleared both Redcoats on Saturday. Shoot like a girl if you can, indeed!



Earl wrapped things up on Saturday with a fantastic Third Strike. Earl, if you come out this way again we may just have you teach EVERYTHING. So we can take notes!



Back at it again on Sunday, adding one shooter...



...Eric S. (who's forum name I have forgotten)



Not a family you would want to mess with, as good as they shoot!



I cannot fathom how Tim gets that close to the ground without monopodding!



Out KD shooters making the hike/run out to 300 yards



eert and Earl



Peter, it was great to meet you, and you're welcome on either side of the line out here in ID any time you want.



Jeff, great shooting this weekend. You are so close, i ahve no doubt that after some practice you'll shoot a rifleman score no problem.

And then I decided that I wanted to try my hand at some more POV shots. The following are the ones that actually came out:







And now for some more Riflemen:



Kerry and Cliff both shot Rifleman on the same AQT! Great job folks, and if you can indeed give us a range closer to you, and some shooters there, we'll come!

I failed to get individual pictures of a couple of our riflemen, but here's a group shot, minus Peter, who had to bug out early:



Indeed, all of these shooters shot Rifleman. It was a fantastic shoot indeed.

Dirk/Roland, out for now.

[Earl]

I am very glad that Kerry and her husband got their Rifleman. I was there at the start and was wondering how the weekend was going to go . It went great! Thanks for coming Kerry and Cliff, please continue to be as positive and keep improving your marksmanship, and say something nice about Appleseed to all your friends. Please.

[eert]

Greetings to all from the novice Shoot Boss!

Thanks for making my inaugural shoot such a success!  We did indeed start with a high caliber of shooters, evidenced by shooting 2 AQT's Sat for score (plus one for practice) and six for score on Sunday.  And YES FRED, we even included KD instruction and shooting. 

A couple notes on the pictures posted:  You can Tell Peter is from BIIIIIIIIG SKY Country, he's in a T-shirt while the rest of us are wearing hats and gloves.  They grow them tough next door.  He's probably even tough enough to shoot an Aquaseed in Columbia Falls!  I thought I even saw a pic of the SB demoing wrong sided sitting position!

It was a true  honor to work with Earl again, thank you so much for making the long drive out here.   Just when I think I have a handle on stuff, Earl would let loose with one of his P"Earls" of Wisdom.  My favorite from the weekend was: "If it's not wood, it doesn't have a soul."  I'm sure Reformed Redneck would agree.  If you have a chance to attend a shoot where Earl is instructing, I strongly suggest you make the extra effort to attend.  Some day, I hope I can do justice to the telling of the Dangerous Old Men, and keep the students engaged half as well as Earl.  A true MASTER!

I also want to thank my other Instructors, Roland and Mr. Clean for both doing their part to make this shoot successful. 

NEW Riflemen:  Scott, Kerry, Cliff, Tim, and Melissa---HUZZUH!  Well deserved.  Tim and Peter shot RM's with IRON sighted AR's which to me is one of the hardest ways to get the patch.  Cliff was right up there with them using an EOTECH and shot numerous RM scores, again a tough way for a first timer. 

REPEATS:  The Sapper and Peter (although I consider Peter a first timer since he hadn't shot in Coeur d'Alene before, and one must prove themselves worthy in IDAHO!  Sapper was running a bolt gun, and finished stage 3 with 10 seconds to spare.  I think he's a gunnin for Tdow proficiency!  Sapper, did you even have an Instructor give you any instruction points Sunday?

Knocking on the RM door: Mason and Jeff.  You heard at at the shoot, and I'll say it again.  Dry fire, and then dry fire some more, and then do dry fire AQT's with a clock.  Get those NPOA and NPOA shifts down during simulation and score RM at your next shoot.  Mason, thanks for all your help setting up both days, it really saved a lot of prep time and contributed greatly to a full and successful shoot.   Jeff, I wish you a speedy and full recovery on your shoulder so we can get that prone working for you.  Jeff was another Iron sighted AR shooter working the hard way! 

Shooters, thanks again for getting off the couch and attending an Appleseed event (especially Cliff, Kerry and Peter who traveled some to get here).  I appreciate your willingness and attitude.  Don't forget about the 7th step. Instructors, thanks for making my job easy.  I might even do it again now!

Shoot straight and be safe,

EERT 

[TruTenacity]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this AAR and viewing the pictures.  Well done one-and-all!

[Timmy J]

Thank you to the instructors and the RWVA for outstanding training, and a wonderful program.
I knew I would be humbled by the AQT, and that I would have to work hard.   For me, a return to the fundamentals was overdue.  That weekend brought me to respect NPOA as I never have before.

Learning takes place when you are struggling, uncomfortable, and under pressure.  I found myself challenged at this training, and I had to work hard.  I walked away a better marksman with deeper appreciation of our history.

I bought the Paul Revere book, and a 50 AQT target pack.  They arrived yesterday.  So, I'll continue to challenge myself to improve my skill, and my knowledge.

Additionally, I will be telling all my LE instructors about your fine program, and encouraging them to report to one of these training, and be challenged, struggle, and learn.

Sincerely
Tim

[eert]

TJ,

Thanks for the kind words and awesome review! 

That raises the bar pretty high for the April 20th clinic.  Instructors, are you ready?  Ready on the right, ready on the left, all ready for Patriots Day!

See you there.

EERT