Women are special to us at Appleseed. Appleseed holds special Ladies Only shoots called LadySeeds. These shoots are run by our lady instructors. Our lady instructors are associated with many other womens groups such as Diva WOW and the Woman Hunters Group.

Women are special to us at Appleseed. Please keep in mind that women shoot at a greatly reduced cost at Appleseed events, as well as children under 21. There are many women who have attended our Appleseed shoots, their kids, and hubby too. We have many women instructors who are excellent at passing on our Heritage and Traditions. Learning and teaching American marksmanship traditions is not just for the guys. Women who attend Appleseed shoots have a good time and enjoy themselves, you can read what some have said about their experiences below.

Women in many ways are even quicker learners than men. Appleseed has had many women earn the Riflemans Patch. The Riflemans Patch is awarded whenever a person scores 210 or above on an AQT (Army Qualification Test - which scores how you are shooting). This is not something which is easy to achieve.

Learning to shoot a rifle can be downright fun too!

Indeed, shooting is a family affair for many of the Appleseed members. There's been shoots where 3 generations of a family have been on the firing line. Everyone from Grandpa/Grandma to the Grandkids can come on out. Learning and teaching the Traditions and Heritage which makes this nation great has no age limit.

Below are some of the testimonials from actual female attendees, some of who have gone on to become Appleseed instructors.

Memajean writes: I recently attended an Appleseed BootCamp with my son and daughter at Osage Beach and I'm hooked. My son told me and my daughter about the camp; he had already planned to attend and invited us to go along.

My sons and daughter know guns and I was a good shot when I was younger and we went target shooting on the desert but that was twenty years ago! I'm 73 and thought the men there might not want to be bothered with an "older woman" but... I couldn't have been more wrong. They were great!

Everyone made sure I had what I needed, was comfortable, not getting tired (!!!), etc. On a personal level, I think Appleseed is one of the finest things going on in our country and I feel privileged to be a part of it! My son and daughter both are becoming active in the organization and I'm getting in there too! I'll have to let Susan speak for herself but she's ordering a new rifle. Thanks to Appleseed I think there is hope for the good old USA! And, by the way, we all got our Rifleman Patch too. Have to brag just a little. Grin MemaJean

Old Glory said: I went reluctantly to my first Appleseed with my husband at the encouragement of my mother-in-law, who said "go, be with your husband". She has been happily married for over 65 years and is my role model for a good marriage. So when she talks, I listen. Fantastic experience! Met great people. All respectful and polite. Learned ALOT about how to shoot a rifle, and the happy surprises were the American heritage talks. I used to have a lot of fear about handling a rifle. Didn't know how to hold it, handle it, operate and shoot it. Thought guns were just plain unsafe because I didn't know anything about them. There is confidence and security in good training and knowing how to handle a rifle properly and safely. Since that first shoot, I have been to four more and have met some remarkable women. I am so honored to have met you all and hope to make a lot more new friends on the Appleseed trail. MemaJean, fantastic story! Thank you for sharing that. Let's hear some more from everyone else. Old Glory

Dugin said: As the only girl in the family I was never really "taught" to shoot. I got handed a rifle and told to point and pull the trigger. Even after marrying a true hunter and becomming a hunter myself, my skills lacked. I'm sure that my husband never thought much about it because he grew up with a rifle in his hand. I'm just learning things he takes for granted. I had no idea I was going to an intructor trainning boot camp.

My brother said "Come on. You're a girl. They want women so much you get to go for free. It will be fun." So with mom and myself in tow he got us there. Now being a rather standoffish person I was not prepared for how upclose and personal shooting instruction is. There were times when I thought if this guy gets any closer to my eyeball I'm going to punch his face. But he was so nice and patient and they all talked about perserverence, so I did my best to be a good girl and do as told. Much to my amazement it all fell into place and then got even better.

My instructor (I shall call him Zen Bubble Master) let me use his personal weapon "SWEET" and now I must have one. These people help me discover a talent for something I didn't even know I have, how cool is that? In fact I think they enjoyed it as much as my family and I. I'm debating on what I can do that will be most useful to Appleseed, as I have to do my part to help. I'm not sure being an instructor is for me as I don't want some one eles thinking they'd like to punch me in the face.

Grin, Yes Mema Jean is my mom, and thanks Bob for talking me into going. Best of all this deer season I got to see the diffrence. First of all I went home and had hubby cut three inches off my deer rifle. As The Guy said, "what ever it takes, make your weapon work for you!" How did I know everything I'd been trying to shoot was too long for me? Anyway, usually at the sight of a deer my heart pounds out of control, my breathing becomes panting and my hands shake from excitement. Not this year! I was able to keep my cool by hearing Zen Bubble Master's words in my head. With my rifle and sling nice and tight I was able to stand there steady, watching and ready. Unfortunately the deer was not a shooter. I still came out ecstatic because I didn't spook it even though it came within 10 yards of me looking right at me to see if I was a threat..aha!!! Fooled you. I finally get it....the beauty of it..."it's not the thing you shoot, but the shot itself."

You can read and learn even more about women, and others, who have attended Appleseed Shoots, and see what they have to say about their experience here:

Testimonials from our female Appleseeders