Mariposa Fish and Game Rifle Range hosted its second Appleseed this past weekend.
On Saturday morning we started with 20 shooters, about 6 returning Appleseeders, and the rest first-timers. The weather was beautiful and the shooters listened intently to both the history and the marksmanship instruction. We saw a lot of improvement with our shooters and Sat AQT produced 1 riflemen. Congratulations Tolley III, your practice and persistence showed through - he scored a 210 (since his wife shared a few rounds with him on stage 2 and his highest could have been 216 we did not cover him in water). His wife did get her 2 rounds back on the final redcoat when a fellow shooter shared some rounds on the 100 yard silhouette.
Rain welcomed us back to the range on Sunday. 15 Shooters returned to continue working on their marksmanship skills and to learn more about America's Heritage. After diagnosing a few issues with rifle/sights ALL the shooters progressed quite well throughout the day and continued improving all through the afternoon. On the final AQT a new rifleman emerged, Sherry shot a 216 - (we later realized that she had done this even though the tension screw at the bottom of the rifle so loose you could hear the barrel clank against the stock) excellent marksmanship Sherri, you must have been very stable.
While all of our shooters did extremely well I want to also mention 2 shooters who I feel showed exceptional improvement and persistence.
Claire (One of our youth shooters) - I really enjoyed working with you and I was very excited to see your groups improving so much as you focused on good trigger control, follow through, and reset - I hope to see you at the next shoot. Keep practicing with your family and soon all of you will earn rilfeman patches.
Gail (A newbee to rifles) - You persisted so well throughout both days of shooting and really did a great job being aware of safety. I am so glad that you decided to come to Appleseed and I hope that you will come out to the next shoot.
Shooters I would love to have you share your experiences with us and also any pictures that you have.
New Rilfemen:
Tolly - "b_gummer"
Sherry
Instructors:
Romeo's Hero (Juliette)
Chris_H (Chris)
FurrowFoot (Neil)
It was a very good Appleseed! Literally everyone I've talked to since the event can't wait to do it again. Our returning instructors (Romeo's Hero and Furrowfoot), and a new friend, Chris_H who made the journey from Nevada to help us out were awesome.
My wife Rachel gained a lot of confidence, as she could see her targets that, as we know, "don't lie" recording the fact that she really was starting to get the hang of it.
I especially want to thank our instructors very much for all your essential one-on-one with my 11 yr old daughter Claire. She went from tears of frustration, to "I had sooo much fun Daddy, I can't wait to do it again" all the way home on Sunday. She credited you for the change, especially our shoot boss, "Ms Juliette is so nice" she said.
Everyone in my family of four had loads of fun, learned A TON, and plan to rejoin you next time with more friends in tow.
BTW finally joined RWVA today. Been meaning to for a while, it is such a fine organization, not sure why I took so long.
Tolley "b_gummer"
Rifleman!
I had a wonderful time at the Appleseed over the weekend. Thank you, Juliette, Neil, and Chris, for doing such an excellent job teaching our little group history and marksmanship. Thank you especially for taking the time that you did with my daughter, Claire. She was having a hard time for a while there but because of Juliette's generous one-on-one time, she ended up having a very positive experience and is looking forward to the next Appleseed as much as we all are. :)
Small town as this is, we knew everyone there, and it was fun to get to know our neighbors in a new way. I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the weekend was being there when Sherri got her Rifleman patch. It's not every day you see a gentle, smiling grandmother make the kind of groups that Sherri was shooting. :) She's an excellent embodiment of the fact that Riflemen and patriots come in every age, gender, station, and status.
Also, this was a wonderful way for us to spend time as a family. I would like to encourage more whole families to do this together! Claire and I had a conflict with the previous "shoot" in June, so we felt rather out of the loop when the boys would talk about AQTs and redcoats. (Speaking of the boys, you should SEE how our 14-year-old's shooting has improved since his first Appleseed. He is quiet and doesn't like to toot his own horn, so I will toot it for him a bit. :) ) Now it's something we all can share, and we're eager to get practicing as a family.
Eager for next time,
Rachel (mrs_rachel)
... I think I got to Marksman once. :) I'm learning!
WOW, sounds like a great Appleseed! Good job Romeo's Hero! Would you folks be interested in another Appleseed in Mariposa before the end of the year? Maybe in December?
Bob 210, That would depend a lot on our local Fish and Game range folks. Romeo's Hero mentioned that there could be at least four Appleseeds in Mariposa, but one of our Fish and Game folks wasn't sure if that would work or not. I'll talk to him and see! (I'll nudge him towards this forum too)
However it works out, thank you for the offer, that is really great!
Tolley
b-gummer
Yes, it was a great Appleseed!
Seeing more families come to Appleseeds is something I've noticed more lately - an apparent trend that really brightens my day. One of the shooters, Ray, came with his family (Phyllis, Christi & Candi? (I hope I got your names correct!)), & mentioned this was the most shooting he'd done in years!
I must say it was a real treat to be able to come out & help instruct - Mariposa is about a 3 1/2 hour drive for me, but the drive was well worth it & I look forward to getting another chance to visit!
Good job to everyone - thank you ALL for persisting!
O0
Chris
Like Chris said, it was a great Appleseed, and I second his note about seeing the families attending AS.
Many shooters struggled with equipment problems, and the resulting frustration. However, Riflemen and Riflewomen persist, and all of you did just that. The success of the 2nd Mariposa Appleseed proves that. All of you should be proud of your persistence and progress.
Take Care,
Neil
OK, just got good news. I received official word that we will be having another Appleseed in Mariposa Dec 18-19, so start getting the word out!
Hurray! We will start talking it up right away!
Thanks to all involved in bringing this about.
Tolley
"b_gummer"
Hello fellow shooters! I had such a good time at our Appleseed event. My husband (Mustanger65) encouraged me to attend the second event in Mariposa. The first event in April, I gave up after one day because I couldn't see the target. We've been practicing however and the only way I scored well this Sunday was because I was using Romeo's Hero's rifle with a scope! I still can't believe my score. Everyone was very patient and generous to let a grandma like me sit down most of the time. Thank you so much Juliet and Neil and Chris for your excellent training! Please come to the Appleseed events, you'll make great friends and take home a wealth of history and benefits from attending.
woo hoo another chance.
My wife got tickets for this after I have been trying to get to an appleseed for 4 years. Due to logistical problems arising I was only able to attend half of each day. I learned a lot in the little amount of time that I was able to attend and am hoping to get to Dec's. Maybe another shot at getting my pocket knife back ::). It was a great time and My daughter just met Ms. Claire this evening and hopefully I can get her to come in Dec. There were lots of pictures on my camera when I got it back Monday evening trying to find someplace to post them for all to enjoy. Yes Sherri your picture is one of them, congradulations.
Well, had another great time at the Appleseed event in Mariposa and looking forward to the December Event. Both times that I've attended I've learned a great deal about our revolutionary Fore Father's and shooting. The Appleseed Instructors teach good basic skills and are very conscientious about safety. My scores have defintely improved thanks to them. But, there comes a time in a person's life that a person must admit the old eyes are just not suitable for iron sights. My wife "SureShot Sherry" shot quite well (Rifleman) with the loan of a rifle with a scope from "Romeo's Hero". I was proud of her for sticking with it and shooting so well. I knew she could shoot well from previous trips to the range, she has a natutral ability. I want to thank "Romeo's Hero", "Chris_H" and "Furrow Foot" for the time they spent with each of us. See you in December!!! ^:)^
Bob , sure they want another AS at Mariposa O0
RH has those Rifleman badges to award 8)
I bet those who achieve RM will want nice new IIT hats as well ;)
Hi to everyone ! pleased to see those new forum members ^5
Welcome aboard :)
Yes, it's late, but I still wanted to post some pics!!
Chris
hey all,
I'm not going to be able to make it next weekend. I friend of mine passed away on Thurs and funeral is on the 18th. Keep the pocketknife until next time RH, don't give it to anyone to give to me, more incentive to get my butt to the next one.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.
I'll hold on to the knife and get it to you at the next one.