We had one of the most beautiful Appleseed events of the year at Rising Fawn, at the lovely On Target at Fox Mountain range. The weather graced us as eight stalwart students began the weekend by hearing the first part of the Story of April 19, 1775, what we call the First Strike of the Match. Then we shot our first Hits Count! target, and went on to learn the Steady Hold Factors in prone, as well as Sling Use, Natural Point Of Aim, and the Six Steps of firing the shot. Then we did extensive work on squares as we learned Rifleman's Cadence, Inches, Minutes, and Clicks, and Talking Targets with Shot Group Analysis. At lunch we heard the Second Strike, and after learning Steady Hold Factors in sitting, kneeling, and standing positions, we began to shoot AQT targets. During our afternoon break we heard the Third Strike of the Match, and we finished by firing on our last Hits Count! target of the day.
Sunday we had only one returning student from the previous day, but six new one-day students. Fortunately we had enough instructors to give strong one-on-one instruction, and our new students quickly caught up with our accelerated review of topics from the previous day. At lunch we had our youngest member of the cadre, Blue Hat Reagan, give a delightful presentation of Dangerous Old Men. After some Ball and Dummy drill, we began to shoot AQT targets, rapidly one after the other. During our Sunday afternoon break we studied Actual Distance marksmanship, but we were limited to 25 yards so were unable to actually shoot at distance. At the end of the event, we had been graced with two new Riflemen and two new Orange Hats. Our instructors were so pleased and happy to see every one of our students make dramatic progress, and everyone understood that each of our wonderful students has the capability to shoot Rifeman if they persist, and especially if they continue to practice what they learned by consistent and regular dry fire practice. More importantly, they learned the wonderful birthright that is ours as Americans, when marksmanship met history and the heritage was born.
Following is the first batch of pictures from day 1 of the shoot in Rising Fawn on November 19 -20.
http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/Ramblinwreck77/Appleseed%20OTFM/Appleseed%20OTFM%20November%2019-20/ (http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/Ramblinwreck77/Appleseed%20OTFM/Appleseed%20OTFM%20November%2019-20/)
Thanks to DrJohn and the other IIT's, including my blue hat daughter Regan, who helped make this a great weekend.