Twenty-seven shooters showed up for this event. Only three of them had attended the AS last year, which was listed as Jackson, MS, rather than Canton. Mississippi Reb and his wife did a superb job of promoting this event. They are proving to be a tremendous asset for our program.
This location is a state operated facility which is truly impressive, and has several different ranges. And its operators were extremely gracious and helpful. In fact, they want more events this year, in addition to one already scheduled in the fall.
Two ranges were at our disposal; a pistol range and a rifle range, which were separated by several hundred yards. The pistol range could only accommodate about 20 shooters, so some of our crew used the rifle range on the first day, under the tutelage of Big Papa. Big Mama, Bamaboy, and I, remained on the pistol range. Some shooters could not return on the second day. As a result, we could all fit on the pistol range.
On the pistol range, the shooting began with Redcoat targets, as usual. One shooter shot it clean. There were 3 headshots, four 200 yard shooters and ten 100 yard shooters. Their initial groups were as good as I've seen on the one inch squares. Unfortunately, we were not able to shoot an AQT on the first day at the pistol range, but everyone was happy that their scores improved on the Redcoats. One Rifleman score was obtained on the rifle range. Of course, Big Papa can expand on the situation on the rifle range.
On the second day, two more Rifleman scores were achieved. Everyone was appreciative for the opportunity to improve their marksmanship and for an introduction to Appleseed. They also seemed impressed by the history which was presented, and the urgency for diligence in today's environment. They were most attentive and anxious to learn; a trait which is most appreciated by a teacher. It was such a pleasure to be associated with them. A couple also expressed interest in becoming IITs and attending an IBC this month. It seems certain that the program will grow in Mississippi.
The weather was beautiful, about 80 degrees both days, with sunshine. It did begin to rain Sunday morning, but I quickly donned my magic raincoat and it stopped. So far it has worked 3 times out of 3. Anyone care to rent it?
I expect some pictures of the second day to be entered here soon by a professional photographer. He attended for a short time for this purpose, and was highly impressed by the event, especially the history. He expressed an interest in shooting with us next time.
I neglected to include one important item about the shoot. Something which has never happened to us before. To show his appreciation, one of the shooters took all of us instructors out to dinner Saturday evening, along with his beautiful wife. We were all surprised, and want to thankfully express our gratitude.
Personally, I could not have imagined a more gracious or hospitable group of students. Their productive and positive attitudes made my weekend a very pleasant one indeed. All the volunteers were shown much appreciation by the particpants. One gentleman's heartfelt thanks to me made everything I have done to that point more than worth the effort expended. We were also treated to a wonderful supper at a fine white-tablecloth restuarant. White-table cloth or not, it was obvious we were in Mississippi, due to the hospitality and the large bail of cotton I was sitting next to at the suppertable. ^-^
Several ladies were present and it was great to see them so eager to participate.
The fruits of this crowd will be sweet! I, like Dond, am sure we will have many who carry on the practice and some that will take up the Cause and put the hat on. I expect Dixie will more than carry her share of the load as time progresses.
Canton, I will be back! O0
Hooray for Mississippi!
Fantastic!
We are starting a relationship with the Fish and Wildlife ranges in Louisianna too. I like this trend in the South.
Looks like we need more Canton, MS dates O0 Good work all!
Good work dond and bamaboy O0
Re: "... It did begin to rain Sunday morning, but I quickly donned my magic raincoat and it stopped. ... Anyone care to rent it?" No, not interested in renting rain gear any Texas shoots. Here in Corpus Christi we have seen less than 3" in the last 5 months, most of which came in Oct and Nov. The NWS is predicting 40 40 40 50 50 50 40 % Starting Wed night. I plan to go out naked and wash the car and truck. Well, maybe not in that order.
But, I do want to congratulate you on your shoot in Canton. I have grandsons and granddaughters in LongBeach MS and Alexandria LA and relatives near Fort Polk in Leesville LA, and lots of friends in the rest of LA. Over New Years we talked about AS shoots coming to their area. Keep plugging away and I'll go on tour and help instruct at those events.
Finally, call in to AS Rifleman Radio tonight, 7 p.m. CST.
@@) 347-308-8790
Scout promises a great show tonight. Call in and tell everyone about your shoot in Canton.
See you on the trail, :~
POP
hi all,
the appleseed was as great as last years in canton.i am still sore, it is physicaly very hard for me to get into position. i consider it a victory even though i didn't make rifleman. a big thanks to dond, bamaboy, big mama&papa you guys are great.
here is a link to the pictures my friend took sunday http://jazzcatphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/7549053_nAvj7#P-1-15 (ftp://http://jazzcatphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/7549053_nAvj7#P-1-15) he is going to post them here if he can.
chris
i can't get the link to work, hopefully we can get some pics up soon.
Great 2Dark2c,
Hey Cantonites,
Call in and Talk with Scout tonight, right now.
call in to AS Rifleman Radio tonight, 7 p.m. CST.
smiley6600 347-308-8790
Scout promises a great show tonight. Call in and tell everyone about your shoot in Canton.
See you on the trail, uzi
POP
Hey POP,
I'm looking forward to meeting you and your relatives at Canton next time.
The photos are posted on his website: www.Jazzcatphotos.smugmug.com. There are 50 of them. I think you will enjoy them.
Howdy all!
I had a GREAT time at the Canton shoot!
It was a family event as my wife Carolyne and our little Lizzie headed up the rear. I shot on Saturday and my wife shot on Sunday.
All the instructors were generous with all of their knowledge and were quick to loan out any gear that was lacking on the students part. (My elbows want to say a BIG thanks to shoot boss Dond, as the concrete would surely have made me sorry the next day! Gotta order up a shooting coat from Fred's shop!)
As for all of the participants, all were true blue patriots, but I want to commend the group of 10 young folks dubbed the" Hub City Minutemen".ONE of their compatriots got nine other of his friends to come. OUTSTANDING!
Yours in Liberty
MississippiReb
Another fantastic group of people, very nice range and good weather. About as good as it gets! Thanks to all of you that made time in your life for Appleseed. Extra thanks to the staff at the range. They went out of their way to make this a good shoot.
Dond, don't leave home with out that raincoat!! ;D
As Dond mentioned, we had too many shooters for the pistol range on Saturday, (what a nice problem) so I took 9 shooters with me to the Rifle range. They were top notch from the start. Everyone jumped in to help set up the targets. We went over the safty rules, clearing rifles and line commands again, since four of the shooters had been late arriving. We still still got the first Redcoat shots off around 10:45. Redcoat results for 9 shooters Saturday morning: 3 -100, 3 -200 1 -300. I knew this was a good group. By the end of the day the redcoat count was 6 -100, 5 - 200, 1 - 300, 1 - 400 and 1 head shot! One rifleman score on the Rifle Range Saturday Congrats to Ben! :~ Congrats are also in order to his brother Sam who shot a 207! Both were using bolt guns and didn't get all their shots off on the rapid fire stages! Two of the finest young men I've met in a long time. Good job Sally and Larry! O0 The rest of the shooters were shooting good groups too. Dale waited until Sunday to shoot his 220! Fern is not far behind. Travis and Bruce were also one day shooters, hope to see them again soon. By Sunday afternoon Dallas was knocking on the door too.
Sunday was a great day too. Everyone had a learning attitude. Great inprovements were made across the board. The group of young people sent to Appleseed by one man was an inspiration. Expect great things from them. :)
Yes, for my very first Appleseed, I had a lot of fun. So did everyone else in our Hattiesburg crew. We may have lost a man Saturday as he wimped out and went home ++), but fear not- we will never let him live it down. World of Warcraft may have called him home that day, but we will call him much worse everyday ;D
I know myself and a few others from our crew are interested in attending th April 19th Birmingham shoot. I myself am interested in going farther and attending one of the week long events as well.
It was a lot of fun and I'd like to thank you folks for coming down to our area. O0 I know of three other people that were unable to make it this weekend either due to ammo shortages (yuck) or other obligations such as work. They have expressed an interest in attending next time though. We've also got plans to pull some folks up from the Pensacola, FL area if we are able seeing as to how that is where Vicki hails from.
On another note, I would like to qualify as a Rifleman and eventually as an instructor. I'm also wanting to get some NRA certs under my belt. Why all this you ask? Well, the Seventh Step of course! I've got plans on forming ( or reforming as the case may be) a student marksmanship organization here at USM. We have a lot of potential Rifleman here in MS, we just have to show them the door and get them motivated. Let's face it- rifles and other firearms are simply a fact of life down here. Shooting is not an unusual sport down here unlike some other areas. This is a shoe-in for awakening our sleeping Americans.
Quote from: calfret on March 11, 2009, 02:12:09 PM
Yes, for my very first Appleseed, I had a lot of fun. So did everyone else in our Hattiesburg crew. We may have lost a man Saturday as he wimped out and went home ++), but fear not- we will never let him live it down. World of Warcraft may have called him home that day, but we will call him much worse everyday ;D
I know myself and a few others from our crew are interested in attending th April 19th Birmingham shoot. I myself am interested in going farther and attending one of the week long events as well.
It was a lot of fun and I'd like to thank you folks for coming down to our area. O0 I know of three other people that were unable to make it this weekend either due to ammo shortages (yuck) or other obligations such as work. They have expressed an interest in attending next time though. We've also got plans to pull some folks up from the Pensacola, FL area if we are able seeing as to how that is where Vicki hails from.
On another note, I would like to qualify as a Rifleman and eventually as an instructor. I'm also wanting to get some NRA certs under my belt. Why all this you ask? Well, the Seventh Step of course! I've got plans on forming ( or reforming as the case may be) a student marksmanship organization here at USM. We have a lot of potential Rifleman here in MS, we just have to show them the door and get them motivated. Let's face it- rifles and other firearms are simply a fact of life down here. Shooting is not an unusual sport down here unlike some other areas. This is a shoe-in for awakening our sleeping Americans.
O0
I hosted the B'ham shoots and will be there for all three of them this year. I would LOVE to have you guys at the April 18-19th shoot. I'll email everyone who gave me their addys this weekend with the event info, etc.
Work I understand, but lack of ammo can be fixed. I'll have 4 loaner 10-22s set up as Liberty Training Rifles, ammo, mags, etc. Other instructors are bound to have loaners also. I can bring a few M1s and ammo for them too. So don't let someone back out because they are worried about shooting expensive ammo up.
Hooray for your dedication, and for honoring your heritage of liberty and marksmanship!
Bamaboy
Hello everybody,
I would like to thank everyone for attending the shoot this weekend. We had assembled in Canton, MS a great group of shooters. They were like of group of sponges, soaking up the information that was passed on to them. Their responsiveness and excitement was contagious. I totally agree with Bamaboy, if Big Papa or Big Mama are at a shoot, we will always loan a rifle and as much
ammo as needed to make one more rifleman.
Also, I would like to take a second to extend our appreciation to the shooter that took the instructors to dinner on Saturday evening. What a treat! And what a pleasure to be able to meet your wife. Thank you.
Big Mama
Great photos of what looks and sounds like a perfect AS shoot. Big Pappa, looks like you are in your element, good job. Good to see some pics of Dond, I suspect Sara was off reading a book in the nice MS weather.
Wish I were there.
Colycat
Hey Colycat,
Sarah was also checking out the eagles and alligators. This is an interesting place. Lots of fun too. And lots of fine people. Can't wait to get back. You and Old Glory ought to join us.
Dond, Chris and all the Appleseed Shooters at Canton, MS.....
Thank you for the intro to Appleseed. I was inspired by the display of passion towards the heritage of the U.S.of A. and the protection of our way of life as United States citizens......Patriots. I enjoyed being there. Chris, thanks for asking me to come out and shoot... photographs. Next time perhaps I'll include a rifle. I'm looking forward to the next Canton event. I hope everyone enjoys the photos. I'll try to add some here... If i cant figure it out see the link below.
Thanks again!
Jazzcat
www.jazzcatphotos.smugmug.com then click on Project Appleseed .... I removed the protection on the photos so you may copy them for personal use. Hover you mouse over the pic on the large view, then right click. choose copy or save as.