Hi ya'll
We just had another great Appleseed in Davilla this past weekend. It almost didn't happen due to inclement weather, when we started, the temp must have been in the low 50's. Despite the freezing weather, we continued the mission. ;)
Saturday started with Scout, Big D, Kevin, LabRat, Doug T and me. We had 16 shooters on line. For most of the shooters, this was their first Appleseed.
Scout began things with a safety briefing and the 1st strike.
Recently, Kevin and Big D decided to become instructors. Since they were the newest instructors, they did a large part of the instruction and LabRat usually demo'ed for them. I just kinda hung around and took notes on what Scout was doing.
Of the 16 shooters on line, we had a 2 pairs of father and sons. One young man was around 10 to 12 years old. After several hours of being in the cold and light rain, it became too much for him and he wanted to leave the line.
I really wanted him to stay, but on the other hand, he was a young fellow and I would not want his shooting experience to be a negative one. So his dad made the right call, they left the line, but they both said they would come back again.
And just as they were leaving, 2 new shooters arrived which kept us with 16 shooters on the line.
During lunch I gave the 2nd strike. I practically had to fight LabRat for the 2nd strike because he wanted to do it. We compromised, I did the 2nd strike and LabRat got ALL of the Dangerous Old Men.
For the rest of the day, the instructors and the shooters worked hard on the line. I observed much improvement and a lot of happy shooters.
Scout and I finished the day with both of us giving the 3rd strike. I enjoyed it because Scout hit points that were important to him and I did the same. It seemed like a good idea, but when we finished, one instructor whispered to me that we took an hour and four minutes. Well.....I had fun.
That night we made a bon fire, instructors and some shooters had a good chance to talk. This is when I had more time to speak with 2 really cool guys from Louisiana, Don and Austin. They said an Appleseed is in the works for Louisiana, and they are a part of that effort. I will be there.
Sunday started with some square targets and before long we were on the AQT grind.
Another shooter, Ron showed up for a few hours. He has been to several Appleseeds and has shot Rifleman before. Ron did his usual thing, he shot Rifleman a couple of times, topping out around 230 something, shook hands and went back home. Ron you make it look so easy! and guess what? we could use some more instructors. :)
During lunch, LabRat had his chance to talk about the Dangerous Old Men and he did a great job. I have come to look at LabRat as "Johnny on the spot". If you need something done, and done right, you call "The Rat".
By the end of the day, we saw so much improvement and many shooters were knocking on the door. Best yet, one of the Louisiana boys fired a 222 on the AQT! Don that was some good shooting but don't stop because Austin is right behind you.
Thanks to the shooters and instructors who all worked very hard to make this a wonderful and safe shoot.
Scout, thank you for your dedication "your cause is just and God will bless you for it"
Till next time...
Alonso1
Hey Alonso,
Sounds like yall had a good time. Wish I could have been back out to try and get my patch, but our oldest boy came down for the weekend on Saturday. I'm working on getting him out to an AS, as well as our youngest. I couldn't get the oldest one out for Sunday. He is on vacation and wanted to just veg out and visit. I understand that since he has a pretty hard job.
But I did do some Appleseeding though. I have been working on the EPT (Experimental Promotions Team) and have send out in excess of 800 emails the last couple of days to Boy Scouts, 4H clubs, and homeschoolers. Saturday morning was spent working on the 4H club contacts.
We got a troop from Dallas interested in coming out to Davilla in April with 20 scouts and 5 adults. I hope they follow through on this.
A statewide homeschool group is going to do an article about AS in their next newsletter. Another homeschooler said that her husband and kid had already been to an AS and that she would let everybody know about us.
Even got a letter from the head of the Texas 4H Shooting Sports program. He wants more info before he makes a call on associating with AS. That would be a big boon for us, since he said there are about 16,000 kids in the 4H program. Hope somebody replies to him soon since I'm not in charge of replies, only getting the emails out (hint hint guys).
I'll be down for the April shoot in Davilla.
As always, Scout put on a great AS. We got the usual chance to persist in Davilla, courtesy of the weather...last time it was blowing wind and grit in your eyes all day, this time it was the mud and cold wind. Ah well, at least the mud was some sort of special non-stick variety.
Mark hit all the high points, but wanted to say I was proud to be there in the company of a great group of Americans. The beauty of AS is the simplicity and the message. You can see it get to people and practically watch the change from thinking like a consumer to thinking like a Rifleman and citizen come over them in the course of a couple of days.
Everyone there did an excellent job, including the shooters. Saw a lot of improvement in everyone in only two days, including some that couldn't stand even being in prone position at first to posting some respectable scores by the end. Wished that John and his dad could have stayed, but John was simply miserable from the cold and they packed it in early, but I'm hoping they'll be back for another shoot.
Yes, Mark won the toss for 2nd strike, and he did an excellent job at it, too, but I'll be there next time to give it a go myself.
It was great to work with the other instructors again and I'll see y'all at the next one, Davilla or elsewhere.
Thumbs up to scuzzy for getting the word out!
I just walked across the threshold of my house a little while ago, after bringing in the critical components of my gear from the car. Whew. I'm ready for bed, but I'll give my 2 cents to add to this AAR. alonso1 has already given the nitty gritty of the event this weekend. My 2 big parts consisted of calling the line Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. The loss of one father/son pair was disheartening, but the addition of the 2 new shooters rounded it out.
I remember one particular shooter, Myers, with which I spent some special training time with. He was shooting alright to start with, but not quite feeling all 6 steps coming together into a collective, cohesive manner. One suggestion I offered him in particular, was to shift his grip up on the grip such that the webbing betwixt thumb and forefinger was seated high on his rifle grip. He fired a string of 5 on a square, and after the first shot, broke cheek weld to list his head up and look over at me in awe at the difference it made in his firing. I hadn't experienced that look yet as an instructor, and it gave me a warm fuzzy Appleseed feeling. The second moment was when I gave him up close instruction on avoiding dragging wood. When his trigger finger was properly placed on the trigger and there was nothing but air between the rest of his skin and the stock, he again looked over at me with a look of awe, as if he couldn't possibly believe that such a simple correction could make such a profound change. Cue fuzzy warm feeling. He had to leave at the end of Saturday and did not return for Sunday, but based on his corrected firing groups, I think he is well on the way to attaining the status of Rifleman.
3 other shooters I'm proud of are Chuck, Bill, and Zach. They changed their rifles around a bit here and there, but the interesting one was the Browning Buckmark. Look it up so you can see the style of the rifle. It's sort of a thumbhole type stock. Well, there was no sling to be had for this particular rifle, so a large nylon braided cord was called into service. A few adjustments under Scout's excellent tutelage, and the jury-rigged sling became an excellent shooter. On the sight in squares, he was averaging about 4.5 to maybe 5 MOA. I figure that if he was stuck with it instead of changing rifles around, he would have assuredly attained Rifleman status with that particular setup. Alas, these 3 amigos had to leave early on Sunday to greener pastures. I look forward to seeing them in the future.
Congrats to our new Louzana Rifleman, and hopefully a future Instructor in said state.
Thanks much the the Rat for assisting me with his skills as a model that I might go through the Steady Hold Factors and NPOA for the various positions for our group of shooters. There were 2 or 3 of them which really took home some valuable learning from that demo alone, without the shooting!
Thanks again to Scout, alonso1, LabRat, and BigD. With 5 Instructors, we were hustling all over the place to provide a good experience for the group, but that's what we're supposed to do, right?
Scuzzy, see you on the Trail. I'm off to eat a bottle of aspirin.
It was a great shoot this wekend. A lot of good students, and as always, some great instructors learning and practising their craft. Mark Alonso is a first rate instructor and shoot boss. He is right there anticipating the needs of the shooters, keeping the eveny running as fast as possible with the least amount of dead air.
John, Kevin and Big-D are becoming great instructors also. I am proud to havr these men as fellow instructors and the students benefit greatly from their experience and the heart they put into their jobs.
Yes, it is always something new here in Davilla at each event weatherwise. This last weekend was a cold and damp event. Lows of 38 and a brisk wind with the high at 45 made it a chilling experience on Saturdy. The 10 year old young man Mark mentioned desired to learn, but was too cold to keep his mind on what we were doing, his father asked what he shouild do, and I told him to bring him back when it was warmer and he could learn without associating shooting with something umpleasant and he said he would.
The stories were told with gusto and the students once again told me that it was their favorite part. They had expected some histroy, but they were very pleased with the detailed reports of April 19th, 1775 they receiced. Mark and I did the 'Huntly and Brinkly' Third Strike on Saturday evening, and yes, it was a long one, but we had them bring their dinner and we were through with the days instruction in rifle marksmanship, so what better way to spend a good hour plus after a hard days instruction than kicking back and listening to the Third Strike in the company of Riflemen.
A very diverse group were there including a couple of guys from Louisiana who are going to be the final links we need for getting us hooked up and running in Louisiana. We have a small but sharp group there now with the two families from two years ago and the guys from the last RBC and now these two, we can plan on getting Louisiana up and running this year.
Word of mouth and radio shows brought all of he attendees this time. If you have some one who you know needs info Scuzzy, get the contact info to me and I will answer any questions they have.
A nice bonfire on Saturday night and then the weather on Sunday afternoon changed into a nice warm day aftre a cold drizzley morning. The day ended with one Rifleman joining the ranks. Many more were right there on the plateau, but as Mark said, this was the first APpleseed for most and we had a large number of folks using multiple rifles which slows down their progression.
One of the things I have noticed more and more is how much folks are telling us how much they appreciate what we are doing and how much the country needs the Appleseed Program. We are not telling them this, they are telling us this.
Just like John said, you can see the change come over the folks in the course of the weekend, first they draw closer as a group, and then they begin to act more and more like "men who know very well what they are about" by the end of the day Sunday.
Thanks to all who came and to the instructors, Mark, John, Kevin, David and Doug, who keep showing up weekend after wekend to make sure thye are helping to build a new Nation of Riflemen.
Scout
Nothing I can add to what has already been written here except to say thanks to the dedicated guys who made it run so well, as I have seen in the past. Thanks also to Scout for his hospitality in letting us use his place. Any of these men could have been off taking it easy for the weekend, but their enthusiasm for the program shows through.
Maybe if my son and I can spend some more practice time between shoots, we can also shoot Rifleman.
I was also encouraged by the great group of shooters there.
Quote from: pinetop on March 17, 2009, 10:59:29 PM
Maybe if my son and I can spend some more practice time between shoots, we can also shoot Rifleman.
If you spend an hour every evening dry firing, you'll get there.
You can do this at home even, in a longish room or a hallway. Use a reduced distance target, or use the ground socket of a wall electrical outlet for your target.
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=6141.msg57054#msg57054
Hey there, Austin from La here!
As a first time Appleseeder, I must say that it was much more than I expected. I knew there would be some solid instruction and some great and important history, but what I didn't expect was the warmth and friendliness on the part of the instructors and fellow shooters. I feel that I have not only picked up valuable skills but that i have also made some friends for life.
Thanks to everyone who made this event possible! You will see me again. Louisiana is here!
I've been trying to post my impressions of last weekend for days now, but alas have been too busy to sit down and collect thoughts coherently.
No may be the next best time to do my ARR.
Scout, you and your crew of instructors were GREAT! With a student/instructor ratio of 3/1, I felt as if I were getting enough instruction without being constantly watched.
As Boy Scouts (ASM & Scout), we are used to camping and spending the day in inclement weather. Sunday's warmer weather was surely appreciated though. We especially enjoyed the history lessons!
As mentioned above by Big D, our small group of three introduced some new firearms on Sunday and swapped them around some during the day.
This proved interesting but not very conducive to scoring well on the AQTs.
HINT NUMBER 1 to anyone attending an Appleseed.... zero your rifle BEFORE coming. While Scout and crew were very tolerant and helpful in getting rifles sighted. You are expected to do the zeroing while learning new rilfle shooting positions. Thereby not getting the most out of the ammo spent.
Next time I WILL MAKE SURE they are sighted in AT 25 meters BEFORE coming. That way, any problems on the paper are strictly my own, and not the sighting of the firearm.
HINT NUMBER 2 is to make sure your rifle(s) you bring have magazines. One of our group only had rifles with a 5 round internal magazine and there was no way he was going to shoot a successful AQT without a LOT of practice with his reloading regimen.
HINT NUMBER 3 is to bring meals that take a minimum of preparation. As you'll go get your lunch (dinner) and bring it back to the group for a working lunch (dinner).
Scout, thank you for letting me use your Ruger 10/22, and thank you Alonso1 for the mags. I'll probably pick up another rifle prior to our next Appleseed.
Also, thank you Scout for the electricity from your installed pole at the range sight!
The only suggestion I can give from the weekend's events is to better communicate a schedule prror to the event so attendees can plan their meals to coincide with the working lunches (dinners), etc.
We look forward to coming back soon. Thank you instructors!
Cheers, Pixelman
P.S.- Appleseed is a great value for learning firearm safety, rifle shooting and history!
well said Austin, pixelman, and pinetop. I hope to see you all and friends/family with you at future Appleseeds.
Hi everyone, just logged on to see if I could find some of the video that was recorded during the weekend.
Thanks again Scout for hosting the event on your land and thanks to all the instructors for also dedicating their weekend to helping me the the other students.
I'll echo the above comment about showing up with my rifle sighted in... it is good you guys were patient, because I didn't have it together but it would have helped me get more real practice in if I had done it earlier.
And I think my favorite part was hearing you guys tell the stories too!
-Brian from Allen, TX