This was another historic first for the state of New Mexico! This was Deming, New Mexico's first Appleseed and right from the get go the
Appleseders in New Mexico were greeted with a very typical beautiful sunrise.
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The sun rose to reveal the true beauty of the area right on the range
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Full on camping for Appleseeders is also just a few minutes away at Rock Hound State Park.
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First off. I want to thank Rick and Terri Reese of New Deal Shooting Sports for allowing us the privilege of using their private range.
And a special thanks to Terri for bringing the shooters a huge cooler of ice and bottled water each day.
The harsh desert heat was relentless in the afternoon.
Deming is a small border town nestled in the western shadows of the Florida Mountains and just north of the Tres Hermanas Mountains.
Many residents here are ranchers, organic farmers, gardeners and gunsmiths. A hardy lot of rugged individuals. Sound familiar?
This area is rich in history and culture with places and names like Pancho Villa, Geronimo, Massacre Peak and the Butterfield Stage Line.
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But today, the AS Project and the 8 shooters from Deming, NM all came to honor and respect another group of people with names like
John Parker, John Adams, Paul Revere, and Issac Davis that resided in the likes of Lexington, Concord and Boston.
History heritage and marksmanship for two days....April 19th style!
This private shooting range is near the Mexican Border which lies just beyond the Tres Hermanas Peaks in the lower right side of the first pic below.
The first shooters are just arriving at about 8:00.
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Our first shooter, Bob arrived and without hesitation jumped up on the steel girder and tightened up the guy lines to finish off our final flag,
The Bennington Flag!
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This shaded area provided relief from the oppressive heat and our Founders flags added a cooling effect as the flags blew in the constant breeze.
Dragons Ridge looms in the background.
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The Deming Appleseed instructors: Devnull, BlueFeather, Long Rifle and staplegund.
BTW, this was Devnull and Long Rifles first Appleseed as instructors. They all did a job our founders would be proud of. Thanks guys!
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We did instruction, the history and scored targets in this shaded/benched area when ever possible. Though the New Mexico sun was relentless,
this is just another normal day for these hardy New Mexicans.
Staplegund honors the Dangerous Old Men of the Revolutionary War.
He has the shooters captivated as he tells stories of bravery and courage often lacking today in todays society.
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Shooters grinding out AQT's on day 2. We did a total of 6 AQT's for the weekend.
Long Rifle is the Line Boss. "Watch for canting of the rifle when in the sitting stage!"
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BlueFeather instructs the line on day 2 with Devnull as the Line Boss.
"Fire by the numbers at the Rifleman's Cadance and don't forget your NPOA shift!"
Cooke's Peak stands guard in the left background near the historic Ft. Cummins. This is along the Old Butterfield Stage Line.
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Standing position on the AQT. "Don't forget to let the rifle down every few shots!"
"Squeeeze the trigger only when the sights are on the target!"
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RL sent rounds downrange with his Marlin 39A lever at a rate that would embarrass many semi auto shooters.
RL was wrangler for the crew in the movie 'Dances With Wolves' and is a Marine.
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Shooters get one on one instruction to help detect and cure shooting problems. Here John and Remington get coached by Long Rifle and Devnull.
Remington is Rick and Terri's son, of New Deal Sports, who made this shoot possible.
And a big thanks to son Ryan who got out early with the backhoe and pulled out some huge heavy old steel targets to make the range safer from ricochets!
Once again, thanks!
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Sitting position on the AQT. One of the last AQT's of the day.
Temps soared up to high 90's with a heat index over hundred, wind gusts launched shooting mats towards the border and the heat
caused all sorts of malfunctions.
These shooters adapted, persisted and overcame everything that came their way. And they proved they very well know what they are all about.
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Prone position, Stage 4 of the AQT.
Shooters initially spend much time building skills at 25M in prone. This is the first step to allow them to eventually shoot to 500 yards or as we call it,
The Rifleman's Quarter Mile".
"How many rounds on each of the 4 targets?"
"How many NPOA shifts on stage 4?" "Remember, stage 4 counts double!"
By the end of the day the heat was on in more ways than one.
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Shu, RL, Holly and Lee nail the RWVA's famous Redcoat targets in prone. 13 rounds in 5 stages. One round for each colony.
"On April 19th when the they pulled the trigger, the targets went down!" "Let's see some hits on those Redcoats!" There were many hits indeed.
Everyone improved by Day 2.
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After asking who qualified on the Redcoat target at 400, 300, 200 & 100 yards, we finally ask the shooters "who intentionally put one round in that small Murphy Square?" In Rifleman terms, that closely resembles the focus required for a 500+ yard shot.
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Here Dwayne works his bolt gun. In fact, him and wife Shu both had bolt guns.
They are founders of Living Foods Learning Center just down the road.
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Dwayne is left handed and works a right handed bolt gun with the speed of the semi auto shooters.
Note the quick n' dirty "adapt and overcome" cheek piece to get that cheek weld just right. It was this persistence and precision that led him to this:
Deming, New Mexico's first Rifleman! Congrats Dwayne!
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We are constantly amazed at the generosity of our people, the diversity of our culture and the gorgeous scenery.
New Mexico truly is: the Land of Enchantement.
It was an honor to work with everyone! Thanks!
Be sure to join us and the rest of our excellent crew at another beautiful place for more of our 2010 shoots.
Raton, NM at the NRA Whittington Center:
June 5-6, August 28 & 29 and September 11 & 12
BlueFeather, down on the border, after running another successful New Mexico Appleseed. A woman who definitely knows what she is all about!
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Looks like another fantastic New Mexico Appleseed, at a typically beautiful New Mexico location.
BlueFeather and TaosGlock are to be congratulated, and plenty of thanks to Rick and Terri Reese. We met them at a show in February adn they were hot to put on a shoot then.
I used to get upset when we had a small shoot, but looking at the math and on a inhabitants per square mile basis, I think New Mexico probably draws a bigger crowd than most states.
I know that we have more riflemen per capita and more IIT's than the rest too.
Onward to ABQ O0
Beautiful...
grizzled one
Quote from: SamD on June 04, 2009, 12:16:12 AM
Looks like another fantastic New Mexico Appleseed, at a typically beautiful New Mexico location.
BlueFeather and TaosGlock are to be congratulated, and plenty of thanks to Rick and Terri Reese. We met them at a show in February adn they were hot to put on a shoot then.
I used to get upset when we had a small shoot, but looking at the math and on a inhabitants per square mile basis, I think New Mexico probably draws a bigger crowd than most states.
I know that we have more riflemen per capita and more IIT's than the rest too.
Onward to ABQ O0
It may have been a small turnout (Numerically but I guess not Comparatively) but I must say that we were able to spend more time working with the shooters. There were one or two that hadn't used a rifle before so we had to give them a little more attention than usual.
The range was pretty nice as far as a rural range goes. Beautiful mountains, some shade, a nice big berm and of course the sun. %)
By the end of the second day we were seeing a lot better shooting from everyone. Positions were coming together nicely, trigger control was improving and they were starting to get the hang of calling their shots. I am sure that even the new shooters feel comfortable around a rifle now. The only thing keeping the rest from knocking on the door of 210+ was just the heat and malfs I would say. But like true riflemen/riflewomen they persevered through it. Sand in the eyes and parched mouths be darned!
All in all I would say it was a smashing success! I can't wait to drive all the way down there to do it again! O0