This is the place where comments can be made about this shoot.
Some quick facts...
32 Sat. 28 Sun.
10 Riflemen (yes that's TEN)
2 new shoot bosses
4 new IITs
1 IIT promotion
Great shoot! Thanks to all that make this happen.
More to follow
Mike/Sheepdog
What a great day, and what an honor to be out with so many excellent riflemen/riflewomen. We were lucky with the weather, it could have been sooo much colder and windier. ^-^ Many thanks to all of the volunteers who make these events such a success. I appreciate all you do. I especially appreciate the excellent coaching I received today. Maybe after a little more work on my rifle, and my techniques, I can join you soon. Looking forward to my next opportunity to shoot with you all.
Colorado Boots
Appleseed rocks! All the instructors were patient and supportive as we worked through our drills, all the while trying to stay warm!
I'm not sure which weather condition is more challenging; 105 degrees with bright sun and no breeze, or 34 degrees with clouds and a breeze!
Thanks again to all who make this happen, the Mrs. and I will be back, for sure.
What a great weekend! Kudos to the instructors for all their patience and help they give to everyone, I have improved tremendously since my first visit to Appleseed :) The hubby and I are looking forward to the next one! So proud of my hubby for scoring Rifleman :)
We really had a good time, and I especially enjoyed the civil war stories!
I missed getting my Rifleman badge by 13 points (fitting, eh?), so I'll be doing lots of practice with the .22 for next time. :---
Thanks for putting on a great event!
Quote from: Sheepdog on November 14, 2010, 09:59:37 PM
This is the place where comments can be made about this shoot.
Some quick facts...
32 Sat. 28 Sun.
10 Riflemen (yes that's TEN)
2 new shoot bosses
4 new IITs
1 IIT promotion
Great shoot! Thanks to all that make this happen.
More to follow
Mike/Sheepdog
Excellent!
Thanks a ton for everything! I learned more and improved more than I would have thought possible. This was my first 'seed and I had a great time. Brought some friends and family, shot well, stayed warm-ish, heard some great stories and just had a wonderful time all around. Probably helps that I was one of the 10! I'll definitely be coming out again and bringing more people with me. The quality of the instruction at Appleseed is amazing, and the volunteers were great. I really appreciated their help with me, but especially with my friend, who was getting really frustrated and first quit, then un-quit just in time to get his rifleman patch. Thank you guys for helping him to persevere, but also for persevering yourselves.
I think we all had a great time at this shoot.
The weather turned out beautiful and everyone from what I could tell appeared to be prepared for the cold.
The fact that 10 of us "got patched" was awesome.
And there was nothing that could beat the luck of being out on a day celebrating and commemorating what allows this country to be great and to be graced with the presence of a bald eagle flying overhead on Saturday afternoon.
Truly and awesome experience for my first Colorado AS.
--JFQuest
This was really a terrific shoot. I told husband Jim it was like the Perfect Storm happened, but in a good way - the perfect combination of instructors and students. Ten riflemen - wow!! Students made huge strides in their skills.
The bald eagle flying overhead just made you gulp back the tears, set against a deep blue sky with the flag in the foreground.
This was my second time as an IIT; the instructors again were great keeping me up to speed. Thanks.
It was a pleasure working one-on-one with Vonda who could only come on Sunday. She did great and really looked more relaxed and comfortable by the end of the day, grasping the instruction. That afternoon I also worked with Rick some while working with Vonda. He made great strides on his AQT, with his last score being 197. Did anyone know that he shot 49/50 on the standing portion of one of his AQTs? Amazing...
The students came with such teachable attitudes and that is such a delight to see, just lapping up the lessons.
Congratulations go to all the people who stepped up for the orange hats. Welcome to the team! And high fives to Al and Jim for achieving shoot boss. I told Jim I guess he's my boss now and he liked that!
Sheepdog told stories of ordinary people during our lifetime that stepped up, showing that the tradition set by our founders still lives today. Men who know of what they are made - they are still among us.
Kim
BBBRRRR!!! My third Colorado "Winterseed", none of which were actually held during the winter season!
The students showed great commitment in sticking out the cold, overcast, and wind. Ten patches awarded and four IIT volunteers was amazing!
Brighton shoots are always full, and with the best people too!
Thanks to all the instructors, I would have to agree the quality of the instruction provided was outstanding. Although the weather was a bit overly cold for this Islander I have an awesome time. Thanks to apple seed for provideding a great learning environment.
I also was close with 15 points off, but as this was my first AP I did pretty good for not shooting a rifle since high school.
Thanks again to all involved for a great weekend, makes up for missing my usual Saturday training sessions.
Have a good one all,
The Kiwi (Shannon)
A great big thanks to all the Appleseed instructors , for putting on a truly first class show again . This was my second , and was every bit as much fun and instructional as the first one I attended in September . Was great to make Rifleman this time , and solidify all the skills that were given to me in the first one . A special thanks to Al , Pete for truly enjoying and convey your knowledge and helping me along the road . And even Val , for being a pain in my butt and pushing me to solidify and re-up , to score Expert again when I changed to a different rifle .
Here is a link to a review about the first Appleseed Program I had posted at a popular forum that I frequent , with an update from this one . I suppose its my way to take step 7 , and get the word out . http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/showthread.php?t=79047
When that bald eagle circled and flew over head , I knew that this Appleseed would be on that I would never forget
Thanks again to all of you , and I'll see you soon .
Tony
Quote from: 67rschev on November 15, 2010, 07:46:05 PM
And even Val , for being a pain in my butt and pushing me to solidify and re-up , to score Expert again when I changed to a different rifle .
The best quote of the 2 days: "Don't make Val take off his HUMAN face!!!"
Hats off to Val, he got it through my stubborn head to try it the Appleseed way, and darned if it didn't work just like he said it would!
Brighton Rocks. This people who show up inspire me to work harder to spread the word.
I really enjoyed working with you all. You were the most solid group ever. Keep practicing, spread the word, take the hat and put a shoulder into it.
I have been inspired by the folks I meet at AS and this event was no exception. Thanks to all the young americans who came and persisted through the cold.
Keep at it. We have a country to save and I think we are making headway. Don't stop....
If you are in Gunnison this weekend Nov 20,21 stop by and shoot some more at the "Valley Forge" Shoot.
Thanks
al
Thanks to the Wildlife Hunters facility and Juan and Cy for hosting us again. Great friends of the Appleseed project.
The weather cooperated but still challenged us all to stay warm.
32/30 shooters showed up Sat/Sun. All worked hard and stayed safe.
10 Riflemen effervesced from the class. Several more are right behind them. Persevere and Persist.
4 stepped up after having been seeded in the past and shooting Rifleman this weekend, saying they want to help. Thanks for choosing the path of an IIT.
Al Smith is ready for SB and will have the chance to try his new skill in Gunnison, next week. You're going to do great Al.
The next SB on the horizon is OneShot_Onehole. Great work this weekend Jim. Thanks for the time and energy that both you and Kim put forward.
Finally thanks to all the instructors and IITs. This program works cause of your efforts.
The eagle was pretty cool too.
Look forward to seeing you all on the trail.
Mike/Sheepdog
I had the time of my life at this event. What a lot of fun! I can't wait for the next one to be scheduled. Hopefully I'll be able to earn my Rifleman at a future event. But no matter, I'll come anyway just for all the learning and personal improvement and fun. Until then, I'll set up practicing NPOA and dryfiring on my upstairs landing, aiming across the vaulted ceilings over into the living room high on the wall. That's only 10 yards, but I'll scale a printed target to practice on.
The daughter outshot me by a wide margin. And got her Rifleman! She was quite excited about that and took her AQT target to go brag to her ROTC buddies up at school.
Thanks all you instructors! You did a fantastic job of teaching, storytelling, and making the event fun! Every one of you!
What was that first book that was recommended at Saturdays lunch? Was that "Paul Revere's Ride?" I want to go buy the best book for "beginners" in re-learning our history regarding the Revolutionary War. It's been a while since I was in school, what I learned then is pretty foggy now, and I'm hungry for more learning after hearing the stories and presentations this weekend.
The book is Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer. It's a wonderful book you'll read several times. I'm on my second time through it.
Kim
Brighton Appleseed 10/13-10/14 was quite an experience. This was the first time I put on the Orange hat as ITT, looks like now ITT1. I truly gained a whole new appreciation for what it takes to organize an Appleseed shoot and the effort required to run a safe and fun event. When Al came up to me Sunday morning and asked me to be Line Boss I about swallowed my Adam's apple! All the instructors helped me and coached me, and kept me on the right track. Thanks very much to the whole team, a bunch of great Americans; proud to be associated with the liked of you! To think that I picked up a rifle for the first time about 2 years ago, wow was I clueless; & still so much more to learn! Very glad that my son John came across the Appleseed Project, an announced that we would be attending so we could learn to shoot properly. Little did I know that American heritage, patriotism, and responsibility for our freedom would be part of the package; that indeed is the unexpected bonus prize! Thanks to all, see you on the trail!
Mike
Mike did a great job of rising to the occasion. It was very stressful for me on my first time. The other intructors backed me up and invested their confidence in me. It is great to be a part of such a great team.
Everyone did a great job. Those that patched and took a hat, we'll see you on the trail. Thanks for stepping up.
Those that patched and are thinking about it, please consider joining our effort to Save the Country by Waking our fellow sleeping Americans and making America, once again, a "Nation of Rifleman".
We are trying to grow double each year. We want a Rifleman in the White House. With your help we will keep growing the instructor pool. With your word-of-mouth efforts we will continue to fill the lines. We need more ranges in the Central, West and South parts of Colorado. Let's find the land and set up a DAR.
With your help, we will reach our goal "More Quicklier". We sell Marksmanship. We deliver Hope.
Finally, if you like this program please write a letter to your local paper thanking them for promoting the event and talking it up for women, kids, and everyone else. Talk to your church groups, your professional associations, the scouts, 4-h, big brothers, schools, anywhere there might be an interest.
Thank you all, See you on the trail.......
I just wanted to echo the sentiments of my fellow students. This was a great event, a little cold, but we all dug down deep and found our own "persevere and persist" attitudes. Thanks to all the Red and Orange Hats for making this happen as well as Cy and Juan. I am hooked and will be attending my second event soon (maybe with my AK-47 and iron sights this time) and hopefully get my Orange Hat. I will be in touch with ranges in Pueblo and Kremmling to see if we can offer more locations.
-Matt
We need some pics!!!
What a fantastic Appleseed! Great attitudes from participants and instructors, even with less than favorable conditions. The first day while enjoying lunch time stories of the Revolutionary War, the clouds closed in and the temperature dropped. Then later, the clouds lifted, the temperature came back up, and we had a fly by by a beautiful bald eagle. The heavens and our forefathers were smiling on our event.
Thanks to all instructors for your enthusiasm, knowledge, and patience. All helped me achieve my first Rifleman patch. I very enthusiastically volunteer to assist RWVA in promoting Appleseed and assisting in anyway that I can as a new instructor in training.
Great posts! OK so it is Wednesday, midweek. Are you still thinking of the great weekend you had Appleseeding? Then Appleseed is calling your name. Plan to attend another shoot. Al Smith is having a shoot in Gunnison this weekend. If that's not possible look ahead, check the schedule. Check in on our Colorado board. We have gunshows coming. That is a target rich environment for promoting the program. Share your enthusiasm. Anybody can do that...pass out fliers, talk about your appleseed experience. Talk it up with your buds, family, work mates. Get a commitment for them to come with you next time. Check out this forum. Lots of great info here waiting to be discovered. Dry practice. Maintain your skill in a safe and warm area of your house. Check out your gear. Now you know what you need to change to make the most of your next appleseed event.
You see there is lots to do, we have a nation to save. Let's get to work!
Pleasure working with all y'all last weekend.
Mike/Sheepdog
Just went to the surplus store and got myself some much-needed cold weather clothing and some of the Mountain House meals that smelled so good at lunch on Sunday. My dad and my sister and I are all getting GI slings and swivels from Appleseed as well. I still can't believe how much of a difference proper sling usage made in my shooting! I've been talking up the shoot to anyone who stands still long enough, and I think I'll have a pretty good group ready to roll next time we can make it out.
Also heard back the official word from Appleseed regarding the "Winterseed" Rifleman patches if anyone is interested. They are only available for shoots between 11/1 and 3/31 and the Shoot Boss has to decide whether the shoot should count as a Winterseed. Cold, rain, snow, and ice are all qualifying conditions, but the Shoot Boss has to decide whether they are severe enough to warrant the special Winterseed patch.
Thanks again!
Winterseed? Not so much. Now maybe if we had a 'mud on the mat' patch or a 'sun in the eyes' patch you'd all be winners. Maybe if I came from southern Texas, or Miami I would be more inclined to think this is winter. Fact of the matter is this boyz from Chicago where some of the most miserable winters on earth settle in. So, y'all got the official word last weekend. When it's a winter seed, there won't be any question,you'll know for sure. Be proud of that first Rifleman patch, it is connected to your performance and emotion as you take new direction in your life.
Want a winter seed patch? Come see me on the hardpack when the thermo is stuck on a single digit.
Your tightwad SB, Sheepdog
Practice, practice, practice! Either live fire, or dry fire - keep your skills sharp and steadily improving. They go away quickly, especially when they are newly acquired. Learn to diagnose what you are doing correctly as well as incorrectly, and it will allow you to not only improve yourself but to teach others effectively.
To those of you who took the orange hat - we will see if we can get an Instructor Boot Camp here in CO (weekend classroom clinic) for you to get up to speed quickly. Other than that, study and memorize the four safety rules and the six steps to clearing a rifle. You will soon get access to the instructor section of the forum. Study how range safety officers and line safety officers work when clearing the line, and study the steady hold factors for all the positions. Then you will feel much more comfortable the first time you show up wearing the hat!
In the spirit of Valley Forge, it really wasn't winter, just "uncomfortable" at times!
Let's get a shoot scheduled for February!!!
Man, you guys are really going to make me go out to Gunnison in January to get that snazzy blue patch? Well, I suppose if that's what it takes, I'll have to do my best to be there.