The day arrived with clear skies, a bit of chill in the air and a promise of no rain in the forecast. Upon arrival, the students successfully traversed the field that Liberty Ridge Ranch cleared of bison for the day, with only the occasional bison "patty" to dodge along the way. The students all arrived promptly (before 08:30) which allowed us an early start. The line of eleven, which was down from seventeen due to COVID-related pre-event cancellations, was filled with eager students, seven of which were under the age of 18. In addition to our students, we had several observing parents and grandparents present, encouraging and supporting their children.
We began the day with the opening speech/preamble and an engaging first strike by ArmyVet followed by a new orange hat (Bug_7) presenting the safety rules, safe rifle, and ammo difficulties. After safely bringing rifles to the line, the students made quick work of the first red coat but with no "400yd" hits, no cleared targets and only one shingle shot, the "sea" of red hat instructors in attendance set out on a mission to change the outcome for the courses of fire to follow.
With almost a 1:1 student to instructor ratio, we spent the morning working with every shooter individually to check equipment, fit rifles, ensure proper sling setups, teach and verify proper position, demonstrate and practice the six steps of firing the shot and introduce the concept of trigger control. We enjoyed an excellent presentation by Cleveland and CorgiMom who taught the prone position and NPOA modules. The squares course of fire that followed rewarded us all for our efforts to individualize the instruction. Shots were not just on paper but were also tight with about 2/3 of the line shooting 4-6 MOA groups after only a few squares. This allowed us to advance the talking target module before lunch and Cleveland and I toyed with the idea of presenting IMC before lunch. The time monkey found no spot on the line this morning!
During lunch, Cleveland presented the second strike and drew a tear from a minimum of one eye ("take good care of the children") and CorgiMom presented IMC to a group who was ready to make good use of it. After lunch, we witnessed the "post-lunch group loosening phenomenon" a term Cleveland and I may look to canonize! Ha! We anticipated it might happen, so the phenomenon was met with a brief review of the three legs of the tripod of rifle marksmanship and the groups miraculously improved and in most cases were better than before lunch. Squares shot in prone after lunch were excellent!
Squares shot in seated and standing clearly indicated that the students needed more time. Even the practice AQT shot in the afternoon was done so using the "time" command vs. "cease fires" to allow everyone greater opportunity to become more comfortable with seated, standing and the transitions. OldNavyDoc finished up the day with strike three, and as the heat began to rise, so did fatigue, so we called it a day after another red coat, which yielded three "400yd" hits, four shingle shots and three cleared targets. This was the coveted improvement we had hoped for that morning and left us all to believe that day two would deliver even greater results. CokeGuy arrived late in the afternoon to award a Green Hat after having spent the morning at another range in Georgia being considered for future clinics.
Day two arrived with overcast skies and a threat of light rain in the forecast. Now well-accustomed to bison "patty" detailed scanning, the students all arrived promptly again and paid close attention during the morning review of the three legs of the tripod and retrieved their rifles, safely grounding them on the line. The great things we had hoped for quickly arrived. Tate (13) and Dad (Heath) were the first to shoot rifleman scores with Tate shooting irons and Heath shooting scope. They swapped rifles and Tate went on to shoot two more rifleman scores with scope (222,223). Quite an achievement for a first-time Appleseeder. Not to be out done, we had another first-time student shoot 212 (He asked to remain anonymous) and our tube-fed rifle shooters who had difficulties on Saturday with estate sale rifles, accepted loaner rifles and after only two sighting squares each, Righter (17) shot a rifleman's score (217) with Dad (John) not far behind. Riflemen persist, ask Righter how he knows. Over the course of the day between AQTs, the students heard numerous stories about the dangerous old men, brave women, and valiant children of the American revolution, along with a KD presentation over lunch. Before the benediction, we awarded seven (7) Luther Blanchard and four (4) Rifleman patches to a group of students who knew very well what they were about by the close of the day. Congratulations to all the students and my sincerest appreciation to all the instructors for helping make this a great event! I want to offer a special word of thanks to CokeGuy, Roswell, 76Patriot, Morpheus, and Cleveland for mentoring me through the SBit process and congratulations to TN Beast on his SBit1.
We left the bison field as we found it, wished everyone Godspeed, and parted as better-informed citizens and marksmen than when we arrived.
May Liberty increase, forever.
Outstanding! Sounds like a great event!
Here are some of the photos I took.
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I fixed it! Now it'll show the photos!
Thank you, Palousie!
This was indeed a fantastic Appleseed. The "teachable attitude" phrase universally applied to this group of students. Very shortly, all the instructor had to say was "what do you think you need to do on the next string of fire?" and they would self diagnose and improve.
Although the students with tube fed rifles improved, the tube procedures were frustrating and time consuming. Both improved greatly after switching to loaner 10/22's.
I look forward to returning to this beautiful range.
I appreciate the opportunity to shadow Cleveland and was really happy that I got to be there for the hat ceremony.
Sounds like a great event.
Wow, what an amazing weekend! An awesome group of instructors, coupled with shooters that were eager to learn, combined with 6Bones' leadership made for a very successful event.
HUZZAH, hope to see you all back on the line!!!
Cleveland
Congratulations 6Bones. You're welcome to bring that shiny new green hat to Tennessee any time you feel led to do so. We will set you up. O0
Wreck
This was a great weekend. It wore me out, but I left with many great new skills! A big thank you to the volunteers!
Question: I'd like to write up a recap of the training for some friends of mine, including some pics of the targets we used. Is that allowed by Appleseed?
Yes, we always like people to share their love of Appleseed with their friends. We have two more shoots on the calendar this fall at Liberty Ridge Ranch. We hope to see you back with your friends.
Wow, sounds like such a fantastic event. Huzzah to all involved in making that happen!