Project Appleseed

We had an incredible weekend at The Piqua Fish and Game; eighteen eager shooters filled our line to enjoy two days of marksmanship and history.  A large crew of Instructors and IIT's insured the event was fun, safe and informative.

The weather was typical for Ohio in June, warm and humid. Pop-up canopies kept the sun off shooters on Saturday, but the heat still took its toll on everyone. However, we did have two new Riflemen, congratulations to Mike M. with a 218, and Caleb H. with a 211. We also had two re-qualified Riflemen, Jon H. with a 237 and Greg M. with a 218.

Sunday morning's festivities were interrupted with a thunderstorm in the morning. Thanks to Doc Willi's advanced weather app we were able to case rifles and move to shelter just as the rain started. We used the time for a review of Inches Minutes and Clicks and a great Known Distance presentation by Third Degree. The timing was prefect, as the stormy skies cleared we uncased rifles and resumed drills and instruction.

We broke up the day with a team fun shoot, as well as a very popular rapid fire AQT. While we didn't have any new riflemen on Sunday we had many requalification scores. Jon H. re-qualified numerous times, he was trying for his 250 rocker, but it eluded him yet again. Mike M. confirmed his Rifleman status with a 210 and 221. We had the pleasure of Dell A. on our line again, re-confirming several times through the day with a 231 as his highest. Two of our instructors joined the line; Shadow870 reconfirmed with a 218, and Coyote 217 shot scores of 220, 227 and 231 with his AR15.

We were delighted to have Sheepdog180 join our team and accept the challenge of an Appleseed Instructor in Training; he will be a great addition to our crew.

Sadly, the weekend came to a close. This was truly a great group of Americans who had come together to share our history and heritage; many strangers became friends as they found common ground, linked by their shared passions and love for our Country.

A huge thank you to our incredible team of volunteers, TinaMarie, Hemi286, Mac, Messer454, Haley Beth, WildBillCody, Doc Willi, Rattlehead, Clever Girl, Third Degree, Shadow870 and Coyote217.

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This was a great group of shooters with fantastic attitudes. They did not let the heat or rain get them down, and took the instruction well.
Congratulations to Mike and Caleb for qualifying as Riflemen and Jon, Del, Shadow870 and Coyote 217 for requalifying.
Thank you to Sheepdog180 for becoming an Instructor in Training.

More Pictures.

Rapid Fire AQT pictures.

I will echo comments by Shep and Doc Willie: a great group of students with a ton of enthusiasm! Everyone persisted (as a rifleman should) and substantial progress was witnessed by the Sunday afternoon Redcoat. Great job at applying the skills that were taught and paying close attention to keeping the safety rules front and center.

I want to especially recognize John and Rick their hard work to apply the steady hold factors and six steps. Keep up the good work, you will see more success at future events.

I also want to mention Doug and Izzy. A father and daughter team that worked through the course with bolt action, iron sighted rifles. Thank you Doug for bringing Izzy, she is a great young lady. Izzy, you brought a bolt action rifle when most use semi-automatics with scopes. You dealt with many challenges over the weekend and remained excited to undertake the task. Best wishes to both of you.

Matt, thank you for attending and giving my Ruger 10/22 a professional workout! This rifle will be available to you anytime you are in the area.

Sheepdog180, welcome to the team! I look forward to seeing you on the AS trail.

Third Degree

Looks like it was a good time. I've been to Piqua and it's a good range. I hope to get back there sometime.

I've done six shoots over the past several years and each one has been a blast regardless of weather, equipment failures or any other barrier.  This event in Piqua was no different.  First time there and first Shoot in Ohio, and I am ecstatic to find the same professionalism on the range and passion for the history and tradition of this program.  Can't wait for the next one!

Thanks to all the new and returning shooters that made this weekend so much fun. 

Izzy you handled Saturday so well with all the casing ejection failures and I was so happy to see that you made that Morgan's shingle shot on the Redcoat target. Way to go!

Congrats also to our two new Riflemen, Mike M. with a 218, and Caleb H. with a 211, and to those that did re-qualify as Riflemen, Jon H. with a 237 and Greg M. with a 218.

You all were a great group and I hope to see you again in October at the next Piqua 22LR Project Appleseed event.