Project Appleseed

The Saraspa Rod and Gun Club has a beautiful range.  LadyRimfire and Cannibal outdid themselves getting this Ladyseed together.  They canvased the area, spoke to groups, and posted flyers.  As a result, we had the first Ladyseed event in over a decade in New York with 8 ladies coming together to learn and have fun.  Our first Hits Count target showed that a lot of these women already knew how to shoot pretty well.  Ruth even cleared her target right out of the gate.  We worked on our fundamentals and shared history throughout the weekend.  New York is lucky to have LadyRimfire and Cannibal.  They were superb instructors and so encouraging.  Our groups got smaller and smaller throughout Saturday. 

Only 5 of the 8 women were able to return for Sunday's fun.  We started the morning reading one of the letters about Appleseed's very own DOW, Mademoiselle Yotnottin.  Followed by the club members all sharing stories about another Appleseed DOW, historybuff (Maisey Loucks) who sadly passed away in March, 2025.  Maisey was a member at this club and is clearly missed.  The longer distance range we shot at Sunday afternoon is named after her.  The somber stories remind us that we can all do our part to make our country better just as these women did.

Many thanks to our shooters for sharing and being our model (Morgan) and running through our review (everyone).  We finished our first AQT Sunday morning and Morgan was already at 235!!!  Huzzah!  We have women among us who know very well what they are about.  By the end of the day we were able to baptize Sandy with some fresh North Bridge water that I grabbed just a few days before at the North Bridge.  All the ladies did great.  A huge shout out to Mary.  She was a self-professed beginner Saturday morning.  By Sunday afternoon, she had 3 holes touching through the 400 yard silhouette of the Hits Count target!!!  That's progress and perfect practice.  Keep it up!

These ladies were awesome.  I unintentionally brought the heat and humidity up with me from Georgia.  It hovered at almost 100° all weekend.  I'm sorry!  Come down to GA in the fall and I promise it'll be cooler (probably, no guarantees)  Seriously, it'd be great to share the ranges down here with anyone from this shoot.  It was loads of fun and I believe we all learned quite a bit. 

Pictures are worth 1000 words - so here are some of the ones we took this weekend.  Feel free to share yours or post a comment.


I knew nothing about Saratoga Springs aside from they have events here occasionally.  Now I know a bit about the springs.  I had a couple hours to kill before range set up and the local state park happened to have a tour going on.  The water tasting was questionable.  The guide's description of one, "It tastes like a good nosebleed." wasn't exactly appealing.  Still, very pretty area with a lot of history.



Here's a lake a few minutes from the range.  This place is gorgeous!


The range is just a little Appleseed friendly!!!  Our volunteers 7th step non-stop here. 


Friday setup.  LadyRimfire and Cannibal brought all the supplies and know-how to get us on track for the weekend.


Ruth cleared her Hits Count target Saturday morning!  Wow!


Cannibal and Lady Rimfire teach us the prone position


Prone position


Cannibal tells us all about talking targets.


Lady Rimfire and Cannibal teach the sitting position on Saturday


Sitting position


Our sole lefty, Maranda, was awesome!  It's hard to believe that this is her first Appleseed.  She mentioned her dad recommended us to her.  I think he also did some great coaching.  Thanks for 7th stepping and we hope to see the whole family again soon.


Sunday morning review


Cannibal and Morgan show us how to get in and out of the sling.


Lady Rimfire and Morgan demonstrate the prone position


A couple of does joined us for morning review. They were long gone by the time we started shooting.


Standing position


Standing postion






Ball & Dummy - one of my favorite drills!


The 200 yard range is dedicated to Maisey Louks, aka historybuff on the forum.


Morgan cleared her Hits Count target Sunday afternoon.


Sandy requalified as a riflewoman with a 210!  Baptized with fresh North Bridge water.


Morgan shot a riflewoman score for every AQT!!!  Way to go!


Cannibal and Lady Rimfire gave me a club range bag for making the trip.  Thanks!


Sunday's group photo.  I'm sorry I didn't get one Saturday.

Keep up the perfect practice everyone.  Come back and join us for our next event.