Project Appleseed

Had a great time, lots of folks.  More latter.....

here are some pic from the shoot. it was a very good shoot and we learned a lot of things. the appleseed at the end of the week was a very good turn out. we got more orange hats. i would like to thank KR for the land and his hospitality he gave all of us.

Sheesh, I can't even take a nap without someone snapping a shot...LOL!

Notice the mushroom.  Actually, it is a wheel chok, to keep things from rolling when they should stay stopped, but it made one hansome line separartor.

"Shrooms ready on the right?  Shrooms ready on the left?"  

The first morning we were greeted by frost, awful pretty, but alas, no pics of that.

Had a load of shooters and Instuctors.  Made some new Riflemen and Orange hats.

Aged old(ish) to young, with our own Butt Stock (AKA Junior, AKA Butt -insert your own clever word/s here-) rounding out the yoot side of things, being about 6 months younger than Kira (the elder, not to be confused with Kira the younger, who put on occasional appearences, but did not shoot.  Confused yet?)

List of Instructors as follows....

Dinky Dao  (OH)
Longshot  (MO)
Sheepdog  (IL)
Thor's Hammer  (MO)
Eel  (IL)
Meanstreaker  (OH)
Greybeard  (MO)
Ben1775  (MO)
Rebel Yell  (MO)
Aftermath  (MI)
SMLE  (AR)
Hooters Billy  (IN)
Whisker  (IA)
Pappy  (IL)
The Raven  (IA)
Greg in MO  (MO, duh)
IOWA-Mark  (IA, duh again)
Alex  (IA)
Big Pappa  (TN)

and orange hats,

Boba Fett (IL)
Kira  (MO)

Wished I had more Orange Hats in attendence, to pick up on all the wit and wisdom provided by the fine crew of Instructors, and I sorta got my wish....  By the end of the camp, I had three new IITs.

George (Jungle George)
Susan (didn't write down her new name, so I will let someone with a bit more forsight get that in there)
and
1 Mystery IIT, whom will be announced, soon.  (coming next week, same Bat channel, same Bat time!)

We had 13 shooters, so EVERYONE got to shoot.

At work, more to come.

Guy

I unfortunately couldn't spend as much time at the RBC as I had wished. Such is life. What time was spent during the day and some of the evenings was great. Maybe I can get the week off next year.

I want to extend a very large thank you to all the instuctors for helping on Saturday with a very impromptu work day at the range. Hopefully Eel will put up some photos of our handiwork. I hope somebody has photos of the rock scavenging! Rocks grow very well in MO, just add water!

Hope to see everyone back at Osage Beach next year, either at an AS or the RBC. It is hard for me to get away from the range with the mowing and clean up duties required to keep it ready and with the schedule we should have next year. Astro-turf is starting to look better everyday, wonder if there are any landscapers in the program.....

Jason

I've got a ton of pictures (Including the white wonderland frost photos from Sunday morning) to upload as soon as I get them off the camera and labeled as well as my own observations from the week. It's taking awhile to digest what actually happened last week. SO MUCH learned and SO MUCH shared. For now all I will say is what a freaking awesome time!!!!  I can't wait until next year.

more pictures from the shoot.

even more pictures.

Soooooo,

I guess you're wondering what it's like to have 22 RWVA Instructors in your front yard for 9 days.....

Well, as there may be children and  pregnant women reading this, it will have to remain with your imaginations.
Be assured, however, it is NOT a sight for the faint of heart!

  An intense, superb learning experience for shooters and instructors alike, both on and off the range.

The longer I am with Appleseed, the fewer friends I have outside the program, because of the quality and integrity of those I meet within. My door is alwaye open to you!


Longshot
KR

Did I get relocated to Michigan?
I must have missed the memo.  I'll pack-up after Hinckley, this weekend.

I believe The Guy missed Whisker. He was there during the middle of the week.

I was definitely happy that I went. Met a lot of great people, learned a lot, and even wished I could've learned more.
Many a good discussion on many a good subject.
A pleasure to spend time with such a distinguished group.
Can we extend the boot camps to a month, cause I really didn't want to leave.

And the only pictures I took was of a racoon on top of a garbage truck on Fri.

smle/Ben

I'm really disappointed I am that I couldn't make it out, not even for the appleseed at the end.  I had girlfriend commitments for that Saturday (some awards banquet for her work that I apparently committed to going to... you know how that happens), which we didn't even end up going to because she was feeling sick that day!  It would have been a great time to meet all you fellow instructors.  I guess there's next year.  its a long time to wait though!

What an incredible week.  The students and Instructors alike made it something special.  My thanks to all of them.

Longshot and his family were Saints to have that many of us crashing in his front yard.  I was blown away with their hospitality.  Thanks very much!

We all learned from each other both on the line and after hours.  I'll be sure to keep Hooters Billy's safety technique of the ear muff punch in mind when looking up and down future lines.  I want my shooters to remember me, but not because of painful ears.

Quote from: The GuyI had three new IITs.

...
Susan (didn't write down her new name, so I will let someone with a bit more forsight get that in there)

She chose the name "Shamara".  Keep a look out for that on the forum!  I imagine she'll be lighting a fire under Oklahoma in no time.

Looking forward to working with everyone again.

Hello Group; WOW!!, I find my thoughts returning to the events of last week and for just a little while we are all together again, if only in my mind. For being such great hosts to quite a mob of campers, Thank You KR & Zulema for opening up your home to us and alowing us the use of your little slice Heaven. You have a wonderful home and property. Thanks to Jason, Thor`s Hammer for the use of the range and the team building movement - effort that brought the new shed to the range.  The strongest part of the boot camp for me was the inter action between instructors and students developing there shooting skills and helping hone future and fellow Instructors into what makes Appleseed what it is. Thanks to each and every one of you. Pappy

PS; Spelling corrected, Sorry.

Week?  That was a week??    Felt like a couple, two, tree days max    What a time in Osage!!  KR and family are most gracious hosts.  Osage is a great place for an RBC.  Fall in MO. Beautiful colors, nice range, great folks, and no oppression.  Camp breakfasts,    sometimes dinners too.  Not to mention a campfire discussion or two.  Or in some instances, garage discussions.    

Instructors from 8 states.  Listen and learn.  Take what you like, file the rest.  Not the circular file, you may find it will work later.  Squirrel rifles and distance are a bonus.

Got some pics from the Team Building Exercise (TBX) and a few others.  Hope the post this time.  Last attempt launched my 'puter.  I know not all can take a week, but if you can finagle it, you won't be disappointed 

We were discussing plans for next year on our drive back to the Land of Oppression.

EEL

P.S.  No squirrels were hurt during this operation. 

Looks like a GREAT time for all.  I'm eagerly waiting for next year so I can attend!  At least the week wasn't all for naught, I was able to help instruct an Appleseed that weekend somewhere else.  Thanks for all the pictures!  Boba Fett - is that a beard? 

Trying again

Quote from: Gumballhead on October 30, 2009, 04:07:33 PM
Boba Fett - is that a beard? 

Yes. That is my winter coat and I was glad to have it. I put it on at the first frost of the year and take it off on the first 70 degree day in Spring. It did get down to 26 degrees the first night we camped and it does help when the breeze gets chilly. It's usually much shorter, but I didn't pack a razor and my family actually liked the longer version when I got home, so I think it will stay as is until Spring.

Quote from: Boba Fett on October 30, 2009, 04:16:08 PM

Quote from: Gumballhead on October 30, 2009, 04:07:33 PM
Boba Fett - is that a beard? 

Yes. That is my winter coat and I was glad to have it. I put it on at the first frost of the year and take it off on the first 70 degree day in Spring. It did get down to 26 degrees the first night we camped and it does help when the breeze gets chilly. It's usually much shorter, but I didn't pack a razor and my family actually liked the longer version when I got home, so I think it will stay as is until Spring.

Grow it out like Pappy!

 

Quote from: EEL on October 30, 2009, 04:14:00 PM
Trying again

How many riflemen does it take to move a shed? 

Quote from: EEL on October 30, 2009, 04:14:00 PM
Trying again

Well done EEL! I'm glad you got pictures of Team Illinois moving that shed. I couldn't find any on my camera and was bummed that I missed capturing that adventure (for posterity's sake).

BTW... I believe the correct Chicago spelling is "Choo, Chree Dayz". I could be wrong. It might be Tree instead of Chree, but I'm pretty sure it is Choo and it is definitely "Dayz".   

More pics to come once G69 explains to this dinersaur how to get more than 2 pics at a time / post !!   

As I drove onto the range Tuesday afternoon I got a lot of looks that said, "Who is this guy?"  To most of the tightly knit band of merry men who usually populate Missouri and Illinois Appleseed country, I was a unfamiliar stranger.   

It was good to put faces on all of you at the RBC.  Before you were just a name on a forum.  Now, thanks to the great experience of the RBC, I know you are much, much more than a few pixels on a screen!

This was my first time shooting full distance.  What a surprise, it worked!  In addition, things were finally cleared up in my head about sight indexes and zeroing.

The night time skill sharing was amazing.  Especially Billy's Tuesday night class.  Pappy gave me the proper knowledge to clean and grease the '14.   Thanks for that!  Also, my reading list is now expanded off the charts. 

I made my split back north Friday afternoon.  I had to see to the good people of the Wayland, IA Appleseed family.  Finally got some 300 yd night shooting in with Iowa-Alex.

Thanks KR and Saliena!

Truly good to meet you all- SMLE, Meanstreaker, Ron, KR, Saliena, Kira, Greybeard, Ben1775, Sheepdog, Big Pappa, Boba Fett and all the rest!  Good to see those again who I've met before (if vaguely and a long time ago). 

It's probably redundant, but I'm glad to know such good folks. 

P.S.
If you can, send your IITs (and yourself) to the IBC in Colo Ia on Nov 14-15. 

OK...trying this photobucket thing.  1st pic of "Tent City" in Longshot's yard.

Test...Test...Test

Well, looky there!!!  That Garand69 is smarter than he looks.    I mean, for a cement truck, oops sorry JoeZ,  a CONCRETE truck driver he's got it together!
The rest of "Tent City".  I think there were 17-18 tents in Longshot's front yard!



And the rest of that TBX
, ,

A few final touches to the firing line....

The Sheepdog doing what gov employees...uh I mean ex-gov employees do best...look busy


And of course...the squirrel rifle.


Great time.  Plan on being there next Oct.

EEL

So I finally get around to being able to sit in front of my computer since that totally awesome week plus. Longshot and his family where great. It was my first time meeting them and I'm glad I did. It was so great being able to see a lot of my favorite instructors from around the midwest'ish are all in one place at one time for more then just a day or two. Even with a whole week, there wasn't enough time to spend all you wanted to with everyone, but it was long enough to be very close to what.

Lots of fun, lots of food, lots of beautiful countryside, lots of "grade" on the driveway, lots of very close friends. I will do all I can to keep making the RBC down there every time. It was so worth it. So much I can't even figure out where to really start with any details of the week. I still have to gather my thoughts.

Hooters Billy

To All Osage Beach Instructors:

Here is the lost and found list from KR's place:

1 Blue nylon widbreaker with a pocketfull of AR mags      (Claimed)

1 HUGE blue sweatshirt with about a half-mile of duct tape on the back saying "SHEEPDOG"

  1 pair Peltor earmuffs

  1 LARGE strip of burlap? and red velvet, full of grommets and 'S' hooks ??!! 

  1 blue enamelware steel camp bowl

  1 white coffee mug

  1 gray plastic camp-type dinner plate

  1 1000 rd. case of 7.62X51 Lake City XM118 ammo

PM Longshot to identify and make arrangements to ship or pickup your stuff.













PS  Just kidding about the Lake City.     You were thinkin' about it, weren't ya'? 

BTW,

While seeing it in print will probably just cause more problems, my wife's name is ZULEMA.


Pronounced   SUE-LAY-MA


Get it right, she's sharpening her bayonet......


   


KR

I would really like to know how Billy delt with the driveway "grade" going out with that 'Vette. Still can't believe he got it in there.

Ben

I'd tell ya, but there are pictures that I'm sure will be posted. I also added in a bit extra of challenge on my way up. Just wait for the others because no one will believe me anyway.

HB 

QuotePS  Just kidding about the Lake City.     You were thinkin' about it, weren't ya'?   

I'm sure there were a few thinking about it; even though they weren't even there!

I've got pics of the 'vette.... Though it was a rather in-climactic epitah.

I've lacked the capacity to write up a propper AAR, thus far.
Keep an eye out for it though.