Toccoa, Georgia Nov. 13-14

[DrJohn]

The November Toccoa Appleseed weekend was blessed by clear skies for most of the weekend and temperatures in the low 70's.  The north Georgia mountains were near the peak of their fall color, and it could not have been a more beautiful weekend to shoot and learn about our American heritage and about liberty.

Our instructors included Jim (Flathead), Raymon (Sanderman79), Sean (Friedenmeister),  Jesse (Bagel), John (DrJohn), Chris (Shaftoe),   Barrett (Col Barrett), Jim (Goose), Lloyd (Lowside), and Adam (no screen name yet).  Dave (Deadeye) was unable to attend because of an illness in the family, and was missed.

We had 47 eager and very enthusiastic shooters on Saturday.  Parking was somewhat crowded and awkward because of another club event that was taking place simultaneously Saturday morning.  This caused a number of shooters to park at some distance from their firing line, and to carry their equipment.  A word of complaint or grumbling was never heard the entire weekend.  The students could not have been a more pleasant or receptive group of people.

The high point of Saturday morning was the telling of the First Strike by Chris, who gave one of the most concise and moving presentations of the First Strike that most of us had heard.  He capped it off at lunch by telling the Second and Third Strikes, and thereby completed the requirements for advancement to Red Hat, which was done at the afternoon Benediction. 

Because of the shortened number of daylight hours, instructors and students cooperated in keeping the course of instruction moving.  We had four separate firing lines Saturday, and most managed to complete at least two QDAQTs before the last Redcoat target of the day.  All in all, three students managed to shoot a score of 210 or higher, but more importantly, almost everyone seemed to understand that Appleseed is really about heritage and liberty, not necessarily about any particular physical skill.  The shooters understood that physical skill is something that needs to be developed and polished at home, on an ongoing basis.  Almost everyone asked said that they had enjoyed themselves and that they intended to return for more Appleseeds.

Sunday morning, because of an agreement with the local churches, we were unable to begin shooting before 11:30 AM.  Instead, the time was used to present three one-hour classes, each of which ran twice, giving the students the chance to attend two out of the three.  These included the Philosophy of Liberty by one of the Appleseed patriarchs, Ron (Son of Martha), who made a special arrangement to come for that one event.  The other classes were Technical Riflery by Keith (Snaphook), who was magically able to crowd an entire Rifleman Boot Camp of instruction on long-distance shooting into one hour, and Building Your Liberty Training Rifle by Michael (Yonah), who brought his shop to the range and gave a most-needed presentation.  While all this was going on, individual instructors were available to answer questions not involving actually touching the rifle, but because of the excellence of the other three classes, the students wisely decided to postpone taking advantage of this last offering.

The finale was Sean, who gave a moving Liberty Evangelism presentation Saturday during the Benediction.  He followed this up Sunday evening with remarks that made most of the listeners even more enthusiastic to do more in the cause of liberty.  During the farewell, most of the students expressed their appreciation and enjoyment of the weekend, and their determination to return.

[weconway]

What an exceptional experience!  You guys are truly a gifted group of instructors and motivators.  I left hungry for a better knowledge about the origins of our country and eager for many hours practicing with a 1/8" dot on my living room wall (4 MOA at 10')!

William

P.S. - You neglected to mention the most impressive feat of marksmanship of the weekend.  Snaphook managed to shoot down a 20' tree that suffered the misfortune of being directly behind his AQT with his M1A.  Try that with an LTR!

[BrownBess]

DrJohn, sounds like an incredible event, sorry to have missed it.......the morning classes sound as if they are worth looking into at the ranges that require a late start. We have a few events here in Florida like that.  Having Son of Martha there must have been a real treat for the shooters, i have heard him do his thing and he is amazing.....Best Wishes, BrownBess

[Flathead]

We had a great bunch of shooters on my line on Saturday, Banger working the CZ bolt gun and back in position before the brass was hitting the ground. TJ a 13 year old boy who acted and behaved much older getting 47 on stage 1 of his first AQT, to bad he only shot a 162 on that one,as if only 162 on your first time seeing that course of fire is a bad thing! Conway getting a 213 on his second AQT. I think on the first AQT on that line the lowest score was 101!
Sunday was great as well. Watching the shooters increase the round count and shrink groups on the timed stages. And the weather was probably the best we have had all year, cool in the mornings with just a hint of frost and middle 60's by mid day and cooling off to upper 50's by shut down of the range. 9 more shoots scheduled for next year at this range just have to work out the dates.

[oldredtop]

My son and I made it on Sunday for our 2nd Appleseed and had a great time.  My 84 year old father came to observe the afternoon session...to "check things out" and see if he thought he was up to the rigorous training.  He was very impressed with everything he observed and will come back with us in the spring to do a full Appleseed...

Many thanks to all of the instructors...you are all great Americans!

Brad

[shaftoe]

My son and I made it on Sunday for our 2nd Appleseed and had a great time.  My 84 year old father came to observe the afternoon session...to "check things out" and see if he thought he was up to the rigorous training.  He was very impressed with everything he observed and will come back with us in the spring to do a full Appleseed...

Many thanks to all of the instructors...you are all great Americans!

Brad

It's great to see three generations together at an Appleseed, enjoying marksmanship and freedom.  That's simply fantastic.

We look forward to seeing y'all back.