AAR: North Little Rock, April 17-18, 2010

[ErikAnderson]

What do you get when you combine a group of dedicated individuals with great attitudes, a superb facility, fantastic weather, and Appleseed instructors?  You have the 2010 North Little Rock Appleseed for April 17-18.

First, I have to give recognition to Jennifer, KC's wife, who persisted when most other women would just flat out quit.  I was truly impressed at the content of her character and resolve.  Lesser women would have stayed on the couch, but Jennifer showed true grit and shot both days.  

The good news?  Arkansas has four more Rifleman.
The really good news?  They said they'd go back and bring their friends!
The great news?  Everyone was asking when the next Appleseed at DARC1 would be!!  

We've got at least a half dozen shooters in the 180-205 range just on the cusp of that patch.  We took two rifleman, and one almost rifle(wo)man to the full distance range.  We came back and showed the group a target that had lots of holes in the black!  Funny, this stuff seems to work!

This weekend once again proves that you meet the nicest people at an Appleseed!

Feel free to share photos and your take on the event here!

Everyone sounded like that had fun and learned something to boot!  We're working with Richard @ DARC1 to mesh schedules and have as many AS as possible!

[dart67eb]

Training aids for everything, but I forgot my camera!  Please post pics if you have them.  I really enjoyed working with everyone and am glad to see each shooter improve!  Kudos to all of you who saw it through and never gave up.  I know you'll be back, bringing others and taking the 7th step.  Now, don't MAKE me get out the plastic army man!  

PS.  I misplaced a Marlin 795 magazine.  Did anybody see it?

[Quinncannon]

I was very pleased to have participated with my son, and memories made that will last me a lifetime. My son has really improved his rifle marksmanship skills, and we will continue training here on our range here on the farm. I was also very pleased to have been awarded the Rifleman Patch! Thanks to all the Instructors for running a professional range, and for being so forthright in the mode of rifle marksmanship training. Also thanks goes to the owner of the DARC.

[MandyMonstar]

What photos my camera managed to snag are now up on Picasa - start here in the Appleseed folder for this weekend's photos.  As usual, I managed to not capture photos of everyone.  Sorry about that.

Thanks for the opportunity to drag my friends into my hobbies this weekend.  There's nothing like introducing four friends to shooting for the first time in one day.  I was really worried for a while there that I'd have to skip this one while out of state, but everything worked out perfectly thanks to y'all.

While it threatened rain the whole drive home, thankfully for the shoot the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  It was also great to go through an entire two days outdoors without being carried away by mosquitoes.

Getting out to the full distance range was eye-opening.  I'd never thought that with my poor eyesight I'd even be able to see targets that far away, and since our local range only goes to 100yds I'd never thought to try.  It was an almost dangerous experience, since I left wanting to graduate from my 452 to a 527.

I'll definitely be back and working on getting those last few points for the patch in June at Sherburne.  From the photos I can see a few things I can work on improving until then.  Who knows?  There's still a chance I'll make Rifleman before Alan does.

Thanks again!  It was great to meet a whole new set of awesome people. 

[MandyMonstar]

Whoops!  I forgot to link to the album instead of the image - here you go.

[BUBSDAD]

I had a great time this weekend at DARC1. Eric, the stories of the match strikes that stated the fire that was our revolution was eye opening, I have never thought about the uncertainty of what those men and women were doing. They did'nt know the ennding like we do now, no safety net, no plan B. The courage that was on display back then is humblingto me. SMLE, i loved the stories of the old folks of the revolution. Ebbon, Thanks for inspirational army man on my mat day 1. Dittos about KC's wife, that was one tough lady, I probably would have quit in the first hour.Alan, Mandy and Rob, it was great to meet you all.

I was glad to be a part of a great group of people this weekend. I had a blast and learned alot, It was great to see so many fathers and sons out on the range.

My best AQT was 178, but with persistance and practice I will earn a Rifleman patch.

Until next time

Wally

[ErikAnderson]

Mandy,
Thanks for sharing the photos!  Now that I'm back home for longer than 24 hours, I'll see if any of the few I was able to take are worth posting.

Wally,
Glad you could attend. 178 is a solid AQT score. Practice positions, finding your NPOA, and transitions at your local range (or even in your basement keeping in mind the safety rules of Appleseed! .  It doesn't take much to make up the 32 points you are looking for! Heck, that's less than 1 point per round on the 1st three stages!

We had a great group of shooters, I was quite impressed with everyone's determination! I can't wait to see you all again on the Trail!