Evansville Bootcamp

[linuxlost]

Posted at The Guy's request.  The Evansville bootcamp is well under way.  The drought is over.  Despite lots of rain 3 people shot shot a rifleman's score on Monday and 1 more Tuesday.  4 of 10 inspite of starting a day late.  In addition, some are stepping up to start to learn to be instructors.

[TwoGlock]

Posted at The Guy's request.  The Evansville bootcamp is well under way.  The drought is over.  Despite lots of rain 3 people shot shot a rifleman's score on Monday and 1 more Tuesday.  4 of 10 inspite of starting a day late.  In addition, some are stepping up to start to learn to be instructors.

Those guys must be made of Iron.  Rain & Cold and shooting rifleman scores........  We should all be so gifted.

[linuxlost]

Math was never one of my strong points.  2 more have scored rifleman.  Thus, we have 6 of the 9 participants having made a rifleman's score.  Less rain today.  So we won't be needing the boat builder from Ottowa.  There have been requests for rasberry fig newtons. Whats that about?

[TwoGlock]

Math was never one of my strong points.  2 more have scored rifleman.  Thus, we have 6 of the 9 participants having made a rifleman's score.  Less rain today.  So we won't be needing the boat builder from Ottowa.  There have been requests for rasberry fig newtons. Whats that about?

I've heard of a boat builder named Noah.  Don't think he was from Ottowa though..........

So the secrete is out, Rasberry fig newtons.  Wish I had know that years ago............

Guess they are all sold out in the Evansville area now.   When I find some I'm going to stockpile em.........

[linuxlost]

One more person achieved rifleman yesterday.  Rain was lighter yesterday and today.  Long range shooters had difficulty due to wind.  Now they have learned to shoot at distance with wind.  Surplus reports that; yes, it looks just like the 25 meter target once it is at long range. 

We had 2 visitors coming through Evansville stop and visit.  Called the line.   The Guy showed us students that he can indeed shoot a rifleman's score. 

I have received instruction from several of the participants. They have called the line while I tried to score that elusive rifleman's mark.  I think they are going to make fine instructors. 

Special bonus:  Last night some of us shot a flintlock rifle.  Interesting to shoot.  At least I thought so.

[Fred]

     Good reports, ll. Keep 'em coming! How many at the Appleseed today?

     And tell me The Guy stayed out of it, and let the new instructors run it, will ya?

[Simballo]

One more rifleman tonight. Hopefully more tomorrow!

I think about 20 hearty souls showed up on a cloudy, chilly Saturday. There were reports that the sun actually made a brief appearance, but I must have missed that when I blinked.

This is a very nice facility. Covered, concrete shooting platforms and the surrounding burms provided cover from the 10 mph winds and from the rain that threaten, but never arrived.

Information overload would be a good discription of what was presented today. Tomorrow we'll find out how much we remember.

I was a totally inexperienced shooter not having done any shooting since the Boy Scout's Rifleman Merit Badge.

I was able to attend the Osage Beach, MO Apple seed two weeks ago for the Saturday session only. I was exposed to the methodology then and received the Fred's Guide the following week. This left me two weeks to put my ducks in a row for today.

I'll admit I did a lot better today than last I did two weeks ago. I still have a ways to go, but a lot less farther than two weeks ago.

I'll take Guy's advice and take what I've learned home and practice even more after tomorrow.

BTW, those hot lunches offered at the range for $5 are really appreciated on these chilly days as is all of the efforts of the instructors and my fellow students. Thanks to all.

Gary

BTW, the new Gander Mountain store is fantastic and only 1/2 mile from the hotel. I spent 2 hours looking at the 2000 guns I was told they have there. I also looked through every scope they had out for display. Quite an education in and of itself.

[MANSKER]

hello from the soggy but fantastic evansville bootcamp.  just finished my first bootcamp and 1st day of an appleseed shoot.
guy and wrongway-so apply named-did a super job keeping all 9 of us on task all thru the downpours-drizzles-cold-damp-well you get the picture.  i do mean all 5 days of rain-rain-rain.  we needed every drop so we did not gripe-much.  training was great-did not know how much i did not know until i knew it-know what i mean? make sense???
guy drilled us hard on the 4 rules of safety/the six steps of taking the shot-adding the 7th at the end and hammered proper technique over and over and over.  what was his word--o'yeah  perserverance or was it rote or was it adapt to overcome.  it was all three.  7 of 9 had made rifleman by the end of friday and one very fine elderly gentleman showed us how it was done and shot rifleman today at the 1st day of appleseed.  guy stay out of the way-mostly-only stepping up to help with fine tuning anything that needed to be clarified all the while doing a classic impersonation of ______ . (you fill in the blank). it was a great week and well worth the sacrifice we all had to make to be here.  GUY'S HISTORY LESSONS WERE
EXCEPTIONAL-STIRRED YOUR INTEREST TO LEARN MUCH MORE. (even gave me a thought to preach at my church tomorrow-thanks guy!) see you get all kinds of help at bootcamp and appleseeds.  everyone was so helpful and kind-much was learned and the desire to go home and spread the word was instilled very artfully.  all in all it was a total success-could not have been bettyer.   mansker-glasgow, ky

[BigPsy]

Just got most of the gear stowed and most of the guns cleaned after wrapping up my family's first Appleseed weekend.

Wow.

I'm a pistol and shotgun guy.  I own quite a few rifles, but never claimed any great proficiency in shooting them.  The guys who shot Appleseed in Evansville last year claimed it as a near-religious experience, so I thought I needed to attend to learn some rifle skills and see what this was all about.  My wife and 12 y/o son (who also are regular pistol and shotgun shooters) came along as well.  We were looking forward to it, but I had no great expectations for any of us to achieve Rifleman status.  I was going to be happy learning to use a sling without having to log in to a website every time to figure it out. 

My expectations weren't bolstered any by my schedule the last couple weeks.  I'm a psychiatrist (bet you guys would never have guessed that one!), and had had a busy week on call 2 weeks ago, and then had to prepare a lecture for a big bipolar conference put on by my hospital this past Thursday.  I was scrambling just to prepare gear and back-up gear for 3 people.  Never had time to practice positions, not to mention only the vaguest of ideas what the positions were.

By late Saturday afternoon, I had mastered the sling thing (well, at least I didn't need the Internet!), and was feeling pretty good about my shooting.  By Sunday afternoon, I had shot a Rifleman score twice, and the second time even got the right number of shots on the right targets.

My wife wrapped up the day with a 197 (who'd of thunk?).  My 12 year old, having switched to a centerfire AR-15, continued to struggle with gun problems, but when his gun was working, we saw his groups shrink significantly over the course of the weekend, and he did reach Marksman status.

As we were shooting one of the latter AQT's of Sunday, we entered the prep period for a prone stage, and after I got into position, I looked over at my wife and said, "You know, I just realized I got into this miserable position without even thinking about it."  As had she.  We had definitely come a long way in just under 36 hours.

Thanks to The Guy, Don, George, Ed, WrongWay, Surplus, and the rest of the crew for a great weekend.  Guy's history lessons were especially good (perhaps because they didn't involve a loop sling). 

This past Thursday, I gave a lecture to over 100 people.  It went very well, and I've received nothing but compliments about it.  Today, I received a Rifleman's badge in the presence of about 2 dozen friends, new and old.  The latter meant so much more to me.  Thanks to everyone who helped put this on.  (Oh, and part of the lecture included photos of me both on the rifle range, and shooting sporting clays, helping spread the word that shooters aren't just redneck lunatics.  Shoot, recruit, educate, communicate!)

--Gene

[funfaler]

FANTASTIC report Gene!

It is great to see the family involved and that you all had a good time.

Without a doubt, we need that "Seventh Step of Being a Rifleman" to be in full force.  Waking folks up, teaching the finer art of accurately shooting a rifle and meeting "new friends" are just some of the great aspects of the Appleseed Program.

Keep your Appleseed buzz going by shooting with friends, and getting active on this forum.  The Program is in a growth phase and we need quality folks to step up to help out their Regional Coordinator in all the tasks that are required to set up and run Appleseed Shoots.

If you don't know who your Regional Coordinator is, PM me, I will put you in touch.

Welcome to the Appleseed family, it is a great place to be 

[kool aid]

Congrats Gene, and welcome to the world of 'ballistic yoga'.

You may find you wake up in the morning with that trigger hand leg jammed up to your elbow. Good thing the wife will understand 

As we were shooting one of the latter AQT's of Sunday, we entered the prep period for a prone stage, and after I got into position, I looked over at my wife and said, "You know, I just realized I got into this miserable position without even thinking about it."  As had she.  We had definitely come a long way in just under 36 hours.



--Gene

Welcome.....
And now for that Red Hat to go with the patch......

[TwoGlock]

     Good reports, ll. Keep 'em coming! How many at the Appleseed today?

     And tell me The Guy stayed out of it, and let the new instructors run it, will ya?

I just returned from the Evansville Appleseed shoot. 

It was cloudy and cool Saturday morning when I arrived, late of course, and remained that way except for a few seconds when someone said "WHAT'S THAT"!, and of course looking up I saw the sun peaking through a small break in the sky and then it was gone.

Sunday morning was cool and crisp and it warmed up to be a very nice day.

All the instructors were full of enthusiasm and very helpful making it an enjoyable experience.

Other than the Revolutionary War stories, which I thoroughly enjoy, "The Guy" seemed to stand back and observe his students at work except for the rare occasion when someone did not enunciate a range command "Exactly As Listed In Fred's Guide" and then believe me, "The Whole World Knew".

One of the fun things was being a student of the new boot camp graduates two of which are shooting buddies George and Don D from my home range at Henry County Gun Club in Purer, Tennessee.

Those of you who have known Don for a long time know him as a Murray State College professor for 36 years who speaks softly and not very often.  Can you imagine my surprise when I recognized Don's voice shouting "SHOOTER'S TO THE LINE".

George did an excellent job of being the model for shooting positions.  I did not know that he could bend so much. (he's a little younger than me) and Don reverting to his college Teaching days had an IMC blackboard, well cardboard actually, model which made for easy understanding of IMC.

Ok, now on to the war stories.........

I shot my Ruger 10/22 the first day and while not great shooting I was reasonably pleased  and decided that on Sunday I needed to humble myself by shooting my M1-A even though it cost me 55 cents every time I pulled the trigger.  Besides I had never fired more than 80 rounds in a day with it  before.

I learned a lot of things.  One was that when my groups start moving on the paper that "it might not be me".  Check every thing Norman!!. I found that the gas tube plug was screwed out a full 4 (four) turns after I got home and began to clean the rifle of course.  Naturally Sunday afternoon I spent most of my prep time making sight adjustments and working on my shooting position not thinking that there might be something awry with my rifle, after all, its only a year old, and the results showed in my scores on the QDAQT.

This being my 4th Appleseed I have begun to notice things like "there isn't many repeat shooters" at the shoots I have attended.

Perhaps it's my age of 73 years that keeps life from being boring.  You see, even if I learned everything there was to know about shooting a rifle at the last appleseed, I will forget a lot of it and then the next appleseed shoot is a brand new experience for me.

Most likely I won't go to another Appleseed shoot until springtime comes, but rest assured, if I'm breathing air next spring, go I will.

Hope to see you all there.

[cannonman61]

NO PICTURES??

[Nickle]

NO PICTURES??

No commentary from The Guy, either. 

[The Guy]

er.....



...'ere we go den!



I'm tired.

I'm worn down.

Just starting to dry out.



But boy do I miss it.

I had a great time.  Had, what, 9 RBC attendants?  Most hit Rifleman and the last two will in the future with better equipment that fits them.

Had several want to become Instructors.

Which is good.

Because I am tired.

Because no matter how hard I try, I can't do it all.

And they stepped up to help, and for that, I will forever be in their debt.  Thank you.



The Appleseed went pretty well.  I had no idea Two-Glock had been to so many Appleseeds already.  No wonder he did so darn well....

The range was nice, gave us all we needed, and was supportive in all we wanted to accomplish.

The shooters had a good time, and actually saw the sun.

The IIT (Instructors in Training) did well, and so I sat back and observed, napped, and drank coffee.

Wrongway dropped in to help for the week, straight from the MO RBC, so I got his Redhat to him.  Gosh, was he proud of that.



I'm going to bed now, and will be back latter when my eyes are un-crossed.

And the wettest week at the range beats any week anywhere else!

Guy

[hawkhavn]

Well I guess I'll post my observations before I forget everything.

Showed up Sunday and talked with The Guy while watching a sub-gun match at the range.  Jeff Cooper's adage about 'letting my enemies be armed with machine guns' is still true today. 

Monday started off nice and soggy which set the tone for the rest of the week, although at least it didn't snow until late in the week.  Riflemen were hammered out on the AQT anvil and skills were taught and practiced then tested, The Guy reinforced the lessons in his trademark style.  Days 2 and 3 were much the same, although equipment failures began to crop up as equipment, ammo and rifles were exposed to the elements.  A thorough cleaning brought my equipment back up to speed but it did reinforce the maintenance lesson.  Something that doesn't readily show when your rifle is only uncased for a few hours for a match then quickly cleaned and put away.

I saw friendships made and strengthened, Riflemen persevere and we found much common ground to discuss and contemplate.  Some of our more politically active shooters found much to work over.  We learned and then learned to teach our skills and practice them with each other.  Mistakes were made and corrected.  I proved to myself that I could pick up a properly sighted in rifle and put 5 shots on target at 400 yards, even if it wasn't a rifle I had ever shot before. (Thanks Don!)

We were able to do an experiment one evening and test muzzle flash from different firearms in various calibers that was interesting to say the least, especially the muzzleloaders (Thanks Mansker!)  The two ladies who each drove solo long hours to sling up with us and get tired, wet and sore were great.  They learned and taught and provided valuable insight into a different aspect of the trials ahead of us.  Congratulations Kathy for making Rifleman!

Those of us that were able to stay for the weekend Appleseed shoot were able to test our newly learned teaching skills with a great group of shooters and several more Riflemen were minted.  Many of the weekend shooters were repeat attendees from other shoots and had been practicing in the interim.  It showed.  There was a strong Ohio contingent that should lay a good foundation for 2008.  There were many smiling, if tired, faces when Sunday evening rolled around.

Thank you to The Guy and Wrongway who took a week out to come down and instruct us, and for the local folks who provided a range and hot food when it was sorely needed.

hawkhavn

[TwoGlock]

NO PICTURES??

Another item to add to my "I Forgot" list, THE CAMERA

[ax238]

I had a good time.  I learned how inconsistent I am!  I also have another item to put onto the L.T.R. thread.  Mentioning the Uncle Mike's Ruger barrel band sling mount.  I learned at the last of the first day that I could pull my barrel band off my LTR b/c it wasn't tight!  sigh.... 

I have also been labeled by The Guy as the 'Official Coffemaker' rather than 'Cook'.  I made coffee and he drank it--scalding hot!!  The Guy must be a camel though I didn't see any humps....

Coffee Maker....

Out!

[Hooters Billy]

NO PICTURES??

I have a bunch of pictures. If anyone can host/post em up I'd be happy to share.

This was my first Appleseed event and I even managed to get my patch on the second morning all thanks to Surplus lending me a decent sling before we even started. I tore through the Red Coat, made some really nice groups on the 1" squares and then did my job on the QD AQT.

I absolutely loved the history given at several points throughout the weekend. The Guy, Wrong Way, Surplus, Ed, Don, and George where spot on in when to give me some advice and when to let me wring through a kink on my own. They where always ready with info whenever I asked any of them for help or a thought on how to correct an issue I knew I had.

Had a great time. I will be back for more local ones to get more fine tunning in and I will bring some friends too.


Almost forgot. I was supposed to mention that I heard about Appleseed from American Radio - Hosted by Dave Champion. A radio show I download. Several people had emailed him asking him to mention it on the air(because he's always talking about Front Sight) and he did. So I did a google search and found you guys after hearing about it. Just to turn up the interest a little, Dave had a 1 hour interview with Mr. Boston T. Party on his show several months back.

[Nickle]

I had a good time.  I learned how inconsistent I am!  I also have another item to put onto the L.T.R. thread.  Mentioning the Uncle Mike's Ruger barrel band sling mount.  I learned at the last of the first day that I could pull my barrel band off my LTR b/c it wasn't tight!  sigh.... 

I have also been labeled by The Guy as the 'Official Coffemaker' rather than 'Cook'.  I made coffee and he drank it--scalding hot!!  The Guy must be a camel though I didn't see any humps....

Coffee Maker....

Out!

Yup, dump the band, and mount the sling to the stock, not the band.

The band can virtually NEVER help accuracy, though it may not hurt accuracy. And, I've seen bands like that cause problems.

[WrongWay]

Hello everyone, we had a great week in Evansville, Indiana! It was a wet, windy,cold,wet (did i say wet?) week.

Fred be assured that The Guy was great, took plenty of breaks and tried to let the new guys get the job done. However, his job is secure.

Mansker and The Hawk's description was more than adequate and i say "Ditto" to what they said. I look forward to the next time that RedBrush Range holds an appleseed shoot cuz i will be there. Whootage!

I became involved with this program because i wanted to make life long friends and learn to shoot my rifle. I have. Thanks to one and all for making these weeks some of the best i have had for a long time.

We saw new rifleman made this week, and , i think a few new instructor's, i look forward to going to Ky and Tenn, to help out.

George, DonD, Hawk, Chris,Pt6, sir +  or (spare parts), Dinky Dao  , Kathy, Mansker, or the crew! What a great bunch of peeps! Friends, great to have so many!

I gave up beer for icecream!

WrongWay

[sur+rifle]

I gave up beer for icecream!

And don't forget about the pickles.

I see Texas already has some shoot dates posted for 2008.  Guess we Hoosiers better get on the ball.  For a change of pace, how about next year we do mid-July?  It'll be in the 90's everyday with no rain.    

[Hooters Billy]

Thanks for all the fast emails and PM's. I stumbled across a free photobucket dealy that came with my service procider. I will get them all uploaded, linked, and even post a few of my favorites in the thread here.

[Fred]

I became involved with this program because i wanted to make life long friends and learn to shoot my rifle. I have...

     Wrongway, that's great to hear! And there's that little matter of saving the country, too...

     Don't forget that!

[BigPsy]

Guess we Hoosiers better get on the ball.  For a change of pace, how about next year we do mid-July?  It'll be in the 90's everyday with no rain.    

You forgot the best part--the 90% humidity through the summer months.  90+ degrees, 90% humidity, long-sleeve shooting jacket, sweat running in your eyes and your glasses fogging over.  Having run several pistol matches in those conditions (so no long sleeve shooting jackets--just the other stuff), I can assure you it's at least as miserable as the rain you guys had last week.  Either way you end up soaking wet.

--Gene

[The Guy]

I just think that any time shooting is good, esspecially with the folks at Appleseeds.

Hot cold moist wet whatever.

Just keep the coffee coming!

[Nickle]

I just think that any time shooting is good, esspecially with the folks at Appleseeds.

Hot cold moist wet whatever.

Just keep the coffee coming!

Good, come over to Jericho next July. We'll even let you shoot some.

[George]

I just got back from the Evansville Boot Camp and Appleseed Shoot.  Actually I got back on Monday but its taken me since then to get logged on to the Forum.  I wouldn't be now except for some assistance from "The Guy".

As a number of folks have mentioned already, the Boot Camp was wet and cold  but everything else about the week was great!!!   I met a number of really super folks, got to shoot a lot (made Rifleman) and heard a number of very compassionate stories about the Revolutionary War from The Guy.

The weather for the Appleseed Shoot on Saturday and Sunday improved.  I got to be an instructor "in training" and got practice giving the line commands on Sunday  morning.  I really enjoyed being an instructor and want to continue doing it.  It was also a hoot when shooting buddy TwoGlock showed up for the Appleseed Shoot  where I was an instructor in training.  TwoGlock is usually the guy I go to with all my shooting  questions.  And oh, by the way he made Rifleman.

I came to the Boot Camp with  another shooting buddy, DonD, but came away from the Boot Camp with a number of new shooting buddies and like minded folks The Guy, WrongWay, Ed, Surplus, Preacher and the rest of Boot Camp crew.   It was one of my best weeks ever, despite the weather.

[The Guy]

Good to have you and I sure am glad you made it here.

I wonder if things would have been so much fun had we not had so much rain.

At least my tent wouldn't of become a bath tub!



Over and over I hear the same things.

"...best time..."
"... new friends..."
"...learned so much..."
"...Guy's power trips..."  ( )

and so on.

I haven't met a "bad" person at one of these things yet.  And I don't mean with a black ski mask on either.  LOL

I mean good wholesome (all right, wholesome-ish) Americans learning not only from the Instructors, but from one another.  And haveing fun no matter the weather doing it too.

I have been from ID to NY to GA to WI and I have always enjoyed myself imensely.  Words can't describe what I see out there every weekend that I leave for yet another shoot.

But I will try to tell you anyway.



The whole way there, I am trying to anticipate what the weekend (or week) may have in store for me.  Who am I going to meet?  What did I learn last time that I can use at this one?  Will I see XYZ from ZYX again?  He was there last time.  Is this moron going to turn his left blinker off before I get through Iowa?  How will the range be?  Helpful? A PITA?  Non-existant?

And then, with the sun cresting in my rear-veiw, or worse yet, in my eyes, I get there.  And out of the vast wasteland of "civilization" they come.  By handfulls at a time, seekers of the new truth, of the Rifleman's Knowlege, pilgrims from far off places, such as Santa Clause Indiana, and New London Wisconsin, and Tallula Falls Georgia, and Diamondville Woming, and Level Land, Franklin Square, Athens, Siler City, and Manhattan Montana, all to join with a purpose in mind.

Now, that purpose may start out only to shoot.  But though they could do that anywhere, they chose instead to do it on the very place that I am at.

Subconciously, they have chosen today.  Here.  Where ever that may be, it is always the same.  They chose to be there.

To learn.  Not just to shoot, but to have their eyes opened.  To hear the Story I hold so dear.  To find out what being an American really is.  To have the chance to live every day there after Aware.  Alert.  Active.

And when the weekend is over, I head into the sunset thinking.

Some of the shooters failed.  Some always do.  They go back home and close their eyes again.  The Mountain is too heavy.  Some are stretching, mentally, as if after a long slumber.  They will come around.  Maybe by next time I pass through, maybe the time after that.

But the few, oh those glorious few, who HEAR, who RESPOND, who FEEL, who never again lay down, yet stand next to me under the Mountain, they are the ones who will win for us all.

Because they are out there the next time.  And the time after that.  And again.  Working beside me.

My Brothers.

My Instructors.




This is dedicated to all the Instructors who sacrifice to get there the first time, then sacrifice again and again and again to bring the joy they felt unto others.

You know who you are.

And to all my Students, past and future.  You make it all worth while.

See you next go-around.

[colonial shooter]

quote
Some of the shooters failed.  Some always do.  They go back home and close their eyes again.  The Mountain is too heavy.  Some are stretching, mentally, as if after a long slumber.  They will come around.  Maybe by next time I pass through, maybe the time after that.

But the few, oh those glorious few, who HEAR, who RESPOND, who FEEL, who never again lay down, yet stand next to me under the Mountain, they are the ones who will win for us all.

Because they are out there the next time.  And the time after that.  And again.  Working beside me.

My Brothers.

My Instructors.




This is dedicated to all the Instructors who sacrifice to get there the first time, then sacrifice again and again and again to bring the joy they felt unto others.

You know who you are.

And to all my Students, past and future.  You make it all worth while.

See you next go-around.