Dalton, NH AAR April 17, 2010

[Dangerous Old Woman]

SB: Dangerous Old Woman
IIT0: Jollyprez

As my granddaughter and I drove north on Friday to set up this Appleseed, we passed from spring to winter. We left flower blossoms behind to travel mountain roads with overhanging evergreens covered in snow. We felt like we were traveling back in time. But not as far back as when we arrived at our destination, Dalton, NH, home of the Hole in the Wall Gang. We were back in the days of the wild wild west. Cowboy action shooting. Our host club is a wonderful, extremely friendly SASS club. We had planned on camping in a small tent, but our host, Don, invited us to use the heated rustic cabin/lodge. It was great!

The morning dawned snowy but calm. Jollyprez arrived and we got the line set up. We only had 4 registered plus my 12 year old granddaughter but set up for ten with an easy expansion to 15. Three of those who pre-registered showed up. But one of the club members came with his cowboy rifle to see what was happening, what Appleseed was all about, and ended up joining us till lunch. Then his old bones had had enough of lying on the cold ground with the snow and intermittent mist. But he had learned some things and showed improvement. He may come back when we are there next and the weather is warmer.

Three of our shooters were brandy newbies. One had never even touched her rifle before. She figured it was better to learn properly first than learn bad habits that needed to be broken. Very wise. Consequently, after our safety rules, etc in the warm lodge, I started them out by having them prep their mags with dummy rounds, load their rifles, squeeeeeeze the trigger, cycle the bolt, and makes their rifles safe. Once they were comfortable doing this with the dummy rounds, we proceeded to the first Redcoat target. We had no shooters getting three at any distance, but we did have 2 head shots. Luck? Probably.

However, progressing through the sighter squares showed marked improvement. They went from not even on the paper to groups by lunch. They were all great listeners, and it showed. I love teaching people who listen and apply what you tell them!

A number of club members joined us in the lodge for lunch, warmth, and history as we went through the First Strike. My granddaughter had pulled as her card deck personality a 12 year old girl like herself who was present for the battle of Lexington. She lived in the house that Samuel Adams and John Hancock had been staying in, and had watched the battle from her window. My granddaughter was tickled when we got to that part of the story.

The afternoon brought more snow and improvement. One of the club members stayed to watch in the afternoon. Turns out he was a long distance rifle coach for many years. He said he relearned some things he had forgotten, and gave us a few tips of his own.

During ball and dummy in sitting position I finally had a chance to take some pictures:









And standing:





We did the memorial volley right on time at 4pm. By that time it had begun to rain. And for anyone who has experienced the two, you will know that snow is much warmer than rain. By the time we got to the AQTs people were getting pretty cold and tired. It looked like we might make a couple Riflemen, but people were so cold their shooting was deteriorating. So we just did our last Redcoat and went inside for the benediction. We did get 2 (out of 4) shooters shooting at the 100 mark. But none at the rest, and no head shots. It may sound from the stats like we didn't improve that much, but when the shooters held their targets up side-by-side with their morning targets it was quite noticeable. Where they were all over the place (including off the paper) in the morning, most of them had two shots on each redcoat in the afternoon, with the third shot not far off.



All of my shooters except my granddaughter were only registered for one day, so during the benediction I had each of them read the story on their card before I did the drawing for door prizes. It worked out great. There was one person from each of the other strikes and one from the dangerous old folks. I was then able to fill in the stories around each of their characters and give them a taste of the rest of the story.

They all had places they had to go, (including Montreal) on Sunday. But two, (including one of my possible riflemen) had so much fun they wanted to come back for at least part of Sunday before heading out of the country. But Saturday night they read all the material we had given them (I told you they were good learners) and decided that the best thing for them to do was go home and do LOTS of dry firing, practicing getting into those uncomfortable, unnatural positions and finding and shifting their NPOA. Then they would come back in June at the next Appleseed we have up their way prepared to fine tune their skills and make rifleman. I fully expect to have 3 new riflemen at my next Appleseed up that way. I have already volunteered to SB to harvest the fruits of my labor. (And besides, it is just a great club!)

[colycat]

Sounds like from your AAR, you did excellent  Job.  Seeds where planted, they will grow.  Great work DOW

[sleepy Joe]

good job I know it is tough working in the snow.