Ramseur 2/08 APPLESEED after action report

[Ding]

I hope that this post will help anyone still "on-the-fence" decide to GO!  Wow, where to begin... this was my second Appleseed, my first was here a year ago.  Once again, I decided to bring my son Lucas, now 8 years old, to the Saturday portion of the shoot.  Still too young to shoot all day long, he managed to shoot a box of 50 CCI mini-mags over the course of the day, while in between, reading a book behind me on the firing line and just watching from the mat beside me.  Just like last year!  I should make him my spotter!  And again, just like last year, the good folks running the program were very supportive and encouraging to him.

I'd love to take time to tell all of you how much I appreciate the instructors, new and old at the Appleseed.  Junior Birdman and Fred himself were introducing us to more history surrounding 1775.  (Fred, I will be pursuing the Appleseed trail; I'll PM you and/or FunFaler later this week.)  Kevin (7.62 BBQ) did a great job of being the shoot boss Saturday.  Kevin, I promise, I will adjust my NPOA better next time!  Thanks again for all of your help!  I look forward to shooting with you on the pop-ups soon.  On Saturday, new instructors Todd (Joker) and Bella (Tacti-girl) went out of there way to help me and everyone on the shoot have a good time while still keeping the range safe.  Thanks to Joker's modified sitting technique, I finally realized that, I too could avoid rolling down the hill and finally get comfortable with that position.  Getting that hammered out alone was worth 3 times the cost of the whole weekend.  Tacti-Girl deserves a big thumbs-up for running "just one more"  AQT for me on Sunday.  I'm just bummed those two live in Florida!  Really, really good people.  What is it about Appleseed's that attracts some of the most down-to-earth, helpful, folks you'll ever meet.  I'm happy to call them all friends at the end of the weekend.

Speaking of travel, for you guys still "on-the-fence".  Folks come from all over to get to Ramseur.  You should absolutely come on April 19th.  You just cannot beat being on the home range on that day.  Don't let the drive bother you, chances are, many traveled much further than you to get here.  It is THAT good!  Ornell drove 11 hours to instruct for the week.  Carla, who drove in by herself some 10 plus hours to attend the RBC.  I call her "Annie Oakley" as she punched the "X" 1/2" from dead center at 200 yrds with a .22!   Joker and Tacti-girl came from Florida!  VAShooter from Richmond.  Kind of scary, I almost qualify as a local, being in Raleigh.

At my first Appleseed, I thought I was a decent shot; I was humbled and I got MUCH better by practicing over the next year.  At this Appleseed, I was finally in the NPOA groove and things were falling in place for me all day Saturday.  The RedCoat challenge at the end of the day had me putting 3 shots in the 400yd target, all rounds touching.  On Sunday, I was stoked to finally get a chance to shoot on the big range at 200/300/400 yards, all within a 4moa!  Things had finally come together for me...that is until the end of the day on Sunday when, despite the chance to shoot the AQT 4 times, I couldn't get it together.  An extraction failure on the first AQT left me hanging, a sling that came loose on the second made me sloppy, and on the third, I managed to be so focused that I shot the entire 3rd stage on my neighbor's target.  Ouch! I still owe him a case of beer for that faux-pas. That AQT, mind you, STILL scored a 187 even without stage 3!!!  By the 4th AQT, I was bleary-eyed and lost my NPOA only getting to a high of 189.  Well, rifleman eluding me again this time but I WILL PERSIST!  I'll be shooting QD AQTs every weekend until I get-er-done!

My critique is simple, they've got this program running better than ever!  If I could make but one change, it would have been to shoot an AQT on Saturday when I was on and not wait until the end on Sunday when fatigue was setting in.  Thanks again to all of you who participated in the Appleseed as well as all of you that did the RBC.  I only wish I could have joined you for the week.  Cheers, Scott.

[Junior Birdman]

   Hey Ding!  Thanks for the words of support!  You did some mighty fine shooting, even if some of it was on your neighbors target. Of course, I wouldn't know anything about that, having NEVER done it myself.........

   And thatnks for bringing your son and having him kick off the festivities with the first shot!     He's a great kid and I hope to see him on the range every time you go!

   The Program of Instruction for an Appleseed event actually includes shooting the AQT a few times on Saturday. But every event is different with varying levels of skills and such among the shooters. At this particular shoot, we were so far behind on Day 1 that we didn't get to the AQT, but we usually do. Sorry we couldn't shoot it while you were in the zone! But you have a great base of knowledge and skills, so you'll whack the AQT and get that Rifleman's patch next time with no problems!

   Thanks again for coming, thanks for your perserverance, and double thanks for bringing your son. Keep up the shooting and getting others out to the range.  JB

[Redwolf]

Ding
Don't worry about the extra holes in my AQT. Your hits were on target mine were all over the place.  You're well on your way to that rifleman's patch. When you get it, I will buy you a beer. April may be a good time to try again.

Tacti-Girl and Joker thanks for your inputs I have already started to put them to work here at home. I hope to get to meet you guys again and do some shooting shooting.

Ding's right, you all that think your are to far away "don't" do what you have to do and get there. I come from the coast {Currituck Co. NC} I know were the H!!! is that.  5 hours east drop in the buck to what some of the Appleseeders traveled. If all is willing and the creek dose not rise I plan the make Ramseur in April and Jericho VT in July.  VT is nice that time of year.

Thanks Fred for insights to the RW.  You, JB, Kevin, Talon and all the instructors and instructor trainee are part of a idea that is right. Thanks for letting me be part of it.
jp