AAR: Davilla, TX - May 21-22, 2011

[spitstickler]

It's groggy Monday morning. I crawled out of bed feeling sun-burned, wind-swept, muscles sore, and thirsty. As I made my way out of I bed, I catch a quick glance in the mirror and there it is...  That huge smile on my face, which in combination with what the rest of my body is telling me, is a definite sign that I've just been to Appleseed.

I've got to believe that everyone else that was in Davilla this weekend woke up this morning with a similar feeling, because we really had a great event. Throughout the weekend it was very clear that the methods for acquiring the skills of accurate rifle marksmanship, handed down over generations, still work.

After the safety brief, we started Saturday morning with a great first strike by Alonso1 who was (and always is) a great guy to have running an Appleseed event. The 16 shooters on the line quickly shot the first Red Coat target and we jumped into shooting squares. Everyone picked up the instruction quickly which was evident by the small group sizes we were witnessing on the target line. We actually got in 3 AQTs on Saturday and our first Rifleman emerged from the crowd. Congratulations, Matt! 

Matt was attending with his son Byron. Matt shot high scores the rest of the weekend with Byron close on his heels and posting scores in the 190's and 200's on Sunday. Keep it up, Byron! With persistence you will do it, and it's always a neat thing to see father and son Rifleman teams.

Sunday we had 5 shooters with center-fires on the line: Jason who came up with Alonso; Eric and his two sons, Adam and Garrett; and their friend, Jake. They were all anxious to get zeroed at 25, prove themselves on the QD-AQT, and shoot a full-distance test on the KD range in the afternoon.

About half of our shooters were shooting scores high enough to go hit the KD range on Sunday, so the line was split and we proceeded with the AQT grind on the 25m range. Everyone did well, and I was very impressed with the stick-to-it attitudes show by all. Allen, you did great and I hope to see you again either at Davilla or at one of our ranges up here in DFW

On the second-to-last AQT, Peter, who was there with a couple of family members, had put all the pieces together and crossed the threshold with a score of 211. Congratulations, Peter!  Liam, Patrick, keep after it. You can do it! Peter, bring a center-fire along with your 22 next time, and come shoot some KD with us.

I know we are going to see a lot of these folks back again. Many of you are sooooo close! Let the instruction sink in and practice dry-firing a couple of times a week. It makes a BIG difference.

Congratulations to Bill (aggie) and Janice (bluejay) for taking up the Orange hat and participating in your first event as Instructors! David (Gunslinger) is heading down the Instructor path as well and I look forward to seeing everyone down the trail, which I'm sure will be happening sooner than later since we're all in the DFW metro area.

Thanks to Tommy (dragit), Bill (Alarmlist76), Larry (Reliable), and Andrew for being there this weekend as well. Also, a big thanks to Alonso1 for running another great event!

Thanks Scout, for all the work you do for Appleseed and for letting us use your property to hold these events.

[grummin]

I want to say thanks for all the one on one instruction I received. All the red and orange hats were very personable and helpful. I learned alot and will be practicing what I learned so hopefully I can earn myself a rifleman patch!! The history was also great, I have a new found interest in the revolutionary war. I will definitely be back for more, and hopefully bring more new faces with me. BTW this is Garrett.

[Malibu]

First, I want to thank all the red and orange hats for their time and instruction - especially Larry "Reliable" for lending me his 10/22 after it became apparent that my 9422 lever action would not cut it. 

This was my first Appleseed event and, while I expected it to be good, it far exceeded my expectations.  I have been an avid shooter & hunter since I was a little boy and yet I learned a LOT about proper rifleman technique throughout this event.  Shooting enough to earn the rifleman patch was very difficult - one of the hardest things I have done.  Yet, I had a fantastic time and spent of my Monday recruiting friends to attend a future event. 

Above all, I love the central message: by understanding and protecting our heritage as a nation of rifleman we thereby help to safeguard our freedom.  It strikes at the core of me.

I will definitely be back to a future event and, as Kirk suggests, will break out the large bore for some KD!   

(Larry, I wound up with your gun case and want to get it back home.  Would you please email me your mailing address.  Lampasas, right?)

[starfox]

Malibu,

Thanks for coming out and for getting the core message!!  The marksmanship is challenging, but when placed in context with our heritage, it is all but inspiring.  Hope to see you on a line (or maybe in an orange or blue hat??) sometime soon!!

[spitstickler]

pics! (thanks Larry)

[Gunslinger]

The AS was great, and I was glad to be a part of it. I learned something else this shoot, leather is heavy, hot, and does not breathe very well.  But I got a lot of compliments on the hat.

Thanks to the crew, you guys made the history come alive. Larry really told the Dangerous Old Men well, it must be easier to do when you are dangerous too. And congrats to Allen for sticking it out and getting close towards the end, it was nice talking with you. And congrats to Matt and Peter for earning the Rifleman Patch!

I hope to see you guys again on the path,

David

[Malibu]

What are the steps in becoming an IIT?  What does an IIT have to accomplish in order to become a Red Hat?

[spitstickler]

What are the steps in becoming an IIT?  What does an IIT have to accomplish in order to become a Red Hat?

Well, you just finished the one step of becoming an IIT, and that's expressing an interest in joining the program as an instructor! 

Usually we would like you to have two Appleseed events under your belt as an attendee, shoot a Rifleman score (which you've done) and then you just tell the Shot Boss at the event that you really want that orange hat and would like to start down the instructor path. The Shot Boss will put in a request to get your forum access changed where you will have access to the manual, materials, progress checks, etc as well as providing you a place to ask any questions you have along the way.

There are progress checks that you take in order to become a full instructor. You can take one progress check per event as an IIT until you have completed the 5 necessary to become a Red Hat. These progress checks are part written, part verbal, and part "show me/demo" and incorporate all of the instructional material given at an event as well as the history.

Thank you for expressing an interest! Lord knows we need as many people as we can get to keep this program growing and reaching more people.
I'll send you a pm with my contact info. Please feel free to give me a call if you want to discuss in more detail.