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Richmond IN Aug 31-Sep1 AA Optics/Vortex Event

Started by Brown, September 01, 2013, 11:22:39 PM

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Brown

Mostly this is a place holder until I can collect my thoughts a little better and post more details tomorrow.

Weekend started off Saturday VERY hot and then the storms rolled in. Sunday hot also but a little better. No place I would have rather been on either day than sharing the line with 27 great Americans.  We had a LOT of fun,learned some history and heritage, made some new friends , and hopefully all went home better citizens of a great country.

If you have pics please share them and post up your thoughts on the weekend.
I have noticed you get things done and I respect that-SPQR

Niecie

#1
What a weekend! My hat is off to Brown and AA Optics for all of the hard work that goes into planning this level of event! Thank you. Extra special thanks to our gracious host and land owners! We had an amazing event. Thank you to Allen, his wonderful family, and Vortex for allowing us all to enjoy Liberty in well, Liberty!  ;) 

Great to see so many friends and make new ones. Thanks to our visiting hats for coming and jumping right in to the mix. We appreciate all we learned from each other.

Indygunworks and lunchlady - thank you both for all the help with the Bluehat duties! I could not have managed without you both!  :bow:

Extra - Extra special thanks to all of our participants! Each and everyone of you worked hard to improve your skills, really took in the History, and really made the weekend extra special for us. Hope to see all of you again soon! 

I am sure there will be tons of pics and posts, so I will get right to Saturday's picks  **) In other words, I'll shut up and post ::)

Niecie

A beautiful morning...


Good Morning Shooters!


Corvette giving us the safety briefing.


Let it begin here...


Checking out the Redcoat target.


Trisha and Corvette kicking off the instruction.


What and incredible line!


Squeeeeeeeeeeeeze in the shade...


Did I mention it was hot? Brown's funny, using a Winterseed patch to card sights  **)


Again, funny, Shoot Boss in the dirt >:D


More one on one instruction on the line...









Lots of INGO folks out this weekend to hear the history and shoot!


History and hydration


Throughout the day, our gracious host would draw an Appleseed history card and the matching card from the group would win the scope our Vanna-like Shoot Boss would display  @)


Saturday winners read their cards to the group - each giving a quick history lesson of their own - Thank you to all of the winners and congratulations!








Slow2Speak was an awesome line boss Saturday! He kept a great pace for such a hot day.


Of course, more instruction and comedic relief...(thanks Slim!)




Then, just as everyone was about to hit the wall, storms swept in and we had some heat relief, but the rest of instruction and History would have to wait until Sunday. I will let Techres post Sunday pics he took with his new extra-special camera! Techres - your up!



RobbyMaQ

...So tired, sore, sunbaked.
...Sooooo WORTH IT! Thanks everyone for putting on the best shoot I have attended.

Too busy shooting, but managed to get a couple pics.

This woman knows very well, what she is about.



The highlight of my weekend. Watching this young man shoot the M1 for the first time. I am not sure who's smile was bigger. His, or his Father's!

AAOptics

Ive tried to type out exactly how great this event was now 5 times, and It still hasn't come out the way I want it to.  This event has reminded me why I started the company I did more than anything since I started it.  THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT FOLKS.  Great people, having a great time, in the greatest country in the world, all while learning what it took, and why we are the greatest country in the world.

Plans are in the works for more exciting things, in the Appleseed/AAOptics relationship, but we will get to that later.

For me the best moment of the weekend was when my 2.5 yr old daughter was at the house and heard all the shooting.  She got ready to explode excited and started to run our way.  Mae headed her off and said "your to little you cant go down there"  I guess she got a real sturn voice and pointed at Mae (Mrs 42769vette) and said "I go shooting with my daddy".  Long story shoot I left the weekend as a Proud American, Proud Papa, and a Proud business owner.

IndyGunworks

Maybe the wrong place, but I wonder how often that little boy shot this weekend w/out properly wraping the sling?  If he is doing it in that photo, he was probably doing it throughout the weekend as well, since had he been wrapping the sling all weekend it would have been muscle memory by the time he got to the garand.

yellowhousejake

Quote from: IndyGunworks on September 02, 2013, 06:14:24 PM
Maybe the wrong place, but I wonder how often that little boy shot this weekend w/out properly wraping the sling?  If he is doing it in that photo, he was probably doing it throughout the weekend as well, since had he been wrapping the sling all weekend it would have been muscle memory by the time he got to the garand.

That was 100% "I'm excited". His scores were quite good and his sling use excellent. He was shooting a tech sighted 10-22. Check out the pic of Barbie carding his sights Saturday morning.

YHJ
I have removed my email from my profile to stop the mod reports. If you need a Libertyseed scheduled you will now have to contact me on the Libertyseed forum.

YHJ

IndyGunworks

Fair enough.  If you were to put a garand in front of me at that age my mind DEFINATLY wouldn't be bothered by such a sling.

Pitmaster

Nice shirt Barbie!!! I wanted to buy two. One to ruin and one to wear.

It looks like everyone had a great time. I had this on my calendar since it was first booked. I'm real sorry I missed it. Hopefully, I'll have recovered enough to at least BH. Preferably BH and shoot some.
Pitmaster

Captain Noah Cook a Revolutionary War Veteran was my great, great, great,...great grandfather. Noah Cook enlisted in the militia on April 21, 1775 at age 18 upon learning of the Battles of Lexington and Concord that morning. His company left on that day for Concord arriving April 24, 1775.*

*History of Northampton, Massachusetts: from its settlement ..., Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 25, Page 359


"The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home." Antonin Scalia

�The test of a democracy is not whether the people vote, but whether the people rule.� G.K. Chesterton

NRA Endowment Member

Barbie

I couldn't think of a better way to spend the weekend!

A big thanks to Allen and his family for their support throughout the weekend.  The scope giveaways were spectacular, as were the t-shirts and hats that were handed out.  I'm looking forward to cooler weather so I can wear my new sweatshirt!

Everyone stuck through the heat on Saturday, and handled it a lot better than I expected.  Although we got cut a bit short on Saturday, I believe everyone welcomed getting cooled off by the rain!  Having 100% return on Sunday was a great sight to see, and only serves to show the dedication of all who attended.  Everyone showed great interest during the history/heritage portions of the weekend.  This is nice to see... don't forget what you have learned... pass it along to those who haven't been to an Appleseed event.  I hope this weekend has been an inspiration to become involved more not only in your country, but also your community as well.

Congrats to all of our new riflemen/riflewoman.  It was a pleasure to present ya'll with your riflemen's patch.  I look forward to seeing you all on the line down the road.

Rayne, congrats on the (long awaited) orange hat!  Time to get some dirt on it and work some events.  I look forward to working with you in the future. 

To all of our shooters:  Keep working hard, keep practicing.  Everyone started off pretty well Saturday morning and showed marked improvement throughout the weekend.  Invite friends and family out to future events.  I look forward to seeing you all again on the line.

- Barbie
:---
Barbie
(812)-290-4738
barbie_bedel@yahoo.com

Indiana Appleseed:  Farm Bred, Brass Fed

Lord make me fast and accurate. Let my aim be true, and my hands faster than those who would seek to destroy me.  Grant me victory over my foes, and those  that wish to do harm to me and mine. Let not my last thought be if I only had my Gun; and Lord if today is truly the day that you take me home, let me die in a pile of empty brass.

techres

#9
What a great time!  Let the pictures tell the story:












































































History Time:










Any Riflemen or Riflewomen?















Scope Winners?



















And a new hat:




Fun Time:











Appleseed: Bringing the Past into the Present to save our Future.

AAOptics

I decided not to go with the bandanna for this event.  My for head has not seen sun in years, and did some growing today



small price to pay for one of the best weekends of my life.

Barbie

Quote from: 42769vette on September 02, 2013, 10:10:21 PM
I decided not to go with the bandanna for this event.  My for head has not seen sun in years, and did some growing today


small price to pay for one of the best weekends of my life.

Leave it to Appleseed to bless a person with the worst tanlines and funniest sunburns, haha.  I've got some major farmer's tan going on myself   ;D
Barbie
(812)-290-4738
barbie_bedel@yahoo.com

Indiana Appleseed:  Farm Bred, Brass Fed

Lord make me fast and accurate. Let my aim be true, and my hands faster than those who would seek to destroy me.  Grant me victory over my foes, and those  that wish to do harm to me and mine. Let not my last thought be if I only had my Gun; and Lord if today is truly the day that you take me home, let me die in a pile of empty brass.

Corvette

Wow, what a special Appleseed weekend.  Where to start?  Great events usually happen because of the care and planning of its leaders.  YellowHouseJake, Brown, Allen, you guys put together one incredible event.  The planning and commitment to the event was obvious and it paid off in a most special weekend.  A super site (thanks Allen), friendly and committed shooters that all brought a learning attitude, a highly experienced instructor group and a group of Blue Hats that warmly welcomed this old, fat Buckeye boarder raider.

YellowHouseJake, you led a great shoot. This truly was a shoot that Fred would be proud of and I am proud to have played a small part is such a great event.  To all the shooters, GREAT JOB staying focused in all the heat and safely working on your skills with such dedication.  Must have been that great Safety briefing we had each day.  ;D

I am still trying to organize all the things I liked about the shoot to incorporate them into my shoots here in Ohio but there are so many, I am still sorting out my notes.  The M1 history presentation is a "for sure" as an intro to plugging the CMP and giving folks the M1 experience.  I also picked up a number of other things to incorporate into my COF. 

To Roy, Don, Rayne, Mary, and all the other folks on my section of the line, my compliments on your dedication.  The country is in good hands with hard working folks like you all.   It was my pleasure to work with you on the line.

YHJ, Trisha, Slim, Barbe, Brown, Rob, and all the rest of the Red and Blue hats, it was an honor to spend a weekend with so many people that "know quite well what they are about."  I look forward to raiding again soon, (if you all will have me.... :)

Corvette



Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!

yellowhousejake

Quote from: Corvette on September 03, 2013, 12:52:30 AM
I look forward to raiding again soon, (if you all will have me.... :)

Corvette

BAH! I'll meet you at that supposed state line and you can dig through the grass and show it to me. I've never found it. Come on over any time, everyone's welcome. With luck and scheduling karma, I'll make it back to Ohio soon.

Thanks for the kind words. As a Shoot Boss I am only as good as my Instructors and Applecorps. I had really good ones.

YHJ
I have removed my email from my profile to stop the mod reports. If you need a Libertyseed scheduled you will now have to contact me on the Libertyseed forum.

YHJ

Red46239

Wow, what a great time. I want to thank YHJ and all of the 'hats' for taking the time to come out and give some first class instruction and history lessons (I would name names, but I'm sure I would forget someone - ALL of you were amazing). I especially want to thank all of the instructors that took the extra time helping Gunnar (my 11 year old son) out. Thank you to Allen and family for being such great and generous hosts.

This was our first Appleseed, but it will not be our last. We weren't a mile down the road before Gunnar asked when the next event was. That speaks volumes coming from an 11 year old that just spent two long days out in the hot sun.

We both learned a LOT over the weekend about marksmanship and history. I am so proud of my Rifleman patch. I know if I had shot an AQT on Friday before they event, I would not have come close to the scores I achieved on Sunday. Gunnar improved dramatically as well. This was his first time shooting other than off a bench or a rest and it was amazing to watch him improve over the two days.

Other than seeing Gunnar improving, the best part of the weekend for me was shooting the M1 and watching the sights fall right back on target after each shot. It really made everything come together and drove the lessons home.

We were asked to post up any suggestions of how the program could be improved. I honestly don't know how I would improve it. I do feel like I struggled a little following some parts of the history - there were a lot of names/places thrown at us in a short period. BUT, I attribute that to me being notoriously bad with names and the fact my brain was half melted from the heat, not the instructors telling the story. I did order two copies of 'Paul Revere's Ride' last night, so I will be going over all of it again.

All in all, I can't think of a better way to spend a hot holiday weekend. Thanks again to all of you that took the time to make this happen. I hope to see you all again soon.

Regards,
Jake

slim

I sure had a lot of fun at this event!

It was awesome to be part of a crowded line full of enthusiastic Americans going pew, pew, pew all weekend long. The folks at AA Optics sure hosted a good event and I'd like to say thanks so much for that. I'd also like to thank everyone that came out for getting off their couches on this super hot weekend, taking an active part in the preservation of our liberties and exercising their birthright as marksmen.

You're now on your way to becoming well regulated.  :--- 

I learned a few years back that a spritz of 110 SPF never hurt anyone. I admired Phil Brown's half-moon shaped red spot on the back of that bald head. Sunburn wears off, folks, but the fire ignited inside of you must burn for the cause long after this event is over.

Come on back to another Appleseed event soon. Tell your friends. Tell your families. Tell your neighbors. And don't be scared to yell out, "HUZZAH!!!!"

See you on the trail.
-:)


AAOptics

Quote from: slim on September 03, 2013, 07:15:11 PM
I sure had a lot of fun at this event!

It was awesome to be part of a crowded line full of enthusiastic Americans going pew, pew, pew all weekend long. The folks at AA Optics sure hosted a good event and I'd like to say thanks so much for that. I'd also like to thank everyone that came out for getting off their couches on this super hot weekend, taking an active part in the preservation of our liberties and exercising their birthright as marksmen.

You're now on your way to becoming well regulated.  :--- 

I learned a few years back that a spritz of 110 SPF never hurt anyone. I admired Phil Brown's half-moon shaped red spot on the back of that bald head. Sunburn wears off, folks, but the fire ignited inside of you must burn for the cause long after this event is over.

Come on back to another Appleseed event soon. Tell your friends. Tell your families. Tell your neighbors. And don't be scared to yell out, "HUZZAH!!!!"

See you on the trail.
-:)

My wife (lady handing out shirts at the end) told me the same thing about the sun screen.  I plainly informed her I never get sunburns and have no need for that girly stuff :wb:

Does anyone else see the coincidence in the fact we were in a town named liberty for this event?

Shakey

Thank you for a fantastic weekend.

I've been hunting and target shooting for over half my life and didn't do a bad job at it.  Then I attended my first Appleseed event and learned EVERYTHING I was doing wrong.  I must admit it compares to learning to play golf - "Hold this arm in, hold the other arm out, get your feet set correctly. . ."  I learned so much in two days it's hard to comprehend and now I have a great deal of work to do to hone my skill.

I would like to thank the organizers for putting on a great event and finding that great location.  The instructors were just fantastic.  I didn't hear one voice raised or harsh word spoken.  Friendly reminders create the best learning environment when we (I) have been doing something wrong for many, many years and are trying to break old habits.  I didn't ask a question, or even hear one asked that got a derogatory response and the folks with the blue hats were always nearby offering help with anything we might need.  If I thought they could have provided it I would have asked them for a 70 degree day.  I've found more sore spots than I care to describe and know it will all pass with time, but will work to get my NPOA.  I would also like to thank my fellow shooters as they assisted me during some difficult times without being asked.

I really enjoyed and appreciated the history lessons.  The "teachers" gave really heart-felt lessons that ignited my curiosity.  Looks like I have some reading to do too.

What a great group of people.

Thank you all, I hope to see you all again soon.

Trisha

What a great weekend!  It may have been hot, hot, hot, but I still loved every moment of it.

Yhj, you run an amazing Appleseed and I am so glad I finally got a chance to meet you especially since the rest of my family already had that opportunity.

Slim, techres, spqr, brown and lunchlady, it was great seeing you all again! I hope to see you all again soon, hopefully this year...

Barbie, I am so glad to finally have met you! Hopefully you will have the opportunity to come to WI for an AS(that goes for everyone).

Slow2speak, you may not say many words but the words you do say are worth listening to!

Corvette, Ohio is definitely in good hands! I hope to see you on the trail again soon too!

I love Blue Hats! Niecie and indygunworks, you two rock! You two help make Appleseeds run smoothly!

Aftermath! What a great surprise seeing you for a few hours on Sunday! I hope the rest of your drive back went well.

Great job to all the shooters, you all improved so much! Red46239,  please let Gunnar know how impressed I was with him all weekend; it's hard to believe he is only 11. I am glad I had the opportunity to work with both of you.

That goes for all the shooters, continue practicing even in your own homes...dry practice! Lay down on the floor, find an outlet and DRY practice...make sure all ammo and magazines are safely put away in another room. While you're in school, at work or at home walk around with a clicky pen to practice your trigger control and the next time you handle your rifle, squeezing the trigger and following through will be second nature. 

Thank you to Allen and his family for supporting Appleseed in such a huge way! The scope giveaways were amazing and then on top of it you hand out tshirts and hats to everyone, along with sweatshirts for the instructors(I already wore mine...I think the temp was down enough here in WI to warrant a sweatshirt)

I hope to see you all again, whether it's on the trail or on here.

nriedman

Once again I had a great time at another Appleseed.  I am amazed at how much personal instruction I received despite a really large group of shooters on the line.  Having been my second Appleseed, I forgot much of the instruction from the first (mostly because of lack of practice) and this was a great refresher to help me become more consistent on the target.  I would like to give a shout out to the blue hats for keeping the weekend in order and making sure each participant had what they needed whether it was water, AQTs, scoring, and most importantly....liberty bars.  YellowhouseJake put on a great event.  I thoroughly enjoy the history and I look forward to attending again and bringing more people with me.

Thanks to Allen and his family for hosting and all the goodies.  I know many shooters really enjoyed it!

Rayne

#20
~
QuoteDo not forget those who fought for your Liberties and Freedoms and take care to guard them against all tyranny.

techres

A final thanks to our kind host.  Something his daughter might enjoy doing with him:

Appleseed: Bringing the Past into the Present to save our Future.

Trisha


Lucky

I'm late to the party... but I wanted to check in and convey a sincere thank you to all of you involved in making the weekend memorable! 

All of the staff did a fantastic job running the training and setting up a great shoot.  I've been to quite a few of these things now and this ranks up there as one of the best. 

A definite thanks to our host Alan who was gracious enough to invite us all on his land and was generous enough to hand out some nice swag and a couple thousand dollars worth of optics! 

I only have one suggestion which I will send to YHJ via PM, but other than that... I think the seed was perfect!

I can't thank you rifleman enough!

GoldFish

"Freedom is preserved by those who die for it, but it will not survive unless people are willing to live for it."
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'Yes, I am a Rifleman, but I'm also a Ninja....and a Jedi.'

"Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do."

"Remember, my opinion on the totem pole of life is somewhere below whale s***..." -Chris Costa

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