Nampa, ID April 26-27, 2014

[George Hacker]

Shoot box is packed, t-shirts have been sorted, tomorrow morning I pack and leave for Nampa, Idaho. I am looking forward to meeting some new patriotic friends and telling them the stories of April 19, 1775. There is an outstanding crew of instructors lined up to work this event. We can hardly wait.

Stay tuned and more information about this shoot will be posted as events transpire. Something tells me that this event will be epic...

ShadowMan

[George Hacker]

Wow, what a wonderful event.  We had twenty shooters come out and celebrate their American liberty at the range. Grateful hearts were stirred as the stories of Parker, Davis, Heath, and Whittemore were told.

Weather was chilly in the morning, but warmed up in the afternoon. Sunday morning was fierce - it rained and hailed for an hour and a half. The wind forced us to take down the pop-up canopies (after one was blown upside down and crushed) so all of the mats and equipment got drenched. Toni and her grandson, Cyrus, had to call it a day (poor Cyrus was shivering). The rest of us huddled under a metal canopy at the range and talked about IMC and some dangerous old men.

Eleven year old Evan decided he wanted to help volunteer, so he took a blue hat and helped all weekend. Evan has helped informally at previous events, he just decided it was time to make it official. Thank you, young man, for all your help.

We had two new riflemen, Patrick and Bill, and we had two repeat riflemen, Joe and Robert. This was Robert's second Appleseed event so he decided to take an orange hat and become an instructor in training.

It was awesome to spend a day at the range with the Gore family. You are a friendly group of folks. Tanner and Evan are always ready to help. Margo - keep dry practicing. You improved a lot and are knocking on the door to becoming a riflewoman.  The boys are knocking as well. Congratulations, Bill, on earning your patch. That is quite an accomplishment.

Mat, it was a pleasure working with you on the line. You learned a lot and know what you need to do to improve your marksmanship. I'm sure you will do much better when you get some optics for your rifle.

Toni and Cyrus, it was a lot of fun working with you two. Cyrus had such a great attitude and he was learning a lot.

Craig, you were improving a lot! You were very close to shooting rifleman, but it is still a mystery that we found 12 rounds on the first stage of your AQT. Keep on dry practicing and you will see results the next time you go to the range.

Robert, it was a pleasure meeting you in person. Excellent shooting and thank you for stepping up to take an orange hat. I hope we get to work more shoots together in the future.

Patrick and Audra, you have an awesome family. Henry is a very well-behaved young man and I appreciate how he controlled himself and kept the muzzle in a safe direction when he had a piece of brass fall behind his glasses. He is a trooper... and an excellent shot! He was outshooting most adults on stage 4 of the AQT. Congratulations, Pat, on earning your patch. Audra, keep on dry practicing.

Rick and Ryan, it was a pleasure to have you both on the line. Ryan, thank you for being helpful and for having a great attitude throughout the day.

Ed, thank you for bringing your extended family. It was great having you get on the line on Sunday and put a few rounds downrange with your loved ones. Thank you for all your support of Project Appleseed.

Marlene, sorry you had to leave because it was too cold. We look forward to seeing you at a future, warmer, shoot.

The instructors who worked this event were awesome!  Thank you, kenjo, Nero, American Amazon, and scoob, for getting in the dirt with the shooters and making this such an outstanding event. Good job on your second strike, scoob.

At the end of the event, I took some time to recognize Mark Davis for getting Project Appleseed going at the Nampa range. scoob is the mover and shaker that has done the promotional work to get the line filled (and twice as many dates on the schedule for 2014). Nampa will be Nero and American Amazon's new home range so I let the shooters know they would be in good hands. I can't wait to read the AARs that will be written about upcoming shoots at Nampa - it is a very special place with some very special people.

ShadowMan

[SureShotSpartan]

It appears exciting times are ahead in Idaho! Keep up the GREAT work! 

[kenjo]

A wild and crazy weekend, but well worth it! The shooters and instructors, who I've not met before, were a great bunch of people to spend the weekend with. The weather threw some curve balls at us on Sunday but our hardy shooters pressed on in true Rifleman tradition. Persistence, adaptation and overcoming were put into practice. The shooters came with teachable attitudes and worked hard to improve their skills. When the wind tried to blow us away and the pop-ups went flying, shooters and instructors sprang into action to save the day. I love Idaho!

[Mark Davis]

Thanks for the kind words George, really not warrented.
SCOOB IS THE MAN!

[rocket]

Alright boys. Kudos from the last of the Wild West.

Thank you.

Casper was a Winter-seed, and made a Rifleman in spite of the wind, rain, and sideways (is there any other kind in Wyoming!?) snow.

Honors go to Sam Whittemore, Hezzekiah, Paul, Mr. Parker, and many, many more. Period.

Greetings to clodhopper (thank you teacher) et al. Many thanks also to M1BZRK, Beemer, Brian, Big Lonely. Great guys.

r

[Modern Musket]

GREAT course! Sorry I couldn't make it on Sunday, sounded gnarly. Some hearty souls out there! It was also nice to meet everyone.

I look forward to getting more involved once everything settles down for me. Will be in touch later next month.

-Robert

[scoob]

Thomas Paine once said "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman..."

Well my friends, no sunshine patriots here.  These men and women, young and old alike, braved the elements of a typical 'rough around the edges' spring day at the Nampa Rod and Gun Club Outdoor Range.  Sun one minute, storm the next, these hearty souls brought their teachable attitudes (yes, even Mat found one on Amazon), and learned some history and rifle marksmanship!

You may notice the lack of storm pictures, and that is because: 1. Nobody had a storm chaser camera, and 2.  Everyones' hands were full chasing mats and taking down canopies when the bursts hit!

I will also echo Shadowmans' appreciation for the influence of Mark Davis.  Mark, like it or not, a part of you is always near and dear in the heart of the Southwest Idaho desert.     

Let's get to another batch of pics:


Patrick knows what he's about, and proves it with a score of 210, earning himself a patch and a splash from under the North Bridge!



I am honored to call this young man my friend, and welcome Evan as our newest blue hat volunteer!
He's also dang close to owning that AQT! 



See how your barrel can move when your toe is in the dirt?  Well, as you'll see later, Bill figured it out.



Don't let that blue sky kid you.  Trouble is just around the corner.















So, you shot a Rifleman score, huh?



How about you shoot one with a handicap!



Was it that decked-out 10/22?  Was it the $5 bet?  Was it just finding your NPOA and moving it to the targets?  Congratulations Bill!



Jeff is the Ordinance Officer for the Nampa Rod and Gun Club.  He brought out an M1 Garand and a tin full of 30-06 on clips, and let everyone have a chance at shooting the "the greatest battle implement ever devised" (according to General George S. Patton).  10-year-old Cyrus gets the run-down on how to safely shoot the garand, before putting on his eye protection and sending a couple of rounds down range.



The other rifle on the mat, an Arisaka (Type 38?) came home with a shooters' grandfather after WWII.  It is said that the rifle was obtained from a japanese soldier who         no longer needed it.

[scoob]

Proud to have you Robert!  Congratulations on taking the hat, and congratulations on that which is keeping you busy for the next few weeks! 

GREAT course! Sorry I couldn't make it on Sunday, sounded gnarly. Some hearty souls out there! It was also nice to meet everyone.
I look forward to getting more involved once everything settles down for me. Will be in touch later next month.
-Robert

[Nero]

Sorry to take so long with our pix, we're still in pack/move mode and a bit hammered.  Since there are already some great ones in scoob's post, I'll just post up our best, or you can check out the whole album.

Welcome aboard, Evan!


Watching the line


Circle up for instruction!


scoob tells the Second Strike



Robert (ModernMusket) seemed as pleased with his cleared Redcoat as with his requalifying Rifleman score!


And we're pleased to have him as the newest Idaho orange hat!


It really wasn't the best weekend to shoot a 210.  George looks uncommonly gleeful baptizing Patrick into the ranks of Rifleman, doesn't he?   


Our Young Patriots, Cyrus, Evan and Henry


Bill endured the storm and came up with his score at the very end of Sunday


Ken's pop-up unfortunately did not survive the squalls.  It's bad news when it takes a hammer to get it folded up!

[4kedhorn]

It was a good time spent. Hope to see y'all at the next one.