New Braunfels, TX - Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2017

[DrRichP]

This was a great event with only one dim spot. Sadly, Weezer could not join us as she recuperates.
Her absence was felt and we wish her speedy recovery! 

We are very grateful to Central Texas Silueta Association for hosting us. This is a beautiful range and were lucky to be here.

I would like to thank the founder and our amazing Texas crew (Two Wolves, Ghostring, didactic, Twinkle Toes, AF5US, PaleRider, scuzzy, El Tejano, RaggedHole, Steck, backtrack9, TT92, A-lister, and Sir Not Appearing In This Film)! Team Texas set up the range and conducted themselves like the true professionals they are. They showed us true Texas hospitality and Texas sized love. The founder came out to personally invest his time and talents to work with Team Texas as he continues on the Appleseed trail. While the founder once had a checkered history with Texas, by Sunday morning he was a convert. He changed his handle to "Tex" and was eating waffles in the shape of Texas.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Team Texas also made generous donations to Project Appleseed, as well as to the success of the weekend. Also worth noting that Didactic and Sir Not Appearing In This Film finally got some serviceable hats. Whoo Hoo!!

We started out on Saturday with only 25% of the folks being on-target at 25 m. By the end of the weekend, we had 3 instructors qualify as Known Distance Rifleman one instructor missed qualifying by one shot and 3 others are knocking on the door. Congratulations to TT92, El Tejano, and TwoWolves! The weather was pleasant with a gentle breeze which was deceptive and the formidable Texas sun took it's toll on some of our instructors with heat exhaustion. There were challenges with the range The grass had not been mowed in some time and was 2-3 feet high. Made it nearly impossible to see the targets from prone in some cases. Also there was a berm at 300 which led to some odd shooting positions. Nevertheless, we improvised, adapted, and overcame.

It's always my pleasure to be back home in my former state of Texas and to be with the amazing people there. I was also blessed to spend the weekend learning from, and being with the founder. Awesome!

The team should post some pictures and leave their comments.

[RaggedHole]

What an awesome weekend, even if we hadn't done any shooting, getting to meet, listen, and learn from Tex was an amazing and priceless experience and huge thanks to DrRichP and everyone else as well!!! The range was awesome for hosting us, camping was great, and it was great meeting a lot of the other Texas instructors! It will be fun seeing out KD program get off the ground there and looking forward to seeing more shoots pop up 

[Two Wolves]

Dr.Rich and Tex, Thank you for making the pilgrimage to Texas.  We were honored to have Yall

A lot of hard work , time and funds went into this event to "make it happen" and it did not go un-noticed. Thank all of you.
[Jim,Tim,Jerry--etc. etc.]
As I eluded to with Dr.Rich, there is an excellent youtube presentation that mirrors the dissertation Dr. Rich gave us at lunch. Per his request I am providing you with this link. Please consider passing this on to everybody and use it in your Appleseed monologues or in the benediction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA

Raggedhole---thank you for the photo and camaraderie

Best regards, Two Wolves   

[AF5US]

On behalf of the Texas crew, a sincere thank you to DrRichP, Tex & Ghostring for your time & energy.  I know that I personally learned (read: was reminded) of a couple of improvements that will help me personally as a shooter, & help to better instruct others - both of which I know that we all take as serious tasks.  DrRichP called it - who in the world is going to show us how to teach / run ball & dummy drills than Tex?

Final note: Forget knocking on the door; I'm pounding on that thing & looking forward to the next KD.  RaggedHole and I are practically next-door neighbors, and he's promised to help keep me accountable & give me special motivation 

[DrRichP]

As I eluded to with Dr.Rich, there is an excellent youtube presentation that mirrors the dissertation Dr. Rich gave us at lunch. Per his request I am providing you with this link. Please consider passing this on to everybody and use it in your Appleseed monologues or in the benediction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA

Thanks Roger. Very nice! I'm not as good as that guy, but I'll work on it.

[scuzzy]

Man - that was so much fun it ought to be against the law.

It was good to be out in the company of my fellow riflemen - you guys are the best.

And thank you buku Rich and Tex.

[Mrs. Smith]

Y'all are breaking my heart!  I'm envoius beyond words,  and so glad your weekend was all you hoped it would be.  Well done,  gentlemen.

[TxRebel]

So very upset work got in the way of this.  I really wanted to go B4, now that I know Fred was there and I missed the chance to meet him I'm really upset.  Stupid adult responsibilities.

[Mrs. Smith]

So very upset work got in the way of this.  I really wanted to go B4, now that I know Fred was there and I missed the chance to meet him I'm really upset.  Stupid adult responsibilities.

Right?!?!? Stupid annual inventory 😟

Guess we'll just have to make the trek to Ramseur.

[AF5US]

Mrs. Smith, it's funny you said that.  I was thinking the same thing - One more AQT could very well have made the difference for me & others, but we just didn't have the time.  I guess we'll all just have to head to N.C.

You were both sincerely missed.  There are rumors of a certain gathering in the planning stages, similar to where we met up last January.  Of course we would now be on the other side of the table 

So very upset work got in the way of this.  I really wanted to go B4, now that I know Fred was there and I missed the chance to meet him I'm really upset.  Stupid adult responsibilities.

Right?!?!? Stupid annual inventory 😟

Guess we'll just have to make the trek to Ramseur.

[PaleRider]

May not need to go anywhere else. I'm thinking one instructor-only KD shoot per year might be a good thing to add to the schedule  !
Tim

[AF5US]

Tim, we talked about this a little at the event - I'd be in favor of that.  It's always good to interact with instructors we may not always work with on a regular basis. Plus, we can speed the day along a bit considering we have a higher starting knowledge of techniques vs. our average shooters.

May not need to go anywhere else. I'm thinking one instructor-only KD shoot per year might be a good thing to add to the schedule  !
Tim

[dond]

Some of you may be interested to know that a spot has opened up on the KD on November 11-12.

Don

[DrRichP]

I'm thinking one instructor-only KD shoot per year might be a good thing to add to the schedule  !
Tim

I agree with Tim. There should be multiple KD events per year in Texas as the range facilities will allow, whether they be instructor only or public events with instructors filling the lines. The range we were at in New Braunfels will hold 20 tops. We should be able to fill that several times per year.

The RC and National are committed to making sure Team Texas has knowledgeable, well qualified instructors to lead these events. If there are any other obstacles in the way of progress, let me know.

[scuzzy]

Some of you may be interested to know that a spot has opened up on the KD on November 11-12.

Don

Yeah - I'm gonna grab that one.

[El Tejano]

Orale!!! Y'all!!!   What a weekend to be a Rifleman!!!  You couldn't turn around without bumping into a Rifleman!!! I just want say muchos gracias to DrRichp  and Tex for coming down to Texas and running the show!!! The best part of the weekend was meeting the Founder Tex, and learning from him and his smooth style of instruction ~~:)which I will be happy to pass on to others!!! 

It felt great to get back in the saddle again, and go to an Appleseed. I learned a lot from DrRichP and Tex at this KD shoot that would be difficult to teach at regular Appleseed. The range was great and and so was the weather. Meeting old friends and making new ones is always a pleasure!!!

Way to go Two Wolves and TT92 for earning your patches!!!

Till next time, keep your sights aligned, and your powder dry!!!


   

[scuzzy]

Orale!!! Y'all!!!  What a weekend to be a Rifleman!!!

Que paso ese. Man brother it rocked.

[Fred]

    I know the poster is labeled as "Fred", but that old guy has moved on, and the mysterious stranger who showed up this weekend in Texas will henceforth be known only as "Tex". (Sometimes you may hear, "smile when you call me that" followed by that Texas gunslinger narrow-eyed stare. )

    Despite DrRichP's assertion about "the checkered history", that old guy "Fred" always enjoyed going to Texas - his only issue was that he expected Texans to be able to shoot a rifle like they should and can...

    But this weekend was a return to what is basic in this program: Respect for our founding generation coupled with promotion of that great heritage which has saved this country so many times - marksmanship. Yep, it was right there, at the beginning, on April 19th, 1775. (We all know it, which is one thing which distinguishes us from the many other Americans we need to reach.)

     I had a great time at this event. It was nice to see the traditions of Appleseed alive and well in Texas and I look forward to seeing these instructors carry it forward, expand, and grow. We have a mission.

     What a beautiful range. We had our obstacles, but in true Appleseed fashion the "Appleseed engineers" improvised, adapted and overcame. I almost wish I had a picture of us shooting from the 300 yard berm. Some people shot really good, even tho it was like shooting over a steep rooftop. Maybe it was the focus on keeping your position, and not sliding back down the berm, that sharpened the shooting!

     Great progress was made throughout the weekend and it was good to get a chance to work with the Texas instructors. Congratulations to our KD Riflemen and I expect all of the others to score KD Rifleman at the next event. Remember, a Rifleman perseveres.

       I was honestly humbled by the love and hospitality shown to me this last weekend, something I'm not always comfortable with. Nevertheless, it was greatly appreciated. I hope I get invited back. I'm looking forward to seeing great things from Texas and DrRichP tells me I won't be disappointed.

      Be well my friends and do great things!

     Tex
   

[RaggedHole]

I had kind of a humbling weekend in retrospect, shot well but not great. I qualified KD last year about this time @ Ramseur using the tried and true battle sight zero, but thought I could increase my accuracy and precision with by dialing my clicks and using a higher power scope, it didn't really work out...  For me using my prep time to adjust parallax, dial my clicks, and change my scope power rushed me and really just made it more complicated than it needed to be.

I am going to be looking to go back to basics and follow Tex's advice to K.I.S.S. [Keep It Simple Stupid]. I will probably be going to a low power scope [1x4 or 1x6] or the good old irons.

It was kinda of nice being taught a lesson that I don't know it all, and that great gear can only get you so far, you can't buy you that patch...   

Looking forward to the next KD and redemption 

[AF5US]

RaggedHole, I'm still young but the older I get, the more I realize that things that sound good on paper are not to be trusted until they've been tested in the field.  I was having more trouble with recoil than I expected, but the weekend helped me to find my weak spots & either address them, or at least make notes on what I need to work on.

You and me buddy, we're going to practice this thing.

Plus, now I have a really cool story to tell shooters when we're instructing:
"I'm going to tell you something that Tex once told me: GET YOUR KNEE UP! WHEN IT'S UP AS HIGH AS IT CAN GO, GET IT UP HIGHER!" 

[scuzzy]

We've bumped the capacity up from 10 to 16. So any instructors that want to shoot sign up as a shooter. And use the Special Gift Certificate ticket.

https://goappleseednow.org/?event=new-braunfels-tx-known-distance-appleseed-november-11-12-2017

[Sir Not Appearing In This Film]

That was a nice shoot.

The only negative was the grass burrs. I will always remember this as the New Braunfels Grass Burr KD shoot. I quickly picked up 4 grass burr spines in my trigger finger alone - that definitely added some "dollar value" to challenging my rifleman's bubble. Pick up your mat and move from 100 to 200? More grass burrs. Pick up your rifle case? More grass burrs. Using a cloth sling? Yep - more grass burrs.

Great to see everyone!



Link to pics I took.

https://imageshack.com/a/hJ0l/1