Ottawa Aug. 1st. and 2nd.

[ahhshoot]

Fantastic shoot. Outstanding group of shooters. Rained like "Ottawa" on saturday all day until the final redcoats were shot.
Sunday was beautiful weather... what's up with that? Two Riflemen. Congratulations. And a few knocking on the door.

[trago]

What a great event. Our family had a great time and learned much. My wife(199) and daughter(174) were
both knocking on Riflemans door. Last night they both vowed to each other that they will be riflemen at
the next event and discussed how they were going to train to accomplish that. I can't thank you guys
enough for a great experience. We learned how to control the rifle (even if we can not apply all of that
knowledge yet) and we learned much about the history of the beginnings of this country, about how much
men were willing to sacrifice to give us what we are "supposed" to have today. I am a little worried though,
while listening to the girls talk I overheard them vowing not only to be riflemen, but to beat my score as
well.....God help me

Terry

P.S. Yes it rained on Saturday, but that made me so proud of my 12 yr old daughter. Like the others she
       shot through it and came back on Sunday hungry for that patch. I must be doing something right.

[LayloPro]

Great job, guys!! This sounds llike a darn good 'Seed!!

And you have some of the gals ready to do a "shootdown" on the guys as well.......oh my.......

Terry, congrats on getting your wife & daughter there ......but as you've noticed, they now have a desire to "outshoot you".......you can't let -that- happen, now can you?? In your own house??

Handy hint(s).....if you can master yourself, you will master your rifle......dry fire practice, and call each shot.....what could you have done to make it "better?"......sling location must be in the same spot on your arm, every time.......trigger control, and follow through......hold it back, until after you have said the word "Followthru"" mentally (or out loud....sometimes it helps to "Hear it!")

And probably the single most important....NPOA....when you relax, and open your eyes, do you find yourself "quickly shifting" the sites back on target? If so, you are cheating....but only yourself......let the rifle tell you where you are actually aiming right then....and adjust -yourself- accordingly.......

And when you are "on", you will be able to call the shot, & know it was good.....practice that......and let the girls practice theirs......as the kids used to say during the football games when the other side was "trash talking" ........"Scoreboard".....the target does not lie.......

I know, this should have been a PM, but figured there's some good stuff in here that everybody might glean something from  ......YMMV

LayloPro

[dragonfly]

Congrats to our 2 new Rifleman and all the shooter's. I have so much pride in the human(AMERICAN) spirit at Appleseed. Never have I witnessed such a positive attitude and willingness to learn. Thank you all. Everyone returned on sunday and we even had one more shooter. 24 SAT./25 SUN.

CONGRATULATIONS to ahhshoot our newest Appleseed RI (RED HAT) from Wisconsin.

See you all on the trail.

dragonfly

[mahasheer]

It was my first Appleseed and to it was awesome.
Great group of instructors (Guy, Papi, Dragonfly, Garand, Ahhshoot[CONGRATULATIONS!!]) and great bunch of shooters.
I did NOT see anyone quit!!!  I am still sore, but can't wait to get back to another one.

[Trisha]

This sounds like a great shoot and I was very excited to see my husband coming home with his Red Hat! He has been picking on me for only having an Orange Hat, 

Congrats to the two new Riflemen and congrats to all the shooters for sticking through Ottawa weather.

Hopefully next I will be able to make it down to Ottawa and finally meet some of the IL crew!

[riggerssu]

Want to thank The Guy, Ahhshoot, Dragonfly, Papi, and Grand for a truly rewarding experience.  This was the most fun I 've had in a long time and I jump out of planes!!!  Can't wait to come back, learn more and kick Terry's butt on Rifleman.     

Susanne and Cierra (Shasta)

[Mike38]

Hello everyone. I'm the second person that made Rifleman at Ottawa Aug 2nd. I would like to thank all of the instructors, especially the gentleman that loaned a Ruger 10/22 to my son. Once he figured the rifle out, he did quite well with it. Matter of fact, I'm proud of him. He worked his way up to a solid Sharpshooter level. I figure 2, maybe 3 more Appleseeds and he will make Rifleman. He already asked for a new 10/22 with receiver sights and a shooting jacket for Christmas, so that's what he's getting. Then when he makes Rifleman, I'll probably get him an AR15. I'm really proud of my son, as you can tell.

"The Guy" was a big help to both my son and me. When I look back at it all, I get a feeling "The Guy" knew I had the potential to make Rifleman, and that's why he spent a little more time helping me. If I where to guess, I never would have thought I could do it. But Sunday things started to come together for me. I'm a pistol shooter prior to all this. Classified as a Sharpshooter in Conventional Pistol and Standard Pistol, and a Master in Combat Pistol. The fundamentals of pistol shooting and rifle shooting are basically the same. Once I figured that out, it all came together for me. To be honest, the one I'm most proud of is becoming a Rifleman.

Oh, and one thing to anyone reading this, but hasn't participated in an Appleseed, believe it when they say you need a shooting jacket, or at least elbow pads. My elbows are still bleeding. They hurt like heck. But it's a good kind of hurt if you know what I mean.

Thanks again!

"The Second Amendment should be the first, for without it, none of the others could be enforced."

[Gumballhead]

Many many thanks to our outstanding team of instructors ( The Guy, Papi, Dragonfly, Ahhhshoot <congrats on the red hat>, & Garand69). This was my first Appleseed event, but by no means my last. I'm coming back with reinforcements next time! I thought I was knowledgeable about shooting before I came, and quickly discovered I really knew nothing about the fundamentals of rifle shooting. I have a much stronger understanding of how to properly utilize this amazing piece of equipment now. You helped me move from novice to a strong sharpshooter, knocking hard at that rifleman door. I am confident at my next Appleseed I will earn that patch!

I also really enjoyed the discussion of our founding fathers' heritage. I knew the basics of the beginnings of the Revolutionary War, but our discussions, in the rain no less, really helped me connect with how they must have felt in such challenging times. The realization that today, if something similar were to take place, I would be challenged to gather 10 people really opened my eyes to how dramatically things have changed. The need for programs like The Appleseed project is more important now than ever.

Another HUGE thank you to all involved, and I can't wait to do this again!

[Ashes]

I had fun. 

Big thanks to all the instructors, especially to The Guy and J.Papineau for the encouragement and motivation. Next time I need to make sure I do both days of an Ottawa Appleseed, showing up for one day not having it rain at Ottawa makes me feel like I'm missing something.

[Pappy]

Hello Group; Congrats to Terry (trago) & Mike (Mike38) for making there Riflemans score and Ahhshoot for earning his Red hat. I was very happy to see the group improve, each and every one was motavated in there own way. I am proud to have met you all. I hope that those of you who were close take the time to dry fire practice a few times a week. All it takes is a 1/2 inch square or dot on the wall down the hall or across the room and the desire!
I hope to see all of you at the range in the future or on the Appleseed Trail, Sign up now for your next event it is not to soon. Keep them in the black, Pappy

The Viking Funeral for Ahshoots hat was a special moment, we should repeat often. See ya JP

[EEL]

It rained at Ottawa for an Appleseed shoot ?  ?  ?     You must be kidding!!!  Glad to hear all went well at this shoot.  Sounds like all the shooters persisted and persevered thru "normal" Ottawa weather.

Gang, our next shoot down here is a 3 day event held over the Labor day weekend.  An extra day of shooting and instruction for the same price of a regular Appleseed!!!

Congrats to ahhshoot on going Red!    He had slipped "south of the border" into Ottawa before and I knew it would only be a matter of time.  Nice job!  You and your cohorts from up yonder are always welcome here in the L. of S.

See you all at the next one!

EEL

[Garand69]

Folks I would like to thank you all very much, for me this was a very rewarding Appleseed. They are all great, but this one really was a great boost to my focus!

Our Northern Border Raiders, Dragonfly & Ahhshoot, Thanks for adding to the team! You guys are top notch

This sounds like a great shoot and I was very excited to see my husband coming home with his Red Hat! He has been picking on me for only having an Orange Hat, 

Congrats to the two new Riflemen and congrats to all the shooters for sticking through Ottawa weather.

Hopefully next I will be able to make it down to Ottawa and finally meet some of the IL crew!

Trisha, it is an Illinois Custom that all border raiders go home with more than they came with, sometimes it's a Red hat, sometimes it is a nervous twitch, but there is always something 


The Guy & Pappy, what am I gonna do with da boat of ya's, hiding things in Dragonflies center console, the twos of u's should be ashamed 


The pics will be up tommorow

[Garand69]

Ok here are some pics FINALLY!!!!



CENTER UP!!









NPOA!!







It was a great seated shot, but I was slow on the camera work, sorry Dragonfly










INCOMING!!!!!



Here you go Trish 



I don't know The Guy, this isn't going to be good for your carbon footprint 









A Rifleman Is forged 





And another Rifleman!!! 

Thanks for your Patience on the pics, hope you enjoyed

[dragonfly]

Great job on the pics Garand.

Something about IL Appleseed gives me that warm fuzzy feeling, it's the people silly.

See you all soon

dragonfly

[Pappy]

Folks I would like to thank you all very much, for me this was a very rewarding Appleseed. They are all great, but this one really was a great boost to my focus!

Trisha, it is an Illinois Custom that all border raiders go home with more than they came with, sometimes it's a Red hat, sometimes it is a nervous twitch, but there is always something 

The Guy & Pappy, what am I gonna do with da boat of ya's, hiding things in Dragonflies center console, the twos of u's should be ashamed 

Hello Group; Does it seem strange that G68 seems to know quite a bit about the burnt Viking cookie remains and where they would be found Richard Tracy

[dragonfly]

I have know idea what you guy's are talking about.

[dragonfly]

I mean no idea.