Yellville, AR - Oct. 3-4, 2009

[goatlady]

Outstanding turnout this weekend - 28 pre-registered, 26 were here PLUS 7 walk-ins!  Several folks pulled in Friday and had time to set up camp and get acquainted.  Sat. the weather was PERFECT, coolish and the wind had gone away.  Loong day, still were on the firing line at dark.  Sunday was overcast and rain showers but that didn't stop the shooters everybody came back except 5 of the walk-ins (due to church) and we had FOUR guys achieve Rifleman and 2 accepted IIT orange hats, so AR is on the way to planting LOTS of "appleseeds" !! Hopefully I can successfully get the pictures posted so here goes...Well - THAT didn't work very well!  If someone can tell me how to post pictures here from photobucket - can't seem to find the photo icon in the choices. 

[goatlady]

Western Rose kindly sent me some "instructions" so I'll give it a whirl and see...YES!!! The Hasty Slinig demo

[goatlady]

Ready on the Right.



Ready on the Left.

[goatlady]

Check your targets!

[Jbone]

It was such a great weekend. Camped out, Met some great people, learned some new stuff to continue to practice and even managed to score rifleman. I couldn't imagine a better weekend.

[jpanderson80]

I know that SMLE (Smelly) will be posting an official report soon, but since this is started, I wanted to jump in on it. 
Congratulations to those that attended!!! You successfully got off your couch and decided to spend time listening to history, soaking up the heritage of Appleseed, and internalizing & demonstrating your skills in marksmanship.  I'm very proud of everyone.  We had a several full families with us over the weekend.  I'm very happy to see this!  T, K, A, E Family and the Family of R, P, H, H, H!  Great job to all of you in particular for sticking with it and continuing to improve over the weekend.  You need to be proud of yourselves. 

To our 4 riflemen: Congrats.  I pray that the instruction you received and accomplishment that you made to be in the top 1% of shooters will not be simply a "fun weekend" but that it will sit deeper in your heart... much like that of the colonists in the spring of 1775. 

Goatlady, thank you for opening your land to us for a wonderful weekend.  Your efforts did not go unnoticed! 

- Jeremy

[smle]

With a rather slow and bumpy start Saturday morning we got things going rather well after lunch and even got in a couple of AQT's.
With a full house (33 on the line), a number of tube feds, including lever action and pump action, and a few novices to the shooting sports most were shooting in the 125 to 150 range. All of our walk ons were Sat. only and wanted to shoot AQT's till dark, so we did. Billy, Jack and Frank posted 203, 199 and 198 respectivly doing stage 4 in almost total darkness.

Sun. went a lot smoother. After safety review, six steps and NPOA. Posted a redcoat then squares and reviewed transitions then AQT's. At lunch I had the honor of awarding my first Rifleman patch to Jason (one of our two active USAF participants), who posted a 225 and confirmed that later with a 229. Then came Billy with a 214 and also took an orange hat. And Jack with a 214 and he also took an orange hat. The last one for the day was Chance (his first AS) with a 210. And yes he was appropiately dunked. He said he'd take a orange hat at his next AS.

smle

[Jbone]

I am honored to be the first person to recieve a rifleman patch from smle. It was definately a weekend that will not be forgotten. I just hope we can find more great people like Goatlady to let us use the land in Arkansas to carry on a Tradition/Duty that has been forgotten about by most American's.

[Longshot]

Great job, Ben!

See, that wasn't so bad....     Four Riflemen!  Green Hat!  2 (3?) new IIT's!

Now have an adult beverage, then a Red Bull, and get yourself dusted off for Osage Beach.      




  Good work,
  See you soon.
KR

[Gaviota]

I didn't get the Rifleman patch.  Ah, the humiliation.

Many years ago in the military, where I learned that it takes a lot of practice to be cold, wet, tired, dirty, hungry, and miserable, I shot expert with a score of 234.  This is a story about how unprepared I've become.

My post-retirement years of compensating for twenty service years of overwork, bad food, and lack of sleep have actually caught up with me in a bad way.  I could barely get my lard butt up off of the mat, and I know it must have looked worse than it felt, because the instructors kept coming over to me and asking me, "Are you okay, man?  You want to sit this one out?"  They were seriously concerned for my health and safety.  I found that I could hit the AQT targets with great little groups, but the fact that my oversized abdominal fat pad kept expanding into my diaphragm and cutting off my air meant that I spent too much time struggling to breathe and not enough time shooting.  Out of four 300 yd prone targets, I could shoot about 2 & 1/2 of them before ceasefire.  Great hits, just not enough of them.

I wear trifocals now, and my narrow little eyeglasses, which are fine for reading, weren't adequate and didn't rise high enough on my face for me to see through the lenses instead of over the top of the frame, making it impossible to see the target through my scope.  Had to hold the frames up with my trigger-hand thumb while shooting. Bad eye infection in right eye didn't help either.

I bought a cheap red-dot sight, hoping to save a buck.  Didn't work.  Had to swap out for my ol' reliable Burris 4x that's older than my kids, but still holds a zero like nothing you ever saw.

Bought a cheap pair of electronic ear muffs.  Didn't work, interfered with cheek weld, got hot, wet, and produced nasty static.  Had to go back to the foam ear plugs, which never fail.

Bought a cheap nylon sling, no clamps, no clips, and no keepers.  Just a plain strap and a couple of slides.  Quick adjustments for changes in position were impossible.

I used a Ruger 10/22 stainless, synthetic stock rifle.  Put one swivel on the POS plastic barrel band.  The buttstock had no swivel at all.  Plastic buttplate was deeply curved, slippery, and useless.

About the only thing I did right was order the shooting jacket, targets and materials from Fred.  Funny thing, the literature from Fred makes a whole lot more sense now than it did at first.

Lessons learned and remediation:

Went back and read the RWVA website, re-red Fred's info, and learned all the things I should have known before I showed up.  Like what an LTR is.

Diet:  Brutal.  No white foods.  No potato, bread, rice, pasta, or any other starch. No processed foods, casseroles, soups.  No ice cream, candy, cake, or pie, no junk food at all.  Well, maybe a pizza once a month.  I may be crazy, but I'm not totally insane.  Fresh meat, fresh vegs, fresh fruit.  They say it's easier to quit cocaine than to change your diet.  I damn well believe it.

Exercise:  I came away from Appleseed with blisters on my elbows, two gorgeously bruised knees, a mild sunburn, back pain like I haven't had since I tried to catch a refrigerator falling off of a truck, and a seriously sprained left ankle from finding that same hole in the ground four dang times.  I'm exercising gently, and concentrating on being consistent and reliably making the time to do it every day.  Each week will be a little bit harder than the one before, so by the next Appleseed, I'll be able to go from standing to prone and back to standing right along with the young 'uns.  I hope.  I'm fortunate enough to have a rural home with enough room in which to shoot and great neighbors, so I can practice nearly every day.  A kind of biathlon, with a vigorous walk, some stretches, light cardio & weights and a short shooting session is great exercise.

I've been to my eye doctor, got antibiotics, and ordered a pair of glasses.  Large diameter polycarbonate lenses for impact protection, single vision, yellow tint, nearly indestructable black polymer frames that ride high enough up on my face.  Ugly specs for hard use.

Saving up for Tech sights.  Heard they're rugged.  I'll leave the scope on until I've evaluated the new sights with the new glasses.

Bought a whole bunch of foam earplugs in a bottle for less than $5.00.

Went to the Numrich website, and bought 3 cotton web Garand slings with clamps and clips.  Brand new, no rust.  $7.10 each.  Best deal I've found anywhere.

The Ruger now has sling swivels on forend and buttstock. The POS plastic barrel band is gone.  The plastic buttplate is gone, and a soft rubber Limbsaver slip-on pad covers the butt, and gives a good extra inch of LOP that I really need. Totally non-slip.  Used a miter saw to trim that silly curve out of the butt without shortening the stock.

I am astonished at the intensity of my disappointment in failing to qualify.  By Sunday afternoon, I wanted that rifleman patch more than I've wanted anything since I retired.  In fact, I still want it so bad that I have finally found the motivation that I've been lacking, the missing goal that I've needed, and I have actually started to change my lifestyle.  I honestly felt for years that by God I DESERVED to take it easy after 20 years of arduous military service.  In fact, like an idiot, that's what I told SMLE, my instructor.  I've discovered over the course of this experience that I have simply been deceiving myself.  What I deserve is only what I've worked to achieve, no more, no less.  Resting on laurels is fine, for about a hour.  After that, rust begins to set in, and shortly thereafter the only thing that is achieved is uselessness.

Hat's off to SMLE and the instructors of Appleseed for helping a fat old man undeceive himself and struggle back to the real world.  See you next time.  Have a hat ready for me, will you?

Gaviota

[jpanderson80]

Gaviota,

Now THAT is some great inspiration!!!!  Thank you.  I don't recall where you said you are from... but if you have enough land then why not host an Appleseed of your own?  It's a great way to get involved and you certainly seem to have the Rifleman spirit about you.  234... nice shooting as a young lad! 

Thanks again for the post.  I love it!

[Determined451]

Gaviota,, my hats off to ya...you are not the only one that has gone thru this transition because of Appleseed...just the only one that took the time to tell your story so well....I have been there ..done that  myself..

I have no doubt that you will keep faith with the goals you have set..No doubt you will get your patch soon..And yes, I for one ,DO appreciated the service you have given..

If you get a chance, I would love to have you at one of our shoots in Mississippi next year...that goes for everyone..This A/S thing is addictive...

Once again..really good post..D-451

[Gaviota]

Sadly, my little (heavily wooded) 4 acres of heaven aren't enough for an Appleseed.  Love the idea, though.  Maybe I know some people...

Gaviota

[smle]

Gaviota,

To start, Thank you for coming. I really enjoyed having you and chatting with you.

You weren't the only one who got caught by those holes, I got nailed more than once myself.

Helping people get off the couch and watching over them at an event go hand in hand. Safety is paramont.

I'm glad, despite with all the problems, that you enjoyed the weekend and learned something in the process.

smle