I know, I know. Every red-blooded American boy thinks he was born with a God-given ability to humble John Wayne and make 500-yard headshots on gophers. Well folks, I've been shooting for some time now and while I hate to break the news, it just ain't so. Yes, even I have missed once or twice.
Most of the people I know here in Montana, even the "rugged outdoorsmen" have a box or two of shells in their sock drawer. Once a year before hunting season, they go out and fire a few shots off the bench to check their zero. Then off they go to sling lead in the general direction of game animals.
The Appleseed teaches you (painfully, in my case) to get your butt off that shooting bench and learn to be stable, steady and accurate while shooting from real-live field positions. Part of the trick is the lost art of sling shooting. It is an amazing, lightweight marksmanship tool that's already right there on your rifle, ready to go.
I will be attending my third Appleseed in September. Even old dogs CAN learn new tricks at an Appleseed. Woof, woof. Since kids can shoot free, I'm working with the local American Legion shooting sports program and our church Youth Group to get some teen-agers to go one Saturday and learn real rifle marksmanship.
You don't have to have an M1/FAL/M1A, AR, whatever and a crate full of expensive center-fire rounds. You can use the trusty dusty old .22 Rimfire. It works better with a sling and peep sights, but the basic fundmentals work for ANY rifle.
It's not a competition. Nobody will laugh at you if you're ot already an Alvin York. There's no such thing as a dumb question. Everybody is there to learn something. I can't reccomend this program highly enough.
To learn about Appleseeds in your area, check with Fred at
http://www.appleseedinfo.org/smf/
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