22nd Annual Spring Deuce
Living in Upstate New York for 22 years taught me that the weather can change from horrible to unbearable in a matter of hours. I relived that reminder last weekend at The 22nd Annual Spring Deuce at Rochester Brooks in Rush, NY.
Friday was 65 and sunny.
Saturday was a bearable day with sputtering on and off rain in the high 40s.
Sunday it was snowing.
The Spring Deuce has been on my bucket list for a few years. Saturday we shot the Bob Rissler Memorial. It was fourteen stations of great targets on new terrain that was very enjoyable to shoot. Some of the presentations were tricky, but nothing was over-the-top difficult.
Station nine was an awesome true pair presentation. The first target was a curling target that came from the ground on the shooter's left to a high and presented a full face about 10 yards from the shooter about 15 feet in the air. Gun speed was important on the first bird because you had to get in front of the target that was very close to you. The report was a crossing target coming from a tower across a valley. Plenty of time to shoot it, but as it descended the background changed from clear sky to bare forest. The key to this station was to break the first target earlier that most people felt comfortable with so the crossing target from the tower was still in the sky.
Another memorable station on the prelim course was station 7. This was also a true pair of a curling target and an incoming bird, both from the right. The curling target was a true crossing target and was launched from about 35 yards away going right to left. The incoming target had a little right to left on it. About 25-30 yards from the shooter it lost steam and dove to the ground. Most shooters felt comfortable shooting the crossing target first and then the incomer. If you waited until you were comfortable with the crossing target, the incoming bird dropped fast. If you shot the crossing target quicker, it gave you a better shot at the incoming target, but the crosser still had some steam. I didn't handle this well at all, other shooters in my squad did very well.
The main event was a different story; Holy smokes! They definitely cranked up the springs and moved the traps back. Lots of fast birds and edgy targets meant most shooters were 10-20 worse then they were the day before. The course was set on some of the same stations as the prelim, but about 3/4 of the stands were different.
So many memorable stations on the main event course. Station one was a curling away target along the top of the tree line followed by a crossing target at about 35 yards. Station 9 or 10 was an quartering green bird at about 50 yards in a valley with an incoming orange bird on report. Two 40 yard chandelles. Rocket ship trap bird and high chandelle true pair. So many things to add to the practice list.
I didn't shoot any of the side events, but they had a full roster of sub-gauge, SxS, Pump, Super Sporting, and FITASC.
Overall, my Dad and I had a great time. Registration was very smooth with plenty of people on hand to handle the volume. The trappers were very knowledgeable. In fact, on one station a shooter fired at the first target but not the second. The trapper immediately said "Wait" and went over to where the shooter was. The trapper asked the shooter to point the gun down range and pull the trigger again and the gun went off. "Shooter error" she declared, "Dead, Lost". I was impressed, I've never seen that before.
If you ever get a chance to go to Rochester Brooks I'd recommend it.
Some photos from the event below. Click on the left hand of the gallery to go left, click on the right side to go right. 12 photos in total.
