Sunday, December 26, 2004

Breakin' the high ones at Tonawanda Nothing like a post-Christmas sporting clays shoot to keep the holiday spirit flying high, so when brother Pete suggested we shoot a round this morning between holiday parties, saying "You betcha!" was a no-brainer. A phone call to Dave D'Amico was all it took to line up a course and a shotgun. Pete, stepson Galway McCullough and nephew Adam Small and I met Dave and his son Vince at Tonawanda Sportsmen's Club this morning. Under normal conditions, one can drive right to the start of the course, which Dave designed here several years ago. Eight inches of lake-effect on top of peanut-brittle ice from last week's rain left the approach road all but impassible, so we hiked the quarter mile from the clubhouse. Several squads were smoking up the skeet range, but a group of Dave's friends and our entourage were the only ones on the clays course. As we waited for our trapper, Dave told us how he had researched sporting clays courses and convinced a skeptical board of directors at Tonawanda to set up a course. The course was so instantly popular, the club earned back its $20,000 investment in two years, well ahead of Dave's projection. Dave said he had not shot the course since it was modified this year. Like many courses I have shot, this one was a real challenge for a first-timer, borrowed gun notwithstanding. Pete started hot and jumped off to a quick lead after two stations, while I was lucky to break one bird of my first ten. A nice mix of standards and midis greeted us as we moved from station to station, some tucked so tightly into the willows that the trees broke more birds than we did. Dave let me and Galway shoot his 12 ga. Browning sporting clays O/U,while he shot a 20 ga. Galway caught on well enough and stuck with the O/U. I got frustrated in a hurry and switched to Dave's 870,with mixed results. Halfway through the course, I finally asked to borrow Adam's Browning autoloader and starting hitting them with a lot more consistency. Dave finished strong, breaking all five birds on station 11, but Adam hung on to beat Dave for top gun by one bird. Galway, who had said at the outset he would be happy to break a bird, as he had never fired a shotgun before, was delighted to be well into double digits. The rest of us had fun, but agreed it was a tough course. Dave threatened to burn the score sheet, but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone his score. He did admit that the course is tougher now than when he designed it. That's only fair, we figured. Brother Mike comes into town tonight. We might plan another visit to Tonawanda before we all head for home. Later... Below: (l-r) Galway McCullough, Dave D'Amico, Adam Small and Pete "Santa" Small watch as Vince D'Amico shoots at station 2A at Tonawanda Sportsmen's Club. 4:25:15 PM    comment []

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