Area Gun Clubs Work To Attract Young Shooters

Deep snow has never been a serious deterrent to The Spokesman-Review Trapshoot. In 78 years, the contest sponsored by the newspaper has never been snuffed out by a bitter winter.

Shooters fire at their own clubs and send in their scores in order to compete with clubs from throughout the region. During the eight-week shoot, the results are published every Sunday in the Sports section.

This year has been a good test. Trapshooters from more than 40 clubs around the Inland Northwest fearlessly began the annual rite in mid-January, even though snow was piled chest-high around the shooting lanes.

Clubs at Sandpoint and Republic, Wash., were lucky to have members with front-end loaders to clear snow. Sandpoint, however, only dug out one trap house.

Rockford had a different problem when floods inundated their ranges.

“We had all three trap houses underwater,” said club secretary Dick Dauenhauer. “But we put heaters in them, cleaned and oiled the traps and they work just fine.”

The Spokesman-Review Trapshoot rules require shooters to record their first 25-shot round of the day. It’s not like basketball, where players get to do a few layups before the game starts.

‘We warm up by chopping firewood when we first get to the club,” said Jerry Harms of Republic.

Getting shooters to come out in winter weather is no problem for the clubs. Their biggest challenge is attracting young shooters.

“Shooting has to compete with all the other sports and activities in a teenager’s life,” said Mike Engles of the Sprague Gun Club. His teenage son, Scott, is one of the top shooters in the region, largely because the Engles have made trapshooting a family affair.

The Sprague Gun Club does its small share for family values with a youth shooter’s subsidy and a couple of free boxes of shells a week.

“We only charge the kids $1 to shoot, and the club supplies the shells,” said Engles. “Getting the kids out here with us is important to the club.”

Older club members reload the shells and donate them to the cause.

Bud Hoffman, 81, thinks that’s just dandy. “I got two cases in the pickup today for the kids,” he said.

Ammunition is the core to a trapshooter’s sport. “I started with the club in 1942,” he said. “I’ve gone through four reloaders. I’ve probably reloaded about 900,000 shells.”

Pointing to eight junior shooters lining up on the trap lines, Hoffman said, “Those are real good kids. That’s what it’s all about.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo