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Member
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
January 26, 2003 Sunday ZONED EDITION
SECTION: WAUKESHA COUNTY; Pg. 01Z
LENGTH: 1481 words
HEADLINE: AIMING TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS;
Changes in law, addressing noise concerns help gun clubs expand
BYLINE: DARRYL ENRIQUEZ [email protected]
BODY:
Renewed interest in competitive shooting sports and the state's easing of noise restrictions on gun clubs has allowed many of the nine public and private shooting ranges in Waukesha County to expand memberships and increase activity.
Even in the dead of winter, many of the clubs are holding evening and weekend shooting events.
Gunners at the Lakeview Trap and Sport Club on Big Muskego Lake are challenging Old Man Winter to give them his best shot, especially during their Thursday night tough-man competition.
Sleet and snow translates to better shooting challenges, wet shells and all.
Yet bad weather has been the least of the clubs' concerns. Rapid development of residential, commercial and industrial buildings has pitted some clubs against neighbors who do not appreciate the report of shotguns and long rifles.
McMiller Sports Center, west of Eagle, fought a court battle in the 1990s against its neighbors and the Town of Eagle, where it is situated, over demands that the shooting range quiet the noise and threats that the town might shut it down permanently.
A Waukesha County circuit court ruled in 1998 that the town had to grant McMiller an operating permit. Three months later, the Legislature passed a "range protection bill" that exempted existing shooting ranges from the control of local noise ordinances.
The Hartland Sportsman's Club, on the southeastern edge of Delafield, experienced a similar brush with neighbors and municipal officials.
The Town of Delafield, which had jurisdiction over the club, was considering closing down the range in the mid to late 1990s as noise complaints from neighbors, many of them newer residents, mounted.
The club then asked to be annexed to the city with the promise of operating for fewer hours. When that happened, the club's troubles eased and membership has increased slowly, said club president David Hickey.
The club, established in 1954, is squeezed in between commercial and residential development and the remnants of open spaces that were once common in central areas of the county.
Noise often traced elsewhere
Hickey said that when the city gets complaints about noise, often it can be traced back to residents of large tracts of land shooting on their own property.
"With fairly open areas, some property owners still shoot in their backyards," Hickey said.
Dick Bennett, owner of Boxhorn Big Muskego Gun Club, said the range protection law has allowed shooting ranges to operate without fear of being harangued by neighbors, especially those who move into the area and are surprised to discover a nearby range.
"Clubs are not having to spend their treasuries on defending themselves in court," said Steve Anderson, who owns the Wern Valley Sportsmen's Club in Genesee and operates the state-owned McMiller range.
Neighbors needs considered
Ranges try to be good neighbors by limiting their hours of operation to early evenings and weekends, Bennett said.
Competitive shooting developed in England in the later part of the 18th century with trap shooting. Live birds were released from traps on the command of the shooter. By the late 1800s, birds were replaced with mechanically propelled clay targets.
Waukesha area shooters fire at clay disks a little more than 4 inches in diameter, which are propelled skyward from a spring-loaded machine usually kept in a small trap house.
Gunners stand behind a trap house and launch operators send the clay targets in varying directions outward from the house to test shooters' skills.
A gunner calls "pull" when ready and is allowed to shoot once. The disk need not be shattered to be considered hit. If a piece is knocked off, it counts as a strike.
The longer shots of trap, ranging on average from 33 to 45 yards, are similar to shots taken during pheasant and duck hunting.
Shorter distance shots that mimic grouse and woodcock hunts can be taken on skeet ranges. This form originated in the United States in the 1920s.
'Sporting clays' a hit, too
The newest form of shooting entertainment is sporting clays, which originated in England more than 60 years ago as another way to develop wing shooting skills. It was introduced to the U.S. in the early 1980s and is a fast growing shotgun sport.
On a sporting clays course, shooters are presented with a wide variety of targets that simulate the flight path of game birds such as flushing, crossing, incoming and other angling shots.
Courses are laid out in natural surroundings and typically include five or 10 shooting "stations" with shooters moving from one station to the next that presents shooters with a different type of shots. There are even special "rabbit" targets that skitter across the ground.
Gun clubs have long history
Many of the gun clubs here have histories that date back to the early and middle part of the previous century.
The Valley Rod and Gun Club in the Town of Merton began as a social club in the 1940s, according to president John Shell, who has been a member since 1965.
The club owns 58 acres about one-half mile off of Camp Whitcomb Road.
Surrounded by wetland and farms, the club has not had many noise complaints from neighbors, many of whom are club members, Shell said.
Although it's one of the smaller clubs in the county, it still restricts shooting times to keep on good terms with neighbors, he said.
The ranks of the club, which runs a Tuesday night trap league, have held steady over the past few years at 50 to 60 members. The club, like many other shooting ranges, allows deer hunters to sight in rifles two weeks before the gun deer season.
"We haven't had too much trouble," Shell said of noise complaints. "We just shoot one night a week under lights."
The Lakeview Club in Muskego has been operating for 65 years, with Loreen and Sam Klauser running it for the last 11. Loreen Klauser takes care of the shooting range side of the business while Sam Klauser runs the on-site restaurant/tavern, Hunter's Nest.
The couple were national shooting champions in 1969 for the Amateur Trap Shooting Association. She started shooting trap in the early 1960s but gave it up when they took over Lakeview.
The couple have been married for 40 years. He's from the north side of Milwaukee. She's from St. Francis.
"We were looking to buy a bar and saw in the paper that this place was for sale," Loreen Klauser said. "When we saw it had a shooting range, that was the deciding factor."
Popularity shoots up
She said the sport has grown in popularity after being less popular in the early 1990s.
"When we took over, the club had only 30 teams on its leagues and now it's nearing 100, including the Milwaukee Union League and the Milwaukee Industrial League," she said. "It's a good sport. It's a family sport that dads and moms can do."
When asked if it was unusual for a woman to excel at the sport, she snapped back, "Annie Oakley shot trap."
Tucked on the undeveloped shore of Big Muskego Lake, Lakeview has had few complaints about shooting noise, she said.
"We've been lucky when it comes to (a lack of) development," she said.
Klauser's neighbor to the south, Dick Bennett, said development pressure is being lifted from Big Muskego Lake because the state Department of Natural Resource is buying up shoreline to protect the natural resource for wildlife.
Bennett and his wife, Lois, have run their club for 32 years, purchasing it from Louis Boxhorn.
Bennett and Boxhorn worked at Louis Allis Co., a former manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, where Bennett was manager of manufacturing engineering.
"I was a trap shooter and wanted to work in the business," he said.
Noise complaints peaked in the 1970s as land around the lake was being developed for new houses, Bennett said.
"We understand we make noise and people have to live with us," Bennett said. "We try to be good neighbors."
Membership has increased to 1,200 after dipping in the early 1990s, he said.
"We haven't seen downsizing (of club members) lately, and we're surprised we didn't see a downsizing after the Sept. 11 (terrorist attack)," he said. "Last year was one of our best years."
NEIGHBORS AT ODDS
GUN CLUBS FEEL THE HEAT FROM FAST-GROWING RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Waukesha County has nine gun clubs, many of them offer winter leagues, which allows shooting to continue year-round. People and businesses, who are not happy to find themselves near a gun club, used local noise ordinances to mount legal challenges. The clubs are now exempt from local noise ordinances due to state legislation in 1998.
1 Boxhorn Big Muskego Gun Club
2 Lakeview Trap and Sport Club
3 McMiller Sports Center
4 Wern Valley Sportsmen's Club
5 Milwaukee Casting Club
6 Hartland Sportsman's Club
7 Waukesha Gun Club
8 Valley Rod and Gun Club
9 Menomonee Falls Rod and Gun Club
January 26, 2003 Sunday ZONED EDITION
SECTION: WAUKESHA COUNTY; Pg. 01Z
LENGTH: 1481 words
HEADLINE: AIMING TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS;
Changes in law, addressing noise concerns help gun clubs expand
BYLINE: DARRYL ENRIQUEZ [email protected]
BODY:
Renewed interest in competitive shooting sports and the state's easing of noise restrictions on gun clubs has allowed many of the nine public and private shooting ranges in Waukesha County to expand memberships and increase activity.
Even in the dead of winter, many of the clubs are holding evening and weekend shooting events.
Gunners at the Lakeview Trap and Sport Club on Big Muskego Lake are challenging Old Man Winter to give them his best shot, especially during their Thursday night tough-man competition.
Sleet and snow translates to better shooting challenges, wet shells and all.
Yet bad weather has been the least of the clubs' concerns. Rapid development of residential, commercial and industrial buildings has pitted some clubs against neighbors who do not appreciate the report of shotguns and long rifles.
McMiller Sports Center, west of Eagle, fought a court battle in the 1990s against its neighbors and the Town of Eagle, where it is situated, over demands that the shooting range quiet the noise and threats that the town might shut it down permanently.
A Waukesha County circuit court ruled in 1998 that the town had to grant McMiller an operating permit. Three months later, the Legislature passed a "range protection bill" that exempted existing shooting ranges from the control of local noise ordinances.
The Hartland Sportsman's Club, on the southeastern edge of Delafield, experienced a similar brush with neighbors and municipal officials.
The Town of Delafield, which had jurisdiction over the club, was considering closing down the range in the mid to late 1990s as noise complaints from neighbors, many of them newer residents, mounted.
The club then asked to be annexed to the city with the promise of operating for fewer hours. When that happened, the club's troubles eased and membership has increased slowly, said club president David Hickey.
The club, established in 1954, is squeezed in between commercial and residential development and the remnants of open spaces that were once common in central areas of the county.
Noise often traced elsewhere
Hickey said that when the city gets complaints about noise, often it can be traced back to residents of large tracts of land shooting on their own property.
"With fairly open areas, some property owners still shoot in their backyards," Hickey said.
Dick Bennett, owner of Boxhorn Big Muskego Gun Club, said the range protection law has allowed shooting ranges to operate without fear of being harangued by neighbors, especially those who move into the area and are surprised to discover a nearby range.
"Clubs are not having to spend their treasuries on defending themselves in court," said Steve Anderson, who owns the Wern Valley Sportsmen's Club in Genesee and operates the state-owned McMiller range.
Neighbors needs considered
Ranges try to be good neighbors by limiting their hours of operation to early evenings and weekends, Bennett said.
Competitive shooting developed in England in the later part of the 18th century with trap shooting. Live birds were released from traps on the command of the shooter. By the late 1800s, birds were replaced with mechanically propelled clay targets.
Waukesha area shooters fire at clay disks a little more than 4 inches in diameter, which are propelled skyward from a spring-loaded machine usually kept in a small trap house.
Gunners stand behind a trap house and launch operators send the clay targets in varying directions outward from the house to test shooters' skills.
A gunner calls "pull" when ready and is allowed to shoot once. The disk need not be shattered to be considered hit. If a piece is knocked off, it counts as a strike.
The longer shots of trap, ranging on average from 33 to 45 yards, are similar to shots taken during pheasant and duck hunting.
Shorter distance shots that mimic grouse and woodcock hunts can be taken on skeet ranges. This form originated in the United States in the 1920s.
'Sporting clays' a hit, too
The newest form of shooting entertainment is sporting clays, which originated in England more than 60 years ago as another way to develop wing shooting skills. It was introduced to the U.S. in the early 1980s and is a fast growing shotgun sport.
On a sporting clays course, shooters are presented with a wide variety of targets that simulate the flight path of game birds such as flushing, crossing, incoming and other angling shots.
Courses are laid out in natural surroundings and typically include five or 10 shooting "stations" with shooters moving from one station to the next that presents shooters with a different type of shots. There are even special "rabbit" targets that skitter across the ground.
Gun clubs have long history
Many of the gun clubs here have histories that date back to the early and middle part of the previous century.
The Valley Rod and Gun Club in the Town of Merton began as a social club in the 1940s, according to president John Shell, who has been a member since 1965.
The club owns 58 acres about one-half mile off of Camp Whitcomb Road.
Surrounded by wetland and farms, the club has not had many noise complaints from neighbors, many of whom are club members, Shell said.
Although it's one of the smaller clubs in the county, it still restricts shooting times to keep on good terms with neighbors, he said.
The ranks of the club, which runs a Tuesday night trap league, have held steady over the past few years at 50 to 60 members. The club, like many other shooting ranges, allows deer hunters to sight in rifles two weeks before the gun deer season.
"We haven't had too much trouble," Shell said of noise complaints. "We just shoot one night a week under lights."
The Lakeview Club in Muskego has been operating for 65 years, with Loreen and Sam Klauser running it for the last 11. Loreen Klauser takes care of the shooting range side of the business while Sam Klauser runs the on-site restaurant/tavern, Hunter's Nest.
The couple were national shooting champions in 1969 for the Amateur Trap Shooting Association. She started shooting trap in the early 1960s but gave it up when they took over Lakeview.
The couple have been married for 40 years. He's from the north side of Milwaukee. She's from St. Francis.
"We were looking to buy a bar and saw in the paper that this place was for sale," Loreen Klauser said. "When we saw it had a shooting range, that was the deciding factor."
Popularity shoots up
She said the sport has grown in popularity after being less popular in the early 1990s.
"When we took over, the club had only 30 teams on its leagues and now it's nearing 100, including the Milwaukee Union League and the Milwaukee Industrial League," she said. "It's a good sport. It's a family sport that dads and moms can do."
When asked if it was unusual for a woman to excel at the sport, she snapped back, "Annie Oakley shot trap."
Tucked on the undeveloped shore of Big Muskego Lake, Lakeview has had few complaints about shooting noise, she said.
"We've been lucky when it comes to (a lack of) development," she said.
Klauser's neighbor to the south, Dick Bennett, said development pressure is being lifted from Big Muskego Lake because the state Department of Natural Resource is buying up shoreline to protect the natural resource for wildlife.
Bennett and his wife, Lois, have run their club for 32 years, purchasing it from Louis Boxhorn.
Bennett and Boxhorn worked at Louis Allis Co., a former manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, where Bennett was manager of manufacturing engineering.
"I was a trap shooter and wanted to work in the business," he said.
Noise complaints peaked in the 1970s as land around the lake was being developed for new houses, Bennett said.
"We understand we make noise and people have to live with us," Bennett said. "We try to be good neighbors."
Membership has increased to 1,200 after dipping in the early 1990s, he said.
"We haven't seen downsizing (of club members) lately, and we're surprised we didn't see a downsizing after the Sept. 11 (terrorist attack)," he said. "Last year was one of our best years."
NEIGHBORS AT ODDS
GUN CLUBS FEEL THE HEAT FROM FAST-GROWING RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Waukesha County has nine gun clubs, many of them offer winter leagues, which allows shooting to continue year-round. People and businesses, who are not happy to find themselves near a gun club, used local noise ordinances to mount legal challenges. The clubs are now exempt from local noise ordinances due to state legislation in 1998.
1 Boxhorn Big Muskego Gun Club
2 Lakeview Trap and Sport Club
3 McMiller Sports Center
4 Wern Valley Sportsmen's Club
5 Milwaukee Casting Club
6 Hartland Sportsman's Club
7 Waukesha Gun Club
8 Valley Rod and Gun Club
9 Menomonee Falls Rod and Gun Club
