Shooter's Club looks to grow

IRONWOOD - A top gun event Saturday was a way to showcase new features at Superior Range Shooter's Club, said Gary Kusz, president.

Mike Drier won the Top Gun event and received a trophy. Gary Lowe won second and Kusz won third - also receiving trophies.

The organization started in 1978 and the new 34 acre pistol, rifle and trapshooting range opened on Black River Road near Copper Peak in 2004, he said. In 15 years the club has used grants and loans to build a $90,000 education center with indoor restrooms, install two trapshooting machines at different elevations, and add a cellphone tower with a WiFi hot spot, he said.

"We're not a rich club and all the work is done by volunteers," Kusz said, noting the approximately 100 members and six core volunteers who do carpentry, electrical, mowing and snow removal.

There is a defibrillator on site and a flashing safety light was added to alert people when someone has walked onto the pistol and rifle range to set up or retrieve targets.

"Anytime you make a safety improvement there is a good chance of getting grant funding," Kusz said.

For years the club used one fixed trap shooting house with a single machine and a portable one was used as a second. A Friends of the NRA Foundation grant made it possible to install a permanent machine in the second trap house, he said.

The club will eventually build a sport clay shooting range with eight trap houses that throw incoming and outgoing clay targets along with ground level rabbit targets. The five station range allows shooters to adjust to various moving targets in many different directions, he said.

"It's more like a hunting environment," Kusz said.

Drier, of Ironwood, said having the range is way to have other experienced shooters offer friendly advice when they see a chance to help someone improve. At trapshooting events it is not uncommon to see people lifting their head when the targets are thrown or raise their guns as if they're in the field hunting.

"Most people don't even know they're doing it," Drier said. "On a trap line the shooters pre-aim their guns above the trap house to catch the target coming from either corner."

The range is a way for individuals and families to sit and visit with others who like to shoot, Drier said. There are the competitions but it's really about enjoying a place where everyone's friendly and out to have a good time, he said.

"It brings people together," Drier said. "It's also a great facility. You can shoot trap, pistols, rife and everything."

Robert Facchinello, North Ironwood, said he can shoot on his own property in a rural area. He enjoys using the range because of the people and said the equipment keeps him sharp.

"It's good practice for bird season," Facchinello said.

Lowe, club secretary, said the attendance at the Top Gun event was lower than expected. There were also area golf tournaments, a salmon fishing tournament and a softball tournament.

"Nobody knew," he said. "This is the first time we've done it in a while. Years ago we used to do it all the time."

The improvements and the public events are important, Lowe said. Mercer is the nearest range to the south. Ontonagon is the closest to the east, and Ashland is the closest to the west.

Dues paying members have access to the gates and buildings, he said. Members pay nothing more for targets and have free use of the spotting scope and sand bags.

The members are still predominantly pistol and rifle shooters which makes the 300 yard rifle and pistol range just as valuable, Kusz said. The range hosts an early November public sight-in day for deer hunters to stop by to have qualified people assist them with sighting their rifles just before deer season.

Rifle competitions are often measured in meters and the club is looking at adjusting the range targets to metric.

The DNR uses the facility to teach hunter safety course. The range is also used by 4-H and Camp Superior shooting programs.

With the addition of the education center the club initiated women's shooting clinics this year to familiarize women not already exposed to guns a chance to fire shotguns, pistols and to throw an ax.

"We're thinking about adding an archery range," he said.

There club also holds a spring banquet fundraiser.