Smith: A trapshooting connection

Muskego — The overdue summer evening was heated and muggy; mosquitoes buzzed through the air and bullfrogs croaked from the nearby shallows of Big Muskego Lake.

Depending on preferences and abilities, it was time to retire to the air-conditioned indoors or head outside and make the most of the remaining daylight.

For Loreen Klauser of Muskego and Jessie Strasser of Waterford, there was only one place to be — the trapshooting field.

They grabbed their shotguns and gathered on the grassy expanse of Lakeview Rod and Gun Club.

It’s a place the two feel completely at home. Through their impressive accomplishments, it’s also a place they feel empowered.

And although Klauser and Strasser are separated by two generations, it’s a common ground that evokes ageless memories and shared experiences.

* * *

Klauser, who politely declined to give her age, shot her first round of trap at Lakeview Rod and Gun Club in 1961.

She was introduced to the sport by Sam Klauser, whom she would later marry.

She remembers hitting seven out of 25 clay targets in her first round.

“Once I tried it, I loved it,” Klauser said. “It was something totally new for me. I focused on it.”

She improved quickly, too, and four years later she was the best female trapshooter in Wisconsin.

Trapshooting became a central part of her personal and professional life. She and Sam purchased Lakeview and continue to own the shooting club as well as adjacent Hunters Nest restaurant and bar.

In many regards, trapshooting has changed over the years. In the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, it was common for Milwaukee-area companies to sponsor shooting teams and leagues. Loreen Klauser worked at Allen-Bradley for several years and was a member of the corporate trap team.

But one thing has remained constant — the target doesn’t know if a male or female fired the shot.

“She kicked all the

Loreen Klauser was a leading figure in Wisconsin trapshooting as a competitor for about three decades.

Her accomplishments included winning four Wisconsin Lady Singles titles (1965, 1977, 1982 and 1986) and two Lady Doubles (1966 and 1980).

She was the Wisconsin Lady All-Around Champion in 1984 and was named to the Wisconsin All-State Team in 1965, 1977 and 1982.

Teaming with Sam, the pair won the World Husband/Wife Championship in 1965. The competition was held by the American Trapshooting Association in Vandalia, Ohio.

Loreen Klauser managed to hit all those targets and win all those titles with a highly unorthodox technique — she shot cross-eyed. Although her left eye is dominant, she shot right-handed.

“Nobody would intentionally teach you that way,” Klauser said. “But I did it from the start and never felt compelled to change.”

Klauser was inducted into the Wisconsin Trapshooting Hall of Fame in 1993.

* * *

Jessie Strasser, 14, began shooting trap three years ago.

She was motivated by her parents, Tom and Melissa Strasser, who both shoot and hunt. It didn’t hurt that her older brother Wyatt, 16, also had started shooting.

“They are so competitive,” Tom Strasser said.

Like many youngsters across the U.S., Jessie Strasser also benefited from a significant change in the shotgun sports landscape — the Scholastic Clay Target Program is active in many clubs and schools, including Waterford High School.

She joined the Waterford Wolverines Shooting Team as a sixth-grader.

The SCTP provides kids from elementary grades through high school and college with the opportunity to participate in trap, skeet and sporting clays, as well as bunker trap, trap doubles, international skeet and skeet doubles.

The Waterford team is made up of elementary through high school students from the Waterford Union High School District. The team participates in a conference that includes area teams; it also travels to state, regional and national events.

Strasser’s first attempts on the trap range weren’t spectacular. She shot 3 out of 25. On another occasion, she failed to break a bird on a round of 25.

“I wasn’t content,” Strasser said. “Thankfully, that hasn’t happened again.”

In fact, Strasser has become so skilled that these days single digits are only used to describe the targets she doesn’t hit.

In July, at the SCTP Nationals in Ohio, she broke 100 straight on the way to winning the intermediate advanced girls trapshooting national championship.

Her score of 198 out of 200 was the highest of any female shooter at the event, which included high school and college-aged participants.

Strasser also won the national girls intermediate advanced double trap title. Later in the summer, she took first place in girls intermediate competitions for bunker trap, double trap and skeet at the International SCTP Championships in Colorado.

She had played many of the “ball” sports; now she prefers to concentrate on shotgun sports.

“I’ve really enjoyed learning how to shoot and all the challenges and discipline that goes with it,” Strasser said. “I’ve decided to stick with it.”

* * *

Getting good at trapshooting isn’t easy, inexpensive or quick. As Strasser was learning, her parents would take her to area trapshooting facilities, including Lakeview.

There she met Klauser, owner of the facility and holder of a sterling trapshooting legacy.

The two hit it off, Klauser said.

“She is a joy to be around,” Klauser said. “And I guess we had something in common.”

There aren’t many trapshooters of either gender who have hit 100 straight. Klauser recalls the first time she did it in competition.

“Getting toward the end, I couldn’t even hear myself yell ‘pull’,” Klauser said. “Then when I hit the final target, everything went peaceful.”

On the trap field recently, the two bantered about how they deal with nerves and high expectations.

Strasser gets great support from her parents as well as the coaching staff with the Waterford Wolverines, led by head coach Don Grundy.

When asked who her role model is, Strasser doesn’t hesitate.

“It’s Loreen,” Strasser said. “I really look up to her.”

After Strasser won her first national titles in July, she couldn’t wait to tell one special person about her accomplishments.

Strasser had her parents drive her to Lakeview so she could tell Klauser in person.

“It brought tears to my eyes, I was so excited for her,” Klauser said.

Klauser is now retired from competitive shooting. Strasser is just beginning her career.

When Klauser was a rising trapshooting star, opportunities were few. Strasser, on the other hand, can reasonably strive for a college scholarship, a spot on the U.S. Junior Olympic team or perhaps more.

“I’d like nothing better than to see her hit all her goals,” Klauser said. ” I’ve had a fun and fulfilling career in the shooting sports. I’ll be rooting Jessie on, no matter where the path takes her.”