'He's always laughing and smiling'
—Photo by ERIC PLUMMER Sandpoint resident John Jaeger has been trap shooting in Sandpoint since 1968, and still posts an occasional perfect score.
—Photo by ERIC PLUMMER Jaeger, 83, is known around the shooting range for both his shooting acumen and his great attitude.
—Courtesy photo Jaeger, pictured on the 1952 Gonzaga boxing team, also boxed at Idaho State University on a full ride scholarship.
SANDPOINT — Whether riding a train from Idaho to New Orleans as a boxer in college more than six decades ago, or trying to nail a perfect score of 25 while trap shooting today, Sandpoint’s John Jaeger has always loved to compete.
Jaeger, 83, spent last Sunday like he has many before it, at the Sandpoint Gun Club, blasting clay pigeon targets traveling away from him at 50 miles per hour out of the air with a shotgun.
It’s a pastime he’s enjoyed at the shooting range in Sagle since moving from his hometown of Kellogg to Sandpoint in the late 1960s, with enjoy being the operative word.
“He’s always happy-go-lucky, always comes out for a good time,” describes longtime club member Randy Poelstra. “He’s always laughing and smiling. He’s always been like that.”
Jaeger has led an interesting life, from boxing on full-ride scholarships at Gonzaga and Idaho State, to being the ski patrol chief at Schweitzer for seven years when he wasn’t working for the U.S. Forest Service.
Back in the day, he posted the occasional perfect trap shoot score of 100, but these days admits to hitting between 19-22 of every 25 targets. While admittedly competitive, the scores come a distant second to the camaraderie and still doing what he loves.
“I enjoy the procedure. You’re hitting a moving target. It’s going 50 miles per hour and you have to catch up with it,” describes Jaeger of his hobby. “I’ve shot a few expensive items through a shotgun if you add up the price of ammunition. I wouldn’t mind shooting the rest of my life.”
Like many trap shooters, Jaeger makes his own shotgun shells, which saves a pretty penny when you’re blasting away at the range every Sunday. He says producing his own ammunition is therapeutic, and an accomplishment in its own right.
“It soothes you and you save a few bucks,” he says of packing his own shells. “I like to be able to produce the ammunition and then shoot it.”
When asked the traits that make a strong shooter, Jaeger listed good vision, good coordination having the love to compete. The same traits led him from Kellogg, where he boxed in high school, to a full-ride boxing scholarship at Gonzaga for a year.
He transfered to Idaho State University, where he continued to box for two years against schools like Washington State, Idaho and on one memorable trip in 1953, Louisiana State University.
“It was very competitive. I liked that,” remembers Jaeger of boxing in college.
“From Penn State to Pullman, there was boxing. We had a boxing program in the high school. Those days were the tough days.”
His most memorable win in college came at 119 pounds in a dual against LSU. The Idaho State University boxing team took a train from Pocatello to New Orleans, and were part of the New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Carnival that featured football, basketball, track, boxing and tennis, among other sports.
“(Arlo) Guthrie must have been on that train,” jokes Jaeger of the song “City of New Orleans”. “It was what he sang about.”
For a young kid from Idaho, the trip was an adventure, to say the least, right down to whipping his LSU opponent in the ring.
“It was a fantastic trip really. I’m from Kellogg and I was a kid with my eyes open,” recalls Jaeger. “It was like getting my first pair of new glasses. A whole new world.”
While his boxing days ended long ago, his shooting eye is as sharp as ever. He says the key to excelling at trap shooting is to close off your mind and think only about the next shot.
The toughest part is tuning out the guy on the range next to him who brings his gun up before his turn, a peripheral distraction in a sport known for steely concentration. To combat this, Jaeger puts blinders on his shooting glasses, not unlike the blinkers put on race horses so they can only see what’s in front of them.
The strategy works.
“He recently shot two 25s. He’s a real consistent shooter,” says club member and fellow shooter Doug Bottcher. “It’s nice to have an older guy around, a link to the past. He’s always there to help new shooters. He’s a real benefit to us.”
The Sandpoint Gun Club has 65 total members, some of whom shoot every Sunday starting at 9 a.m. at the range on Gun Club Rd. in Sagle. They’re always looking for new shooters, male or female, of all ages.
The team will soon take part in the annual Spokesman Review Trap Shoot, facing off against other clubs from around the region. Jaeger will be one of a host of Sandpoint shooters trying to post a perfect score when the competition begins, and enjoying the game.
“That smile right there,” answers club president Louis Dash when asked what sticks out most about Jaeger. “Always a great attitude. He’s good about giving advice and helping out, a good person to learn from and be around.”