Guns fun for women too

Its motto is unique -- "girls with guns have more fun" -- but the aim of Allied Illinois Markswomen is much like most clubs.

Charity and social activity are among the highlights for AIM members, who meet each month year-round and will have more trap shooting practices and events when the weather gets warmer.

"Much of what we do is about hunter safety and education and safety clinics and instructions regarding the shooting," said June Pittinger of Lake In the Hills. "We put on two fun events each year, including a charity classic that in the past has raised money for multiple sclerosis or breast cancer research."

Last fall, AIM members had a charity duck shoot event for the Working Against Violent Environments agency serving northern Illinois.

The event, which was at St. Charles Sportsmen's Club off Keslinger Road in Elburn, was like golf because you keep score and handicap the players. But it's done with guns instead of clubs, and camouflage fatigues instead of shorts and golf shirts.

At the event, with the shout of "pull," shooters lined up in the shooting square to wait for their turns to fire away at the clay discs that fly out of the trap chutes.

Participants took 75 shots to see how many targets they could hit, but they also participated in various "situations" for fun.

"We simulate things like drinking a cup of coffee, then all of the sudden the ducks start flying out of the brush," said Andrea Ema. "You have to put your coffee down, get your gun and shoot."

Members have various reasons for joining the club.

"Most women get involved in this after their kids are gone from the home, and they have more time to devote to themselves," said Ema, who operates a dental lab in Geneva.

"Someone has to spark your interest in this, whether you grew up with it, like I did, or a husband or boyfriend exposes you to it."

Jodi Schoeck of Lake in the Hills joined AIM and participates in its events mainly because she was looking for something she could do with her father.

"My game is golf," Schoeck said, "but my dad wouldn't take that up, so I got into this."

Schoeck said the sport of shooting has been "a lot more fun than I thought it would be" and that she enjoys the social aspects of the organization in meeting new friends.

"The majority of the members of AIM don't hunt, but enjoy shooting the shot gun as a sport, and shooting at moving targets," Ema said.

Trap shooting can also work as a recreational sport for married couples.

"We're empty nesters now and we wanted to take up something that we could do together," said Becky Jo Tabone of DeKalb after shooting two rounds with her husband Keith.

"We have taken on some interesting hobbies since our children left the house," Keith added. "We do the shooting, we do ballroom dancing and we drive Harleys."

Like many other recreational groups in which supplies or travel expense is a factor, the area shooting clubs are feeling a bit of a pinch as well.

Ema said that the sport "is like a social club, but it is down a little bit this year because the high cost of shells and gasoline (to travel to sites)."

More information about the AIM organization is available at www.girlswithguns.net