www.arkansastrappers.org
President — Aaron Hitchcock, 9331 Sister Lane, Mulberry, AR 72947; 479-997-5361;
AHITCH81@YAHOO.COM
Vice President — Charlie Bass, 6755 Bethesda Lane, Batesville, AR 72501; 870-698-1154;
trapper38@hotmail.com
Secretary/Treasurer — Gary Gray, PO Box 493, Arkadelphia, AR 71923; 870-403-2469;
secretary@arkansastrappers.org
NTA Director — Mike Fischer, 13823 Masoner Road, Lonsdale, AR 72087; 501-939-2325
Editor — Gary Helms, 1092 Vanderbilt Rd., Texarkana, AR 71854; 870-772-3834; TrapperGWH@aol.com
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $22
• Family membership with subscription — $27
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
ATA, Secretary/Treasurer
Gary Gray
PO Box 493
Arkadelphia, AR 71923
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hello, Trappers,
I hope everyone had safe and enjoyable trapping season.
By the time this comes out, a lot of the spring events will be over.
District 1 held a meeting in Harrison in March, and looked over the fair grounds to make plans for the spring convention on May 10th. We had a little smaller crowd than normal, but we had 2 new members join the ATA.
The NAFA sale in late April, early May will be over, and I hope everyone who shipped fur received good prices.
The next events for the ATA will be the fall Convention at Petit Jean State Park on September 13 2014. The coordinators for the convention, workshop, and fursale, will be decided on at the spring board meeting in early May.
I rode with Scott and Dub to Arkadelphia, and met with reps from Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, to look over the Fair grounds and make plans for the upcoming NTA South East Regional Convention in Oct 2014. A lot of the details worked out on who is doing what, and with all the help it should be a great event.
I got to do a little turkey hunting, before I had surgery on my left eye, and heard a lot of gobbling, and saw a couple of longbeards, but no shots. Maybe next year since I can see now.
Till next time. Hoping your traps are full. — Aaron Hitchcock
EDITOR’S REPORT
Temperature wise, it’s been a mild Spring this year…so far. I’m thankful for that! I’m sure Summer will be as hot as ever, and Fall won’t get here quick enough for me. I’m not sure if my old body doesn’t tolerate the heat as well as it used to, or if in fact it really is hotter than it used to be. Either way, I’m just glad that trapping season is a Winter time activity!
It’s hard to put a report together this time of year. (This is due the first of May). It’s usually quiet between the fur sale and Spring Board meeting. As you read this, The Board meeting on the 3rd and the Spring convention on the 10th will both be over with. I’ll post how both of those went in next month’s report.
If you attended our fur sale, you probably noticed Steve “Wildman” Wilson being followed around by a video camera. He was there finishing up an upcoming Trapping episode for his show. It began with him traveling to Southwest Arkansas and following two of our District 7 members on their trapline. Brad Townsend and Cameron Tatom are the trappers in the video. I think everyone involved did an excellent job and I’m proud of the way these two young men represented our association and all trappers! The show has already aired, but can still be seen online at http://youtu.be/zFzzfbrWwMg. You can also view it on our website at arkansastrappers.org. This was Wildman’s first trapping episode, and I think he nailed it!
Aside from District meetings, The next big thing for our members is our Fall convention at Petit Jean State Park September 12th and 13th. It’s not too early to start planning now. Mather Lodge is open. All 24 guest rooms and other facilities at the lodge are now open. There are also 33 cabins and 125 campsites available for rent. Call 1-800-264-2462 for lodge and cabin reservations, 501-727-5441 for campground reservations. Dardanelle, Russellville, and Morrilton have hotels available also.
Dates have been set for the NTA Southeast Regional convention. The event will be in Arkadelphia at Clark County Fairgrounds on October 10-12. While this is a NTA SE Regional, we have 4 other states that will help us put this on — Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. Should be a good time for all. If you want to volunteer please contact Dub Shankle at 479-997-5062 or Tim Ross at 870-678-3473. In the past, these have been Spring conventions and struggled to break even due to low attendance. This will be NTA’s first attempt at a Fall convention, and I’m expecting a big turnout! I’ll post more info here as it becomes available.
This month’s tip is acquire permission early! Unless you’re trapping on public or family owned land, written permission is required in Arkansas. Don’t put it off till the last minute. Someone may beat you to it. Most landowners welcome experienced trappers onto their property. By going out and getting permission now, you can rest easier knowing you have a place to trap this next season and the landowner is assured that someone will be there to help control populations on his property. It’s a win – win for both of you. Remember to close gates behind you and pick up any trash you see, and you’ll be welcomed back for many years! Until next month! — Gary Helms
DISTRICT 1 REPORT
We had a good turn out for our April meeting at the Whole Hog Cafe in Fayetteville. Everyone is ready for the Spring Convention that District 1 is hosting in Harrison on May 10 (which will be over by the time this is published). I want to thank all the vendors and instructors who helped with the convention. I also want to thank Bill Duke, with Duke Traps, for their donation of traps for this event.
Currently District 1 has 161 households. The number of members is actually higher since some of the households are family memberships. We have more than doubled our memberships since we went to districts. I want to thank all our members who regularly attend meetings as well as ATA events such as the workshop and conventions.
Stay tuned as District 1 has a couple of things coming that we think will help make the district and ATA better. Until next time, feel free to contact me at info@arkansastrappers.org or 479-283-7004. — Wayne Watson
DISTRICT 7 REPORT
If you missed our last meeting at Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMA on April 5th, I’m told you (and I) missed some good fried fish! Not to worry…we’re doing it again! This time we’ll be at Millwood State Park at the pavilion on June 7th for a picnic at the lake. We’ll start at 9:00 with trapping demo’s and eat around noon. Bring a fishing pole and spend the day with us! I’m still working on getting us a trapping supply vendor. For more info contact Brad Townsend @ 870-703-2728. Everyone’s welcome…Hope to see y’all there! — Gary Helms
