Illinois Trappers Association April-May 2010 Report

President — Paul Kelley, P.O. Box 75, Hudson, IL 61748; phone: 309-726-1443; e-mail: pkelleyp@aol.com

Vice President — Carroll Williams RR4 Box 135, Fairfield, IL 62837; phone: 618-516-2275;
e-mail: Carroll.Williams@gmail.com

Secretary — Dean Corgiat, 620 Clarksville Rd., Pittsfield, IL. 62363; phone: 217-285-4984;
e-mail: dcorgiat@verizon.net

Treasurer — Timothy M. Kelley, 17458 Tice Rd., Petersburg, IL 62675; phone: 217-632-3521;
e-mail: tmkelley69@warpnet.net

Membership Options:

• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $20

Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:

ITA, Treasurer
Tim Kelley, 17458 Tice Rd.
Petersburg, IL 62675

http://ilta.we.bs

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

I hope everyone has taken notice of Kyle Kaatz’s open house coming April 10 in conjunction with the FBU banquet later that night at Bucks Barn. RSVP by March 25 for the banquet. Tickets are $25. This event sounds like a fun time with great food, drink and camaraderie. FBU is the sister organization to NTA so the funds will be wisely utilized. Hope to be there myself!

The ITA board of directors met on Feb. 13 at Maverick Steakhouse in Litchfield for our quarterly meeting. Kraig Kaatz attended to discuss some issues with our board. One thing he brought up was the fact that there are far too many posts on the Internet forums with little thought to what is being gleaned from the conversations by our adversaries. Do you not think that the ARF’s are watching every move we make, including pictures and comments? Our cable restraint legislation would have passed if not for a picture that was used to discredit our testimony. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words was never more evident than what the vote indicated after the circulation of that picture to our Representatives. Be more cautious!

One early comment on the fur auctions for this coming year: We will remain at Odell again on the second Saturday of January for our northern sale. There is some question about the Fairfield location at this time. We’ll keep everyone posted should this location change.

This is also rather early, but to inform everyone of our “Young Trappers Camp” scheduled for Sept. 10-12 at Lotus Point Camp at Lake Carlyle. This is for all those kids under 18 that by law are required to take the eight-hour class. We have stretched the class out to a full weekend with more hands on for the participants, plus the fun of camping out while doing so. The camp is entirely FREE, so talk your mom and dad into bringing you down. It’s a great time plus as great of learning experience as you will find for young’uns.

The Deer/Turkey Classic was held for the last time at the Interstate Center on Feb. 26-27-28. Next year’s event will be back at the Civic Center in Peoria, where it was seven or eight years ago. We had a good crowd overall, and sold several memberships and a few tanned pelts. Neal Graves and Donnie Thompson helped me get set up on Thursday afternoon, and worked the booth on Friday along with Ron Schneider. I wish to thank Jaime Larrea, Neal Graves, Chris & Warrren Kaforski, Wes Johnson, Leon Bilbrew, Joe McCall and Ron Schneider, plus Tim Kelley for their help at the ITA booth for the duration of this event.

One event that will be over with by the time you read this is the IGOLD day in Springfield on March 10.
If you have been notified earlier for the assembly of Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in our state capitol, please try to make the trip to help inform our state legislators of our concerns of Second Amendment Rights and Concealed Carry.

At the last BOD meeting, we discussed developing criteria for the Hall of Fame so the nominations can come from a broader group of people. Mike Gragert will have the criteria for the Hall of Fame printed up in this issue or one very soon.

Well, we have gone too long without the excitement of legislation to change or limit our trapping pursuits. Rep. Ed Sullivan JR. of Mundelein introduced HB-5799 on Feb. 10. The bill as written would remove restrictions on bodygripping traps. This, in fact, wasn’t the intent, but nevertheless, opposition would be in line. We met with Rep. Sullivan on the 23rd to discuss the proposed bill. The bill has been assigned to House Ag of whom Brandon Phelps is chairman. His Springfield number is 217-782-5131. Proposed language was to be afforded us by Friday the 26th. Haven’t seen anything yet, so we’ll be in Springfield until this is resolved.

Until next month, get involved today so we can continue to trap tomorrow.

— Paul Kelley

P.S. — Alicia Champ is working on getting a Web site up and working for our association. I don’t know much yet, but she’ll get it done!

TREASURER’S REPORT

Greetings to all,

The ITA sponsored our second fur auction of the year on Jan. 23 at the Wayne Co. Fairgrounds in Fairfield, Illinois. Attendance was good considering the fur market reports leading up to the auctions. We had 30 sellers and a dozen (or more; the exact number escapes me right now) buyers. As with the auction we held earlier in the month at Odell, prices were somewhat depressed compared to recent years. However, given the current economic circumstances, I think our sellers were pleasantly surprised by the relatively strong prices they received. I’ve posted the results in the table, below:

Results from Fairfield Fur Auction on 1/23/10:

Listed by Species; Size; No. Offered; No. Sold; Low; High and Avg.

Raccoon (dry):

4X — 15; 15; $8.50; $17; $14.57

3X — 111; 111; $0.25; $15.25; $12.36

2X — 214; 211; $0.50; $14.50; $10.13

XL — 171; 171; $0.50; $8; $5.67

L — 104; 99; $0.25; $2.75; $1.79

M — 27; 24; $0.25; $1.75; $0.94

S — 2; 2; $0.25; $0.25; $0.25

Raccoon (green):

3X — 58; 58; $6; $14; $10.30

2X — 136; 136; $0.25; $14; $9.03

XL — 245; 240; $0.25; $11; $6.46

L — 330; 307; $0.25; $6.75;$2.88

M — 128; 116; $0.25; $1.00; $0.68

S — 9; 9; $0.25; $0.25; $0.25

Muskrat (dry): 3X — 4; 4; $8.25; $8.25; $8.25

2X — 17; 17; $3.00; $8.50; $5.44

XL — 56; 56; $1.00; $8.00; $4.95

L — 23; 23; $0.25; $5.50; $4.23

M — 7; 7; $1.00; $2.25; $1.96

Kit —3; 2; $0.25; $1.00; $0.63

Muskrat (green): 2X —1; 1; $6.00; $6.00; $6.00

XL — 3; 3; $5.75; $6.50; $6.00

L — 11; 11; $0.25; $5.50; $3.30

M — 5; 5; $0.50; $3.75; $1.15

Coyote (dry) — 16; 16; $0.25; $16.00; $6.52

Coyote (green) — 6; 3; $1.00; $3.00; $1.67

Beaver (dry): Blanket — 3; 3; $13.50; $13.50; $13.50

XL — 3; 3; $11.50; $11.50; $11.50

L — 10; 10; $1.00; $17.50; $12.35

M — 8; 8; $5.00; $17.00; $7.56

S — 8; 8; $4.50; $7.00; $4.81

Beaver (green): L — 2; 2; $8.50; $9.50; $9.00

S — 2; 2; $1.75; $8.00; $4.88

Mink (dry): XL — 16; 16; $6.00; $13.25; $12.59

L — 7; 7; $3.00; $10.50; $8.14

Mink (green): XL — 2; 2; $11.00; $12.00; $11.50

L — 2; 2; $10.00; $11.50; $10.75

Opossum (dry): 2X — 7; 7; $2.25; $2.50; $2.42

XL — 21; 19; $1.00; $2.00; $1.94

L — 7; 7; $0.50; $1.00; $0.93

M — 13; 13; $0.50; $1.00; $0.96

Opossum (green): XL — 12; 12; $0.50; $0.50; $0.50

L — 23; 23; $0.25; $0.30; $0.29

M — 6; 6; $0.25; $0.25; $0.25

S — 2; 1; $0.25; $0.25; $0.25

Skunk (dry): L — 5; 5; $1.00; $1.00; $1.00

Skunk (green): L — 4; 4; $7.00; $7.00; $7.00

Red Fox (dry) — 3; 3; $9.00; $13.00; $10.83

Red Fox (green) — 3; 2; $2.00; $6.00; $4.00

On behalf of the ITA, I want to thank all of the sellers, buyers and graders who supported this auction and helped make it a successful event. I also want thank all of the individuals who helped prepare, operate and clean up after the auction, particularly our auction chairperson, Carroll Williams. Rather than risk hurt feelings by trying to list everyone individually and omitting someone’s name, I’d prefer to just say “Thank you” to all those who helped our association.

Alicia Champ is currently working on setting up our new Web site. It should be operational shortly and we will pass along the new site address and any other pertinent information regarding that site in future columns. Members and other interested parties will be able to access upcoming events schedules, legislation updates, etc. on the site. We hope the Web site will become a place you will check frequently to stay abreast of trapping issues in our state.

On a final note, we distributed approximately 30 Young Trappers Camp flyers at the Midwest Deer and Turkey Classic in Bloomington on the weekend of Feb. 26-28. Hopefully, most of those who picked up a flyer will choose to send a youngster to the camp. The camp is a three-day, free event and, in addition to the other camp activities, attendees receive their IDNR Trappers Education certification. So, it is a great opportunity to gain invaluable experience for a young trapper. Spaces are limited to the first 30 to sign up, so if you have any kids (or young adults) you think might be interested, please don’t hesitate to call Mike Gragert or Paul Kelley for more information or to enroll.

Thanks and God Bless. ’Til next time!

— Timothy M. Kelley

Related Posts

  • No Related Posts Found

Leave a Reply