Missouri Trappers Association February 2011 Report

President — Doren Miller, 26500 Pike 244, Clarksville, MO 63336; phone: 573-242-3319

Vice President — Robbie Page, 108 McCulley Street, New Franklin, MO 65274; phone: 660-888-2369; e-mail: trapperpage@sbcglobal.net

Secretary — Charlie Brown, 7130 Drury Lane, Maplewood, MO 63143; phone: 314-644-1364; e-mail: charliet1961@SBCGlobal.net

Treasurer — Paul Webb, 124 Mooreview Dr., Gravois Mills, MO 65037; phone: 573-374-2768

Conservation Director — Rick Friedrich, 11504 Hawk Hill Lane, Booneville, MO 65233; phone: 660-621-2131

NTA Director — Ron Pantry, Rt. 1 Box 84, Lancaster, MO 63548; phone: 660-457-2192

FTA Director — Henry A. Wendt, P.O. Box 123, Couch, MO 65690; phone: 417-938-4519

Membership Options:

• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
• Lifetime membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $365

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

MTA Secretary
Charlie Brown, 7130 Drury Lane, Maplewood, MO
63143; phone: 314-644-1364; e-mail: charliet1961@SBCGlobal.net

http://www.motrappers.org

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Hi guys, this was my Dec. report

Just a note. We lost one of our own, Mr. George Scalf of Iowa. He will be missed.

Thanks to Clay McDaniel and Scott Beshears, we found a trailer for the Ways and Means committee.

Things here are busy and getting busier. That’s all for now. Be careful out there and catch some fur.

I guess first of all I need to apologize for my report last month. I don’t know what happened for sure. I was right on the deadline. I’m writing this on the way home from the clinic in District 6. We got to see some new faces and some old faces. We did some fur handling & grading. Dale had a nice group of guys there who wanted to learn. Thanks to Charlie for letting us use the facilities. It was pretty cold, but some of the guys went out and set some traps for demos.

I hope you have already applied for your number for the auctions. If not, call Jim Weberry at 573-543-2130 and get it set up. Our auctions are coming up real quick, Jan. 29th and Feb. 12th. If you don’t have fur to sell, but have some time to help out, it would sure be appreciated.
The fur prices seem to be a touch better this year. Hope you’ve had fun. It’s really a busy time for us so I will keep this short. Salutations.

— Doren Miller

DISTRICT 6 REPORT

On Janunary 1st District 6 hosted a trapping and fur handling program near Laurie, with about 25 folks attending. As always, everyone had a pretty good time. Doren and Lynn came down and were the center of the show as they skinned and put up fur. The “I didn’t know that” comments were uttered by many, and most, if not all, of the trappers present came away with some new tips to help them in putting up quality fur. Doren also bought some fur, and the prices were impressive. Thanks to Doren and Lynn for the time they put in to come so far, and thanks to all that attended.

We are always looking for ways to improve these clinics. I feel that as we develop a game plan in the future we’ll be able to put on better programs. Getting so much information out in such a short amount of time can be difficult- it’s easy to overwhelm folks with all of the things we try to teach. It is obvious that a two-day clinic makes for a much smoother presentation. I look forward to working more with trappers, the MTA and the MDC on these programs. Our future depends on the continuation of good, solid sharing of information with our fellow trappers.
One other quick point- I did a quick, informal poll on the ages of those in attendance. Taking into account the obvious fibbing that went on (Jim Homan and Judy Pickett are NOT in their 20’s!) the ages were two sub-teenagers, one teenager, one twenty-something, three thirty-somethings, and the rest were older than 40. Think about this. Ponder on it some, and tell me where the trappers are going to come from ten or twenty years from now.

I think we’d better get a program going to get into our schools.

This could be an exciting year for the MTA. If we can get the details figured out we will become owners of our own grounds/building in the near future. Let me say this- this will happen if we get over our “old” conservative ways of thinking. For folks that worry about the cost of such an endeavour let me tell you that money will not be an issue. If we can get this organization to the status it needs to be to make donations tax-deductable then the money is there. There are plenty of benevolent trapping-friendly folks ready to help. There are also grants available. Let’s get this deal figured out- I believe it could be the best thing to happen to this organization in, well, maybe forever.

One point I’d like to make- I believe it would be a mistake to put a building up on property we do not own. If we are to do this, let’s do it “right”. Also, we may be making a mistake in the idea of trying to purchase a piece of property and erecting a new building in the first place. I have a hard time believing that with the economic situation being as it is and the subsequent financial woes that have befallen so many that there isn’t a suitable piece of property/building(s) that would work for us, in the central Missouri area. I hope we’ll have more information on this plan by the time the Spring meeting comes around.

Oh yeah, we’re still trappin’, too. We’ve done pretty good on beaver, and have caught some of the prettiest, and biggest coyotes ever. We’ll be laying the ‘cat line out this week- I tried the other day to get it started on the forcast of 1/2” of rain. 4.77” later the ‘cat and grey fox line was more suited toi ‘rats and otter! Man, you gotta love it! “Till next time, take care.

— Dale Verts

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