New York State Trappers Association August 2009 Report

President — David Leibig, 1375 Warren Rd., Delhi, NY 13753; phone: 607-829-6813; e-mail: beavertrapper64@yahoo.com

Vice President — William Ballou, 4 Noth Street, Camden, NY 13316; phone: 315-245-0960

Secretary/Treasurer — Dale Gamba, 12320 Pople Rd., Cato, NY 13033; phone: 315-626-3710; e-mail: minkman@frontiernet.net

Recording Secretary — Ed Hogan, 1900 SR 48, Fulton, NY 13069; phone: 315-593-2196

NYSTA Newsletter Editor — Angie Berchielli, 3861 SR 85, Westerlo, NY 12193; phone: 518-797-3747

NTA Director — Jim Carmody, 237 Fonda Rd., Waterford, NY 12188; phone: 518-237-3071

FTA Delegate — Ray Van Hoesen, Rt. 3. Box 259, Red Hook, NY 12571; phone: 845-758-2453

Executive Director — David Miller 11311 Gay Rd., Prattsburg, NY 14873; phone: 607-522-4707; e-mail: guarddn@empireaccess.net

Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $20
• 3-year individual with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $50
• Family membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $22
• 3-year family with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $56
• Senior life member (65 or older) — $100

Complete membership application on first page of
association section and send dues to:
NYSTA, Secretary/Treasurer
Dale Gamba
12320 Pople Rd., Cato, NY 13033
http://www.nystrappers.org

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Greetings New York Trappers,

The NYSTA Board of Directors met June 13, 2009. We faced a long agenda, put in a long day and accomplished much. I made a few changes in the way our business meetings are going to be conducted and I believe those changes were favorably accepted by all. I want to thank everyone who attended for their participation and help in working through all the business that needed attending to.

Andy MacDuff, DEC Region 6 Biologist, attended our Directors meeting and gave a full report on what is happening within DEC that is relative to trappers and trapping. Through the cooperative efforts between NYSTA’s JTI Committee and the DEC’s Furbearer Management Team there will be some needed changes to beaver trapping seasons in some Regions as well as a change in muskrat and mink trapping seasons in one region that will provide for those seasons to run concurrently with the beaver season there. Andy also reported that the package of regulation changes that JTI and the FMT have been working on for over two years will see the implementation some of those changes taking place in the upcoming trapping seasons of 2009-2010. However, because there are still a few details of those changes being worked out, those changes won’t be listed in the new Hunting and Trapping Guide for 2009-2010.

Announcements of those changes will be made by DEC at a later date, prior to the start of the trapping seasons this fall. The balance of the regulation changes package should be implemented for the 2010-2011 seasons and JTI will continue to work closely with the FMT to accomplish that. I think all of us will view these changes as very positive steps of benefit to NY’s trappers. I would like to thank JTI and the FMT for all they have accomplished to bring about these favorable changes. I would also like to thank Andy MacDuff for presenting us with a DEC report and updates at the Directors meeting. We are very lucky to have the relationship we have between NYSTA and the Furbearer Team at DEC.

New membership options and dues structure were presented to and approved by the Board. As with everything in today’s economy, NYSTA’s costs are rising. Making the necessary decision to raise dues was not an easy one, but it had to be done. I think It’s been over 10 years since any changes have been made. We were as conservative as we felt we could be and still offer all the benefits we do to our trapping membership. We are again offering a Lifetime Membership option, which is something we have been asked about often, as well as several other options.

NYSTA Treasurer, Dale Gamba, reported that NYSTA can now accept credit cards for transactions. We hope that this will make it more convenient for many folks when applying for memberships, buying NYSTA merchandise, paying for NYSTA auction purchases at conventions, etc. whether it be online over the Internet, through the mail or in person.

Your VP, Wayne Jones, and I are on a dedicated mission to fill vacancies in County Rep. positions as well as to increase memberships in NYSTA. We need help from the Regional Directors in providing names and contact information of members who would be interested in and qualified to fill positions as County Reps in the nearly 30 counties that do not have a NYSTA County Rep.

One of the duties of the Regional Director is to help find qualified people to fill these CR positions in their Regions. If you are a Regional Director and you have counties within your Region without Reps, please start looking for willing and capable members to serve in these positions. Get their names and contact information to me along with your personal recommendations so we can fill these vacant spots with good people. If you are a NYSTA member willing to become more involved in your NYSTA at a local level, please consider becoming a CR. Contact either myself or your Regional Director. If your county has a vacancy, we need you!

Hopefully you have all been able to market your furs at a reasonable price this past season. It has been a tough season for trappers and buyers alike. The decline of worldwide economies has definitely had a negative effect on fur prices.

However, there has always been a demand for quality furs and the fur market is historically destined to rebound at some point in the future. Now is a great time to hone your skills and prepare yourself for that time. Experimenting with new and/or different techniques, lures and tools seems easier when we are less pressured to produce by high fur prices and the resulting increased competition. Take this opportunity to experiment and learn. It will surely pay off well in time.

Speaking of learning, experimenting and new merchandise, Wayne has informed us that both dealer buildings are filled to capacity for our fall convention with a waiting list in case of cancellations!

Wayne also said a large percentage of our tailgater spots are reserved as well. Jim Carmody and Wayne Jones have a dynamite demo list for every day of the NYSTA Fall Convention. This is shaping up to be one of the best conventions in NYSTA’s history. It’s surely one you won’t want to miss. The annual NYSTA Trappers Convention will be held at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Frankfort, NY on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3–5, 2009. Don’t miss it!

It looks like NYSTA will again be hosting the NTA Northeast Regional Convention in 2010. Plans are being made at this time to host that event somewhere in Eastern New York. More information on that will be provided at a later date.

In June of 2011, NYSTA will host the Fur Takers National Convention in Western New York at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds near Dunkirk, NY. Completion of the arrangements for this event are being made at the time of this report.

I hope all of you can make plans to attend one or more of these upcoming conventions as well as our own NYSTA fall convention. These are really shaping up to be a great time for all who attend. The dealer and demo lists along with the other events being planned should put these on your “can’t miss” events list for trappers and their families. Watch for upcoming ads in this publication and others.

If anyone ever has any questions, concerns, comments or suggestions please contact your Regional Director or any of the NYSTA Officers. That is part of our job and we work for you – the trappers of New York State.

Have a safe summer and I hope to see you at one or more of the upcoming conventions.

— John Rockwood

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY REPORT

JUNE MEETING

The June meeting of the Cattaraugus County Trappers Association was held at 7:30 p.m. at the Catt Co Coop. Extension building on the 18th. John Milks reported that we have donated $140. to the 4-H this year for them to buy trophies for the kids exhibiting at the County fair. We do this every year and deem it money well spent. John also reported spending our usual amount to receive matching funds for advertising on our sportsman show.

We also discussed moving the location of our ad in the “Trapper & Predator Caller.” We usually put our ad in the back by the state reports, but wondered if it would be smarter to put it among the articles instead. He was going to check on it.

Andy sent us his report from the State Trappers meeting. Several things were of interest to us. First was a proposed opening of beaver season with muskrat season in November. Last year’s early and cold winter made beaver trapping tough and this might help but we wondered if the pelts would be up to par so early. Another possible change was allowing us to set less than 5 ft. from a muskrat house.

This one made no sense to us as the muskrat population is down and has been down for a number of years. They also proposed raising the dues from $20. to $25. This is unfortunate but not expected. One item of special interest was a possible Fur Takers of America show at the Chautaugua County fairgrounds in Dunkirk. That would put a national show right on our doorstep – very exciting – as long as it didn’t interfere with our annual show. Lots to think about and plan for there.

Derwood Say gave his CANY report and Federation report and we discussed the seemingly endless array of trapping and gun bills that have shown up this year. Some are good, but most are bad. It is time to be very vigilant and keep in contact with our legislators. Lastly we talked about some more demos for our upcoming Sportsman Show.

We meet the third Thursday of every month. Anyone wishing to join should call John at 557-2523.

MAY MEETING

The May meeting of the Cattaraugus County Trappers Association was held on May 21 at the Coop. Extension building as usual. John reported that the Raffle tickets for our Annual sportsmen Show were all printed up and distributed. Now get out there and sell. We’ve got some nice prizes so it just takes a little effort on the part of the members to do their job. John also attended the Northeast Regional show and said it was poorly attended. He talked to the dealers there and they are planning to attend our show in August. They have done well at our show and we hope they continue to do so.

Brian Davis gave a report on the ’09 Envirothon held at Camp Allegany. Nine schools participated with a total of 16 teams and 85 students. The weather was great and a good time was had by all.

Some ads for our show program were turned in with the rest being due as soon as possible. We discussed advertising strategy to get good coverage for our show. Flyers for the show were passed out, but members were warned not to put them up too early as they would be covered up or torn down. The youth SPORTSFEST is July 25 and we’ve been invited to participate to help introduce youth to outdoor sports. Speaking of youth, the kid we are sponsoring to DEC camp has been accepted to attend.

We discussed several bills that are in the works. Seems like ANTIs are coming out of the wood work with this new administration. One of the bills discussed would require our Sportsman Show to be called a Gun Show because there would be several gun dealers there. This is done because they want to regulate Gun shows. Anti’s might be ignorant, but unfortunately they’re not stupid.

Anyone wishing to join should call John at 557-2523. Meetings are the third Thursday of the month. — David Allen

CORTLAND COUNTY REPORT

JUNE MEETING

President Bill Howe called the meeting to order at 5 p.m., June 21, 2009.
Mark Slocum won the 50/50.

President’s list: Bill thanked all who came out this Father’s Day.

Plenty of gun raffle tickets are available. Bill and Shirley helped stock over 19,000 trout in Cortland waters this year. He thinks they have all been caught by now.

Discussion on the FNRA banquet and raffle.

Don’t forget the RONDY this July 10 and 11.

President showed members the monofilament disposal unit that we paid for. Our logo and name is attached to the unit. Let’s hope the public uses it. The Federation fishing derby drew 97 kids and their parents. Nice turn out.

IFH will be having a coyote hunt later this year and the membership decided to try and do one on our own if at all.

Treasurer’s report was accepted as read.

The minutes were accepted as read with a correction to the number of Beaver donated by Bob Gotie. Art needs a new hearing aid or a new job.

Round table:

Les Wedge made motion that we send donation in Loren Sigman’s name to the St Peters Bldg Fund in So. Beloit, IL. Motion carried and the Treasurer will take care of it. Loren was a life member of this Organization and Legislative VP of the NYSCC among other things. He will be missed.
We will not attend the Cortland County Junior Fair this year.

Butch discussed the fur situation again.

Food next month will be by Hugh McDonald.

We discussed a lot of different items from Banquets to Coyote hunts to anti-hunting and trapping legislation.

Motion to adjourn carried at 6:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted.

MAY MEETING

The meeting was called to order by Pres Bill Howe at 5 p.m., May 17, 2009.

There were 16 members present.

Richard Beckwith won the 50/50 and donated the winnings back to the Club.

President’s list: Bill and Shirley helped the DEC stock over 7,500 trout in the Cortland streams and lakes.

We have plenty of gun raffle tickets to sell so take some; we give the gun away in September at the Rendezvous.

Much, I say much discussion on our fur situation. Most sales take place at the Maple Festival and right now we have a little confusion as to what is left. Bob Gotie donated eight Beaver and one Muskrat, thank you Bob. More talk on cost of tanning and shipping. Butch donated the cost of shipping to send furs to Brooklyn. It appears that it is now cheaper to purchase tanned furs for resale than have ours tanned and then returned to us for selling. Postage is nuts.

Les Wedge reported that the Scholarship committee has selected Charles Thibeault from the McGraw Schools as our Scholarship winner this year. Les will notify him and thank the other students that applied for our award but were not successful.

The Treasurer’s report was accepted as given. The report on the Maple Festival was also accepted as given.

There were no corrections to the minutes of the previous meeting.

Round Table:

Bob Gotie noted how pleasant the Carolina weather is compared to ours. He loves it.
Well, Butch brought us back to the fur handling discussion again. It was finally decided that we would not get involved in sending furs to be tanned except our own. Butch gave bill for tanning to Treasurer for payment.

Richard Beckwith discussed fundraising ideas with the Club. The coyote hunt possibilities seem interesting. Richard discussed the PR need for the Club. We should get our name out their in the public view, let them know what we do and who we are. Web Site idea came up, and Richard and Les Wedge will explore the idea. Along with any other ideas they might have.

Greg Schmidt did demo on fleshing board for small critters that he mounts to table with clamp in upright position. Greg fleshed a rat, and even Art thought he could do that without hurting himself.
The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. and the members attacked John Slocum’s pot of meatballs. This seems to be a regular occurrence when John makes those meatballs. Thanks John.

Respectfully submitted.

— Art Manz

EERIE COUNTY REPORT

At our May meeting, we welcomed our latest lifetime member A.J. Pachucinski from Collins. A.J. became our new Erie County NYSTA representative after attending the spring conference near Rochester. He wrote an introduction letter and passed them out at our meeting. In the letter was mention of the need to build up the NYSTA membership in our area, the goals of the new president and vice-president, as well as our lobbyist Dave Miller.

A.J. also mentioned the latest Assembly bills that could be very dangerous to all trappers, as well as the proactive bills (cable restraints). A membership application was also attached. Please consider joining or updating your NYSTA membership today if we all want to continue trapping. A.J. promises to keep us up to date on the legislative front, so we can all work together. Please be sure to request his letter at the next meeting. Check out a neat Web site dedicated to NY trappers: http://nytrappers.proboards.com.

Other meeting news: We talked about the Fair and we decided to feature the beaver. We will construct a beaver dam using our pond. This will be a great topic since beavers have been in the news lately. We will be looking for a mounted beaver for display and still need to tie it all in with the fair’s theme “A Summer Love A Fair.” Any ideas are welcomed. The dates are Aug. 12-23. Our set up will be Tuesday , Aug. 11 at 6 p.m.

Please note this is our regular meeting date. Set up usually takes a few hours or more, so please come and help out. Call Patti 716-337-2556 to sign up to work the booth.

As a reminder, if anyone has a mount to enter, the deadline is July 31. Go to the Fair’s Web site at www.americas-fair.com for a downloadable entry form.

Thanks to Rick for his trap fastening demo. For show and tell he brought in different sized cables, ferrules and stops. Rick mounts his crimpers on a vice for easy use and makes two crimps. He said you will need a good pair of cable cutters which might cost you $25. One last tip was to duct tape your roll of wire for ease of pulling the wire out from the center.

Thanks to Frank Miskey for his trapping demo at Elma Conservation’s Jake’s Day on June 6 and to John Stanley and Rick Wattengel for attending a Boy Scout meeting in Eden on June 1.

The day was soggy for our annual family picnic. Those who arrived enjoyed good food and company. We all stayed nice and dry in the garage, on the porch and under the carport. Our guest who traveled the furthest was Dave Miller, NYSTA lobbyist. We were very pleased that he came to meet some of our membership. We all had a great time talking trapping. What a great show of support from the NYSTA! Please, let’s get together and support the only local group, working to defend your trapping rights. Please Join Today!

Finally, thanks to the following who worked on our adopt-a-highway road on June 23, Debbie, Patti, Rich and Rick. Most of the kids couldn’t make it being hay season. The got the job done and we will have one last date after the fair.

Remember, we still have some club hats for sale and please bring back any borrowed videos.

For club correspondence, send to E.C.T.A. 12580 Jennings Rd. Lawtons NY. 14091.

Our meetings are held the second Tuesday each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Hamburg Rod & Gun Club on Hickox Rd. Anyone interested in trapping should attend.

Next meeting dates: Fair set up Aug. 11 and Sept. 8 at Hamburg Rod & Gun.

— Patti W.

INDEPENDENT FUR HARVESTERS OF CENTRAL NEW YORK

Minutes of Meeting
June 11, 2009
7 Members present

• The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

• Minutes of last meeting were read.

• Treasurer’s report was read and accepted.

OLD BUSINESS

• We still have no response from NYSTA on letters sent in by over 30 members. New names are all that has changed.

• The Friends of NRA Banquet was well attended with several members winning nice prizes. The Banquet raised over $14,000 for the Madison County Chapter.

• Charlie Lamb donated three traps for door prizes last month. Thanks, Charlie.

NEW BUSINESS

• A reminder that this September is an election year for officers.

• We have been asked to hold a Trapper Training Course at the Peterboro Club this fall. Date to follow.

• There was a discussion about holding a Coyote benefit hunt this October. Tentative dates are Oct. 16, 17, 18. This will be voted on and discussed at the July meeting. Please come and give your ideas and support.

• Al LaFrance won the door prize, 1-1/2 Duke trap.

• Bill Howe won a deer video

COUNTY REPORTS

• Bill Howe reported on the Cortland County Trappers fish stocking.

DATES TO REMEMBER

• The Summer Fur Rondy will be held at Nichols Pond on July 10th & 11th. There will be a Trapper Training Course held there that weekend.

• THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON JULY 9 AT 6:30 P.M. As usual, it will be at our clubhouse in Pratts Falls Park. Hope to see everyone there.

PA. TRAPPERS, DIST. 10
CABLE RESTRAINT CLASS
SEPT. 27, 9 A.M. to 1 P.M.
West end Fair Grounds
$15 fee.
Call 610-863-9759 to register

Minutes of Meeting
May 14, 2009
14 Members present

• The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

• Minutes of last meeting were read.

• Treasurer’s report was read and accepted.

NEW BUSINESS

• The club voted to sponsor two items at $100 each for the Friends of the NRA banquet this year. We also purchased a table for the NRA banquet.

• The club received a thank you card from the family of Loren Sigmund.

• The club received a letter from Advanced Strategies thanking us for our donations.

• We now have a current price list from Z+L Trading Post. Anyone wishing to obtain a copy can contact Al LaFrance at 682-2050.

• Al got reimbursed for money he spent on club business.

• At the Women in Nature Program held at the Elbridge Rod & Gun Club, Al LaFrance and Rich Palmer set up our display and did a predator calling demo, answered questions on predator calling. Ron Frodelius had a booth inside where he answered questions on furs and trapping. It was a good eduction day.

• Harvey won the trap raffle.

• Bill Howe gave a very informative demo on how to make and use cubbies that meet the new conibear requirements. Thank you, Bill.

COUNTY REPORTS

• Charlie Lamb reported that the trap tag bill is going well.

DATES TO REMEMBER

The 5th Annual NY Trappers Forum Summer Fur Rondy will once again be held at Nichol’s Pond Park in the Town of Fenner, NY. Approximately 5 miles South of the Village of Canastota, NY, with easy access from the NYS Thruway (I-90) exit 34. There will be trapping demonstrations, trapping supplies for sale or trade, games for the kids, a NYS trapping training education course and once again, a Saturday afternoon dinner catered by Fat Daddy’s BBQ.

There will be no charge for admission, no fees for dealer or tailgater set-ups and primitive camping will be available on site at no charge. Please join us for our 5th Anniversary event which promises to be bigger and better than ever as last year’s event drew trappers and vendors from as far away as Ohio and Virginia.

For more information, please contact Wayne Jones at 315-768-8115 or by e-mail at iluvny2@roadrunner.com.

OSWEGO COUNTY REPORT

MAY 2009

The meeting was called to order.

The newsletter was accepted as given.

The treasurer’s report was given and accepted.

Old business: Nine people went and took part in the highway pick up, thank you all, good job.
We are now Members of the NYS Farm Bureau.

The conventions are coming soon, The NYTRAPPERS rendezvous will be the weekend of July 10.
The trap tag bill is still out there and is doing well.

New business: One of our good friends and members Pat Arnold had emergency surgery and had a stint put in. She is doing well and our best wishes go out to her.

On a sad note, another friend of the sports people, Loren Sigmon, passed away at the end of march. Loren was involved in every outdoors group he could be and will be well missed.

Some of the up and coming things with NYSTA were discussed.

Our next meeting will be our family picnic at the Leather Stocking Club House. Please bring a dish to pass and your own place setting and any other drink you would like the club will furnish hotdogs, hamburgers and rolls as well as coffee.

Respectfully submitted.

— Charles L Lamb JR

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