New York State Trappers Association April-May 2010 Report

President — John Rockwood, 114 County Route 30A, Williamstown, NY 13493; phone: 315-415-4946; e-mail: loggerjohnr@aol.com

Vice President — Wayne Jones, 9152 River Road, Marcy, NY 13403; phone: 315-768-8115; e-mail: iluvny2@roadrunner.com

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

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

Legislative Liaison — Dave Miller, 11311 gay Road, Prattsburg, NY 14873; phone: 607-522-4707

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

FTA Delegate — Ray Van Hoesen, 41 Apple Ring Road, Red Hook, NY 12571; phone: 845-758-2453

JTI Chairman — Al West, 5 Hillcrest Ave., Queensbury, NY 12804; phone: 518-793-3662;
e-mail: agwthird@hotmail.com

Membership Options:

• Junior Membership – under 16 years of age with subscription to the Trapper & Predator Caller and quarterly NYSTA Newsletter — $15/yr

• Basic Membership – any age, NYSTA Newsletter, no subscription to T&PC — $15/yr

• General Membership – any age with subscription to the T&PC and quarterly NYSTA Newsletter — $25/yr

• Family Membership – One magazine subscription to T&PC and the NYSTA Newsletter — $30/yr

• Lifetime Membership – any age with lifetime subscription to T&PC, NYSTA Newsletter, special membership credentials and placque, etc. ­— $750

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

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY REPORT

The February meeting of the Cattaraugus County Trappers Association was held at our usual meeting place at the Catt. Co. Coop. Extension building on the 17th. A communication from member Brian Davis was a request for a donation for this year’s Envirathon. This is a competition day between school teams on environmental subjects, that we have been supporting and we voted to do so again this year. We also voted to once again take out a full page ad for our sportsmen show in the Little Valley Fair book. There was some discussion about the various fur auctions that were around our area and the differences and pros and cons. This was done in an effort to do a better job on our annual fur auction.

It was noted that one of our former members, who used to be very active in his younger days, had just recently died and his name should go on our Sportsman program’s deceased member page.

David reported that invitations to our club’s pot luck dinner were printed and some had been sent. John will send out invitations when he sends out the March newsletter. If things work out right, we should have a big turnout as lots of extra people have been invited.

It was suggested that we should have a knife sharpening demo at our sportsman show if we can find a knowledgeable person to give it.

Derwood Say gave the Catt. Co. Sportsman Federation report and the CANY report and added that he paid our Federation dues while at the meeting.

Anyone interested in joining should contact John Milks at 716-557-2523.

— David L. Allen

CORTLAND COUNTY REPORT

President Bill Howe called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. on Feb. 21. Eleven members were present. Art and Joan Manz were absent due to Art’s recent surgery. Hurry back Art!

Mike Verry won the 50/50 and John Slocum won a Sara Palin pin and some jigs, which were donated by John Hahn.

President’s list:

The next Independent Fur Harvester’s Auction will be March 6 in Pompey. Sign in is at 8 a.m.

Federation dues were paid last month.

A trapper training course is set for April 3. Call Bill Howe (607-756-6763) or Al LaFrance (315-682-2050) to pre-register (required).

The Maple Festival is April 10 and 11. Materials purchased for the Festival were discussed.

Get well cards will be sent to Art Manz and Mike Lafond.

There was no treasurer’s report or acceptance of the previous meeting minutes since the secretary and treasurer were absent.

Round table topics:

Les Wedge mentioned that the 2009 scholarship winner had fulfilled the requirements for receiving the award ($500). Letters went out to schools notifying them of the scholarship for 2010. The number of schools receiving the letters was increased to 14 this year based on Association discussions last summer.   

Les reported on the Taylor Valley Unit Management Plan meeting that he and Mark and John Slocum attended. This meeting was held to identify issues regarding this block of state forests. Of course, keeping trapping as a recreational activity was our concern. Another concern was to make the two small ponds, Calico pond and an unnamed pond of about 20 acres, more accessible for family oriented fishing. The potential impact of natural gas exploration on these lands was also discussed.

Les also read off the results of the NAFA Private Treaty Internet Sale. Species included were muskrats, beavers, raccoons and western coyotes.

All in all, the prices were encouraging.

John Slocum read a letter from state Senator Seward regarding anti-gun bills being introduced.

There was no demo this month and none for next month.

Food was provided by Shirley Howe.

Food next month will be provided by Mark and John Slocum. They said something about cleaning out the freezer.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45.

Respectfully submitted.

— Les Wedge

ERIE COUNTY REPORT

We renewed the following memberships in February: John Witkowski, Jerry Schuler, Tom Puglski, Racheal Smith (Jr) , Matt Rachwal (Jr) , Jim Zybtek, John Blesy family. Welcome new members Mark Boardman and Keith Richards. We first met Mark at our fur demo, then he came to sell furs at our auction. Keith also sold fur with us, and we received a nice letter from him along with his membership. He commended our club on a well-run sale, and for having the Herb Eble Youth Award. He was a good friend of Herb’s and together they belonged to the Erie County Coon Club many years ago. Keith said he wanted to support our club. Hoping to get him to a meeting to hear some more stories.

At our February meeting, we went over some new ideas for improvements to the auction. Rick read the letter he composed concerning the beaver seals. We approved it to be sent to the D.E.C. and the President of NYSTA John Rockwood. It was mentioned that we are invited to attend a sportsmen show at S&S Taxidermy in Springville NY, on Saturday, March 27 from 9 a.m. to 2p.m. We will set up an informational table and will need some a few members to attend. Rick did a short demo on fur handling raccoons. He brought in a few pelts, some still on stretchers, to show the importance of your opening cuts. He noted to take your time with your initial cuts, make them even and be sure not to loose any length on your pelts. As for stretchers, you might need to slightly squeeze the tops of new ones to make them a little more narrow.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 17 for our spring Adopt-a-Highway trash pickup. We will meet at 9 a.m. at Trevett Rd. and Rt. 39 in Springville. Wear boots and gloves, orange vests will be provided. This is our biggest pick up with around 30 bags full at the end of our 2-mile stretch. First-time helpers will need to sign a form for the D.O.T. Please try to help us out and be sure to stay for the FREE pizza party afterwards. There will be two more dates during the summer. Call Patti at 337-2556 to sign up to help.

We forgot to mention a few people who helped out at our last fur handling seminar. Thanks to Jerry Schuler for his assistance and Andy Smith from the Griz shop for setting up a table of his shop items.

Thanks to all for another successful Fur Auction, especially to Auctioneer Charlie Hohman , who yearly donates his time for us and to Jerry & Brian Stedman for hosting our auction at S&S Taxidermy & Archery Pro Shop. From set up, clean up and everything in between, many of our club members pitched in to help, including six of our Junior members. Many fur buyers commented to us that we had a great batch of kids who were courteous and helpful, especially when it came time to load up their furs. The Springville Boy Scouts also did a wonderful job with keeping everyone well fed. Our local furbearer biologists, Ken Baginski and Anne Oyer, spent the day with us, sealing beaver pelts and continuing their muskrat survey. Thank you to our office girls, Deb and Kelly, for their fine computer skills. Sales were up from last year. Here is the breakdown: Total fur sales amount was $2,828 with 243 lots and 453 pelts. We had 21 sellers and 15 buyers. Our commission was $138, and the club bought $173 of furs.

Listed by Species, Average and High

Beaver — $14.28; $32

Coyote — $19.25; $30

Red Fox — $7.89; $21

Gray Fox — $17.20; $30

Raccoon — $5.26; $19.00

Muskrat — $4.38; $7

Mink — $6.63; $9

We had one bag of castor that sold for $8. Beavers held close to last year’s averages, Gray foxes slipped a little and reds held close to last year’s low prices. Raccoon prices were up from last year by a few dollars as expected. And the muskrats sold well with a jump of about $3 higher than last year. Congratulations to all of you who made the grand effort to continue your traplines despite projected lower prices. We can only hope for an even better season next year. To all, thanks for selling with us.

The Cattaraugus County Trappers invited us all to attend their pot luck picnic on April 18 at 2 p.m. at the Cattaraugus United Methodist Church dining hall. Guests are asked to bring a dish to pass, their own drinks (non-alcohol) and table service. They also invited the officers from the NYSTA, Dave Miller, Senator Cathy Young, Assemblyman Joe Giglio and more. Call Dave Allen at 716-257-9045 if you are interested. Patti will have some invites along with the map at our next meeting. This will be a good chance to meet our trapping neighbors to the south and our representatives from the state.

This year’s first Trapper training Class will be held at S&S Taxidermy on April 17 from 8-5pm. Please call the shop at 716-592-2404 and sign up. Please remind your friends and family and call to reserve a spot. This is the earliest class and fills up quickly!

A few of our energetic Junior members are planning an all exclusive bus trip to the NTA 2010 Convention in Marshfield WI, Aug. 5 to 8. Check out the link for information: http://nta2010trip.yolasite.com. They plan to donate a portion of the trip to the club.

Our meetings are held the second Tuesday monthly, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hamburg Rod & Gun Club on Hickox Road. Anyone interested in trapping should attend! For club correspondence, send mail to ECTA, 12580 Jennings Rd. Lawtons NY 14091.

Our next meetings are on March 9, April 13 and May 11.

Special Note! The Fair theme this year is “Fair Fever — Catch It!” Put your thinking caps on for booth ideas. Dates are Aug. 11-22. — Patti Wattengel

FULTON-MONTGOMERY FUR HARVESTER’S REPORT

Greetings Trappers,

It’s been a while since I contributed a report and I figured since my time as president is running short, I better get to it! Our February fur sale turned out to be excellent. We had 53 trappers and 16 buyers. It was a long day. Prices are listed below and seem to be getting better every day. Thanks as always to the trappers who brought their hard-earned catches and the buyers who paid good prices for them. I also want to thank the members of our club who spent their time helping work at the fur sale. Our Ballston Spa and Herkimer sales are put on in conjunction w/ the Foothills Trappers.

Bob Sheedy and Bill Knibbs spent a ton of time working as well, and it was certainly appreciated. Without all the help, these fur sales would be impossible to pull off. We had a fur-handling demonstration that was well received and the consensus is that we will continue holding these demos at our fur sales. The NYSTA pelt donation program netted nearly $700, truly a great start to helping fund trapping here in NY. Our next Fur Sale will be on April 10 at the Herkimer VFW with check-in starting at 6 a.m.

Listed by Species, Number and Average

Bobcat — 5; $58.70

Beaver — 359; $20.01

Coon — 243; $8.77

Coyote — 163; $13.79

Fisher — 79; $42.56

Gray Fox — 48; $18.20

Marten — 1; $17

Mink — 152; $9.71

Castor — 51 lb; $37.87

Otter — 17; $41.74

Possum — 11; $2.04

Rat — 1,346; $7.14

Red Fox — 105; $15.09

Skunk — 31; $5.03

Weasel — 11; $3.44

Our February meeting was pretty brief. It was well attended and it’s always great to see some new faces. We basically just discussed the Fur Sale and how it went. It was decided that we will show a trapping video at our March meeting. The 50-50 Raffle netted the club $10. Just a reminder that club elections will be held in April.

Keep on Trapping.

— Brandon Hemmerich

GENESEE VALLEY TRAPPERS

By the time you see this, I guess the trapping season will be over for the year. I certainly hope you did well. Don’t wait until September to get your equipment ready for next year.

Even though the auction results for March aren’t here, I can tell you we had a great year. Do you remember all summer the naysayers were preaching gloom and doom? Even more than the usual. I’ve never heard such crying. Well, between December, January and February, 7,153 pieces went across the table! And I sure didn’t hear too much weeping from the sellers. However, we owe it all to Bob’s hard work and the integrity of the buyers. Please shake their hands with a thank you.

I finally figured out how to get on the “nytrappers” forum. I know, I’m a dinosaur. Anyways, I will put GVTA news on that also along with the GVTA Web site, which will be more up to the minute.

The fee structure has a few people confused, so here we go again. Membership with Trapper & Predator Caller is $25. Without T&PC is $10. When selling fur, we charge the 6 percent fee to all, of which Dave Miller gets 1 percent. Non-members pay an additional $5 for each sheet of fur, while members get the first sheet free. This $5 fee was introduced because so many sellers insist on selling their fur one piece at a time. This doesn’t get more money, but does extend the length of the day for the buyers which I’m sure they don’t appreciate, especially, when some auctions go beyond 12 hours. So, please consider consolidating your lots in the future. In reality, there is never a need for more than three or at most four lots for each type of fur, regardless of quantity.

Not too much to report otherwise. A trapper’s class is set up for April 11 and 12 in Walworth, Wayne County. Please call 315 986-1400 ext. 311 for details. This is probably short notice so you will have to hurry.

I guess that’s about it for now. If you have questions or suggestions, the new contact numbers are as follows: My answering machine is 585-924-5060, or better yet Tom Miller (president) 585-229-4759.

— Paul Ackerman

INDEPENDENT FUR HARVESTER’S OF CENTRAL NY

Minutes of Meeting
Feb. 14, 2010
11 Members present

• The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

• Minutes of last meeting were read and accepted.

• Treasurer’s report read and accepted.

OLD BUSINESS

• The Sports Show went well for us, a lot of fur and raffle tickets sold. Thanks to all that helped out and made this worthwhile to attend. Charles Kelsey of Bernhards Bay won the predator package, and Jim Dougherty won the Alpaca blanket. Congratulations to both.

• By-Laws were discussed again, everything previously discussed still stands. The changes will be voted on during our March meeting.

• Tom Gebo’s invoice was turned in for the fur we bought from him and we will be sending him a check.

• Jim Dougherty is feeling under the weather. Hope you get well soon.

• Bob Evans, we still have you in our prayers.

NEW BUSINESS

• Thanks go out to Earl and Cindy Ritzman for the turkey call they donated to us for our spring turkey contest.

• The spring Turkey Contest will be May 1-31 for the Independent Fur Harvesters of CNY members only, $10 per bird and must register before April 25. More will be discussed in March.

• Ideas were thrown around for next year’s Sports show and raffle, such as a 50/50 raffle, other items for prizes and raffling off a bear hunt, any ideas?

• Al bought quite a few items per the NRA grant and needed to be reimbursed. We voted and agreed to reimburse him.

• A gate keeper is needed one more time for March. Remember it’s open 12:30-1 p.m. Then we lock it. It’s amazing the amount of people using the park even with big signs stating “PARK CLOSED.”

COUNTY REPORTS

• None

DATES TO REMEMBER

• The March Fur Sale is set for March 6 at 8 a.m. at the Pompey Rod and Gun Club. Volunteers are needed. Call Al at 682-2050.

• THE NEXT MEETING IS March 14, remember the gate is open from 12:30 to 1 p.m.

• April 3, Trap Class at Solon Sportsman Club, contact Al at 82-2050, Bill at 607-756-6763 or Rich at 720-5227.
Respectfully submitted. — Rich Palmer

OSWEGO COUNTY TRAPPERS REPORT

Meeting was called to order.

The pledge of allegiance.

Treasurer’s report was given and accepted.

 A card was passed around for Al Craig. He has been in the hospital with gall bladder issues.

Old Business: The past two months there were no newsletters due to lack of people attending meetings.

The gun has been ordered and the design this year will be a gray fox.

New Business: The highway Pick Up will be April 24 at 8:30 a.m. on State route 104b in Mexico.

 There was discussion of the recent events at the state meeting.

The march on Albany will be sometime in April.

NYSTA has a fur donation program where people can donate fur that will be auctioned of with the proceeds going to support the organization.
Respectfully submitted.

— Charles L. Lamb Jr.

REGION 5S DIRECTOR’S REPORT

As decided in 2009 and according to the By-Laws, there will be an election for the Region 5S Director in 2010. I have formed a committee that will oversee the election process here, and that consists of myself, Mike Vickerson and Al West. If anyone is interested in running for the Director’s position, please consult the By-Laws and submit the necessary materials. Deadline for nominations are June 30.

The next BOD meeting is to be held on April 24 in Canastota, NY. The Annual Spring membership meeting will be the 25th of April at SUNY Morrisville. The NYSTA Pelt Donation Program is off to a flying start. 100 percent of all fur donated will be sold and funds will go straight to NYSTA. I will be collecting fur for the April 10 Herkimer Sale, and will even process some green fur for this cause. Get in touch with me if you’d like to donate. If every trapper in the state donated one $8 muskrat, NYSTA financial future would be much brighter! Thanks.

— Brandon Hemmerich

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