North Carolina Trappers Association October 2014 Report

www.nctrapper.org

 

President — Tony White, 1318 Soundneck Rd. Elizabeth City, NC 27909; 252-330-2327

Vice President — Neal Jennings, 3037 Shady Grove Ch. Rd. East Bend, NC 27018; 336-699-3947

Secretary — Sharon Underwood, 4488 NC 218, Peachland, NC 28133; 704-272-7876

Membership Secretary — Dan Hunt, 901 Tamaras Cir, Wake Forest, NC 27587; 919-244-9295

Assistant Membership Secretary — Vacant

Treasurer — Joey Smith, 262 Mewborn Church Road, Snow Hill, NC 28580; 919-738-4683

NTA Director — Nelson Pearce, 5612 Hopkins Chapel Rd., Zebulon, NC 27597; (H)919 269 6710; (C) 919 868 5592; nelsonpearce@att.net

General Organizer — David Underwood, 4488 NC 218, Peachland, NC 28133; 704-272-7876

Education Coordinator — Todd Menke, 2663 Tar River Rd., Creedmoor, NC 27522; 919-528-9063; minkster@netzero.net

Newsletter Editor — Josh Biesecker, 307 Bridget Way, Creedmoor, NC 27522; 919-880-4046

Merchandise Coordinator — Darien Huffman, 382 Zimmerman Road, Lexington, NC 27295; 336-775-4778

 

Membership Options:

• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $25

• Youth membership (under age 16) with subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $15

• Lifetime membership with subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $350

• Senior citizens 70 years or older with subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $20

• Youth supporter without subscription — $10

• Adult supporter without subscription — $15

• Lifetime supporter without subscription — $100

 

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

NCTA, Membership Secretary

Dan Hunt

901 Tamaras Cir

Wake Forest, NC 27587

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Hello fellow NC trappers, I hope this report finds you doing well. I must start this report with an apology. I missed my deadline to get my report in for the September issue. I make no excuses, I simply blew it. I will try not to do that again. Lets move on.

You will receive this issue shortly after the convention and if you attended, I hope that you had a good time. I have the privilege of working with one of the best group of trappers in the country in my Board of Directors. These folks truly make my job easy and they put on one heck of a convention. We also have a small army of volunteers that show up every year and lend their time and abilities to help us pull this off. In the next issue, I will try my best to recognize these folks and give credit where it is due.

At our last BOD meeting on August the 3rd., we discussed several different subjects. I will try to hit the highlights for you.

1) We nailed down the final details for the convention. As I stated above, it takes a lot of hard work and planning to bring you a show like this and this BOD and our other volunteers comes through year after year.

2) Membership secretary Dan Hunt gave a very detailed report on the state of our membership. Our numbers have hit a plateau and even may be falling slightly. We have struggled with several problems: Declining fur prices, apathy among existing members, a generational disconnect in sportsmen in general and tough financial times. Dan has done a wonderful job of trying to reach out to NC trappers but he needs your help. We as trappers have one big handicap in that we are individuals pursuing an individual sport. Our very nature doesn’t lend itself to organizing in a group and this has hurt us. What I ask of you is to take interested folks with you on your trapline, talk to folks about trapping, mentor a youngster that shows interest in trapping and seek out trappers in your area that are not members of our association and talk to them about joining.

3) Our education coordinator Todd Menke gave a report on our trappers ed courses to date. While we have had several one day courses this summer, our 3 day advanced course had to be canceled due to low enrolment. I have great hope that next year, we will once again have a packed class. You can’t beat the deal we are offering. I have to give a shout out here to David Allen, Eric Storey, Adam Deckrow, and the rest of the mountain boys who have been putting on trappers ed classes and other trapping events for the trappers in our western districts.

4) NTA director Nelson Peirce gave a report on his trip to the NTA convention in the UP of Michigan. One of the best pieces of news that he brought back was that the NTA is financially solvent after several years of financial troubles. It is important that we support the NTA as they fight for our right to trap on a national level. Please join if you can.

5) Cities tags. We are working with the NCWRC to change the time frame in which you can buy tags. At this time, you have to purchase tags for bobcat and otter tags by the 10th of March. Our proposal is that we have the month of march to do so as most of us put up a lot of fur in that month. This can be done through a simple rule change and requires no approval by the legislature.

6) Senate bill 376 which would have legalized coyote trapping year round was killed in committee as the bill number was needed for a piece of legislation. You could say it was a victim of the short session.

Well that’s about all that I have for you now, I wish you all good fortune this coming season and please remember to share you outdoor pursuits with a youngster. They are the future of all outdoor sports. Thanks. — Tony White

 

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