Pennsylvania Trappers Association December 2011 Report

President — Brian Mohn, 134 Fairview Road, Hamburg, PA 19526; phone: 610-562-1790; e-mail: papatrees@aol.com

Vice President East — Joel Whitehead, RR#2Box 90, Thompson, PA 18465; e-mail: JFRED@nep.net

Vice President West — Ned Weston, 120 Swope Road, West Sunbury, PA 16061; phone: 724-894-2239; e-mail: Nweston@netzero.net

Secretary — Tereasa Houtz, 300 Flint Lane, Landisburg, PA 17040; e-mail: PTASecretary@embarqmail.com

Treasurer — Chad Kijowski, P.O. Box 614 , Dayton, PA 16222; phone: 814-257-9846;
e-mail: HKijowski@yahoo.com

Editor — Russ Ford, 309 Pine Dale Road, Carlisle, PA 17013, phone: 717-249-7271, fax: 717-249-8509; e-mail: Ptaeditor@pa.net

NTA Director — David Shuttleworth, 5452 Tamarack Drive, Sharpsville, PA 16150; phone: 724-962-4260; e-mail: Dianeshutts@aol.com

FTA Director — Mark Kasten, RR2 Box 2287, Hallstead, PA 18822; phone: 570-278-2553; e-mail: willsher@epix.net

Public Relations Director — Mike Gontor, 87 West 7th St., Jim Thorpe, PA 18229; phone: 570-325-4974; e-mail: FuFiGa@ptd.net

Membership Options:

Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
Individual membership without subscription — $10
Junior, age 16 and under without subscription — $5
Lifetime membership with subscription — $300
Lifetime membership without subscription — $100

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

PTA Treasurer
Chad Kijowski
P.O. Box 614
Dayton, PA 16222

www.patrappers.com

 

FTA DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Fellow trapper’s: First I would like to apologize for not keeping you better informed about the FTA. I’ll start with the annual convention in Dublin, NY, this past June. It rained probably 60% of the time we were there. Two States put in for the 2013 convention — Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I did my best to represent Pa. District 10, but when we counted the votes Pa. lost the bid by a small margin. Wisconsin was much better prepared and even had a woman from the Marshfield Chamber of Commerce along with handouts with local attractions. What can I say — they did their homework extremely well. The convention was fairly well attended from what I’ve seen at other FTA conventions. Also Dave Miller from NY was nominated for a board of directors position along with several others. The results of the election are not yet known.

We were successful in giving out hundreds of free three-month subscriptions for the FTA magazine to students at various trapper training schools conducted by our districts.

The PTA received the Bobcat award for our donations in 2010 and it was presented at the last O&D meeting.

The FTA is working together with US Sportsmen’s Alliance on several issues. As many of you know the Mexican grey wolf is a hot topic right now. Several states don’t want them imported at all, as well as several hunting organizations. The antis are working to keep them on the threatened or endangered list. The spreading of these wolves could spell destruction for elk populations in several western states.

Finally, if you are not a member of the PTA, please join. If you are a member please consider joining the FTA and the NTA. ‘Till next time I hope you each have a fun-filled, exciting trapping season. — Bill Kasten

 

PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR’S REPORT

In last month’s report we posted our response to the petition presented before the Pennsylvania Game Commission by an organization calling themselves Born Free. This animal rights organization intends to do all it can to do away with trapping, not only in Pennsylvania but throughout the country. Born Free is not alone, as I am sure you are aware, there are numerous ill-informed groups that would love to see trapping, hunting, fishing and animal raising become bad remembrances of the past. It is more critical then ever that we as trappers use every caution to protect our way of life. Many of us consider ourselves to be loners, individualists or simply as an individual most content when on the trapline or in the mountains and forests away from urban life. Just leave us alone. Unfortunately, we no longer have the freedom of enjoying this attitude. If we are not constantly functioning in a respectful and ethical manner during all trapping related functions, we will be a remembrance of the past. It is incumbent upon us to demonstrate and encourage others to be respectful toward all users of the out of doors. It is human nature to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, in order to protect our future as trappers, any observed incident that may cause a derogatory reflection on us must be personally addressed. Or in some situations, reported to the appropriate law enforcement authority. Additionally, if confronted by an animal rights individual, treat them professionally and with respect. — Barry Warner

 

KIFE REPORT

Keystone Institute for Furbearer Education (KIFE) Report for December

The KIFE board would like to send a special “THANK YOU” to all the people who responded to the letter we sent out requesting funding. Receipts for those funds will be sent out sometime after Jan 1st. For anyone who has not sent funds, it is still not too late to be counted in the calendar year 2011.

KIFE is still looking for a few people to fill board positions as well as people to fill positions within the established committees. Contact Greg Kohl at 610-488-7678 or by e-mail at GKohl@glkassoc.com for additional information on how you can help.

KIFE is also in need of digital pictures of diseased animals from your trap line in Pennsylvania for an upcoming brochure. — Jerry Pickel, KIFE Vice-president

 

DISTRICT 1 REPORT

Hello Members. Since this is the middle of trapping season, I don’t have too much to say, other than to remind you of the changes with the 160 Conibear, body-grippers, the changes for the dog-proof traps and the new beaver trapping regulations. Make sure to check your Hunting & Trapping Digest to save yourself some aggravation.

We put together a really nice demo area at the Antlers & Anglers’ Sportsmen’s Show. We erected a demo tent and built a pond under the tent. The members gave demos on Saturday and Sunday. I would like to thank everyone who helped with the set-up, demos and tear-down. A special thanks to John, Dave & Doug from District 3 for their help.

Just a reminder that our Spring Gun Raffle will be held on April 7th. We held a planning meeting in October, but if you could not make the meeting, please contact Jim or Donna Murphy to see how you can help with this event. This raffle is quite a bit of work and is a critical fundraising opportunity for our district. We really appreciate anything you can do to help.

We are trying to put together two bags of tanned fur for the Crawford County WCO’s. If you have something to donate, please contact Derric Cross at (814) 664-8733.

God Bless. — Charlie Sykes

 

DISTRICT 2 REPORT

Hello to all D-2 members. It’s been a busy year in the District. Aug. 6 was our Trapping school. We put 66 people through the 8 hr. class, that’s the most people I have seen at our class in a long time. Thanks to all the people who put on Demo’s all day, worked in the kitchen, and donated use of the Slippery Rock Sportsmen Club for free for the day for our school. Thanks again for all your support. We also had an Expo Sept 17th at the Pony Farm Sportsmen Club. It was a very good turnout. Dealers and Tailgaters all said they had a great day and will be back again next year. Also we raffled off a Duke Bear Trap donated by the Duke Trap Co. and a Case commemorative knife donated by Fur Takers Lures. A Big Thanks to all these companies for their generous donations same goes for all the people who donated items for the Chinese raffle.. Thanks for all the help in the kitchen and for setting up and tearing back down. We had an excellent turnout. The district put on a Cable restraint class this year in early August. It was a great class. Almost 40 people attended and received their certification. We have not had any Cable classes in D-2 for many years. I am glad we set this one up. Thanks to Daryl Bower, Ned Weston, Rodney Barber for instructing the class and Greg Bell and myself for serving lunch. Fall meeting was held on Oct.9 at the Happy Hunters Sportsmen Club. Awards were given to Greg Bell, Paul Murray and Tim Giger for their many years of service to help out the district. Our fur sale is Feb. 18. 2012 at the Burnt Ridge Sportsmen Club, Cowansville Pa, on Ridge road. Sale starts at 8am at least 4 or 5 fur buyers will be coming, so don’t forget to bring your licenses with you. See you there! We need to to start planning our banquet in March. It will be held in Mars, Pa. at the VFD Hall. We are in dire need of help at this event. In the past, Tim Giger and his family put on this whole event without asking for much help. We need your support, please call Tim or myself if you are able to help in any way with tickets, set up, tear down or anything for this function. Any help would be appreciated. Talk to you soon. Time to get some steel in the ground anyway. Hope everyone’s season is safe and productive. Be careful with the 160 Conibear this season. Till next time, may all your stretchers be full. — Brad Fair, (724) 283-1598, TrapperFair@aol.com

 

DISTRICT 4 REPORT

With the start of fur taking season here I find myself trying to balance work, family and fun which I’m sure is a problem for most of us.

2012 looks like a busy year for all of the Districts after listening at the last O&D Meeting. My hats off to all of the different districts, each one put out a report helping to promote and educate locals about this misunderstood sport.

The 2012 State Convention is to be held June 21st- 24th at the Clearfield Fair Grounds with plans already being put in place. Bands are being looked at, vendors are booking buildings, plans for wives, children, mountain men, and everyone are trying to be covered. Volunteers are still a valued part of every organization and help make every event a success. If you would like to help and can spare a few hours let me or someone know.

Meetings are being planned for Convention preparation… next meeting Nov. 10th at 7:00 in St. Marys followed by Jan. 21st following the District Fur Sale. Questions can call Jeff 814-781-7539 or Don 814-371-1170.

May you find full traps and prime fur! — Jeff Dornisch

 

DISTRICT 5 REPORT

Trapping season is under way so I’ll try to keep this short because I know you are busy. As I write this column there is snow on the ground from the early storm that hit on Saturday October 29th. Winter sure arrived early this year and I hope it isn’t a sign of things to come although as always we will deal with whatever comes along. Good luck!

The fall meeting was held on Sunday October 2nd at the Jerome Sportsmen Club and was well attended. Thank you to everyone who turned out and participated. John Wilkinson from District 3 gave a demonstration on Cat, Coyote, and Beaver trapping and the membership of District 5 would like to thank John for being willing to help us out with this demonstration.

An election of officers was held at the meeting with the results as follows: Don Sager – Director, Jim Griffith – Assistant Director, Pat Wess – Treasurer, and Deborah Sedlmeyer – Secretary.

The fur sale will be the second Sunday in February again this year and I’ll have more details in next month’s column. District 5 will also have a cash ticket next year and more information will be coming on that activity as well.

Our district is made up of Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, and Somerset Counties and if you know of any trappers or anyone interested in trapping please encourage them to join the association.

Please feel free to contact Pat Wess @ (814) 262-9455 or me with any information you would like to see in this report or any questions you might have. I can be reached at (814) 686-0497 or e-mail me at bdstern@atlanticbb.net Thanks for reading. — Brian Stern, Tipton, PA.

 

DISTRICT 7 REPORT

PTA State Banquet 2012: Dist. 7 will be hosting the 2012 PTA Banquet in honor of the 75th anniversary of the PA Trappers Association at the Hughesville Fire Company Social Hall on March 31, 2012. The doors will open at 4 pm, and the meal will start at 5 pm. Miss Pennsylvania will be present. There will be a live auction and raffles. If you would like to make a donation or for more information contact, Pete Rake, P.O. Box 119, Washingtonville, PA.17884 or call 570-437-2679 or e-mail minkman46@aol.com. For tickets contact Joe Mast, 866 Swartz Rd., Lewisburg, PA 17837. Tickets are $25 each or two for $45, ages 6 to 12 are $12 each, and under 6 years old are free. Make check or money order payable to District 7, PTA.

D-7 fur auction will be January 15 at Washingtonville. Starting time is 9:00 AM. You must be a member of the PTA to sell your fur, and there is a 4% commission.

I have heard from the family of D-7 member Tony Stabinski, who was in a bad accident earlier this year and was in a coma. He has come out of the coma and is doing much better. He has a lot of rehabilitation to do, but his future looks promising. His family would like to thank everyone who sent prayers.

A big thank you goes to Mike Kilcoyne, his son Scot and his grandson for representing D-7 at Camp Brule Boy Scout Camp. Also a big thank you to Charlie Probst for representing D-7 at Little Pine State Park. — Pete Rake

DISTRICT 9 REPORT

Our last meeting of the year was held on Oct. 16, at Dave Costanzo’s house in Wayne County. dave had great refreshments, and we’d like to thank him for allowing us to use his “beagle kennel” for the meeting.

At the meeting, District 9 voted on the following:

• Approved sending $1,000 to the State Association to support the 2011 State Sweepstakes.

• Approved sending $200 to each of 6 County Conservation Districts in support of the 2012 Envirothon competition.

• Approved a $200 scholarship for the Troy Fair Queen and the Harford Fair Queen.

• Approved changing the format for the February fur sale. In the past, furtakers brought their fur into the sale and waited in line until they got up to the fur buyer. This caused a lot of confusion and frustration as to whose line you were in and if the buyer was even interested in buying your fur. We are going to try assigning the furtakers to a table and let the buyers come to them. As the buyers grade the fur, the furtaker can look at his closed bid and make a decision who he is going to sell his fur to. We are going to give this a try and see if it doesn’t work better than the old method.

• Approved support of Sunday hunting with permission of the landowner for all legal species.

Upcoming District 9 events:

• Northeast Regional Coyote Hunt – February 3, 4 & 5, 2012. Covers 8 Counties: Sullivan, Bradford, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike and Luzerne. Weigh-in at 12:00 noon each day at the Triton Hose Co. in Tunkhannock. Hunt dinner to be held on Sunday. For details and applications e-mail me at pricee@nep.net, or call 570-679-2318.

• Along with the hunt, we will be raffling a Kimber Custom Select rifle in 223 caliber with a Zeiss 3-9×40 scope. Tickets are $5 each, 3 for $10. If you would like tickets, e-mail me at pricee@nep.net, or call 570-679-2318.

• District 9 fur sale to be held on February 12 at the Triton Hose Co. in Tunkhannock. Sale starts at 9:00 AM. You must be a member of the Pa. Trappers Assn. to sell fur. NO COMMISSION!

• January meeting will be held in Lackawanna County – location TBA — you will receive a postcard notification in the mail. — Ed Price, Treasurer, District 9

 

DISTRICT 10 REPORT

Hello to all! By the time you read this trapping season will be in full swing. I hope your stretchers are filling up. Fur prices look good and hopefully will improve throughout the season.

We did several youth field days over the summer and fall. A big thank you to everyone who helped out.

District 10 fall convention was held Sept 30 & Oct. 1. Thanks to all the dealers, tailgaters, demo. people and workers who were at the show. We had 15 tailgaters, 14 inside vendors and did demo’s Friday and all day Saturday. Things went well until the rain came about 3:00 PM Saturday. Thanks to all who came to make the show a success.

The winners of the money raffle we did in conjunction with the fall conventions are as follows: 1st prize – Joe Archavage; 2nd prize – Joe Bizub; 3rd prize – Gordon Santee; 4th prize Carman Gruppo; and 5th prize Bob Mysckowski. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who bought tickets.

We will be holding our District meeting on Jan. 8, 2012, at the Belfast Rod and Gun Club starting at 1:00 PM. This will be our planning meeting for 2012. We will also be discussing the 2013 State Convention.

Our District fur sale will be held on Jan. 14, also at the Belfast Rod and Gun Club. Doors will open at 8:00 AM and the sale will start at 9:00 AM. We will be setting up Friday at 6:00 PM. We need help to count fur, man the kitchen, runners and clean-up. Please plan to help out and bring your fur to support your District.

That’s all for now. Good luck during the rest of the season. — Scot Mucha, 610-863-9759

 

DISTRICT 11 REPORT

We held our October meeting at Middlecreek with about 2-dozen members in attendance. Jason Wagner filled in for Ralph and did a fine job running the meeting. We had reports from all the trapping schools and all went well again this year thanks to all of our members who do a great job of instructing at these schools. State President Brian Mohn gave a report from the O & D meeting – the state sweepstakes winners were drawn and will be listed on our website. The State will again do fur coats for Miss PA and Miss Teen PA. Brian filled us in on the IRS audit that was recently done and what changes have to be made for us to comply with the IRS regulations. He told the group about the new body grip regulations and the importance of complying with these new regulations.

We talked about the fur sale and basically it will be same as other years. Our district fur sale will be held January 7, 2012 at the Berks’ county 4H center in Bernville PA. Doors will open at 7AM. The auction will start at 9AM. You must be a PTA member to sell fur at this auction. All licensed fur buyers are welcome to attend. The kitchen will be open at 7AM and throughout the day. As usual, we will be in need of volunteers to set up, clean up and run the sale. Let Ralph or me know if you can help us out with this and we will find something for you to do.

We picked meeting dates for 2012 and will get cards printed up to have available for you. One date you may want to jot down is Feb. 4-12, 2012, which is the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show in Harrisburg. Many of you District 11 members help out with the state booth at this event.

O.K. that is it for now. I will let you get back to putting up fur and catching critters.

Have fun. —Mike Spittle, spittlefam@paonline.com

 

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